During the past few years, rail cargo transportation service prices have been on a slippery decline. Despite increasing demand, tanking fuel prices have laid the track for cheaper rail transportation during the past three years. While falling prices have been a welcome relief to shippers, carrier profitability has still been increasing due to steady demand and absent competition for many routes. However, service prices rebounded in 2017 and look to keep pushing higher over the next few years as oil prices recover further. -Connor DiGregorio, Research Analyst, IBISWorld Inc.

Picking the right metrics for your supplier relationship should not be about simply buying into the latest benchmarking data. Rather, it should be about aligning the right metrics for the purpose. For quality metrics, pick what is the "best fit," not the "best practice." This is especially important for strategic, long-term supply chain relationships. -Kate Vitasek, faculty member, University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business Administration; author of six books on the Vested business model; and Karl Manrodt, Professor of Logistics at Georgia College. He is the co-author of seven books and numerous academic articles.

The drive for cost cuts and higher margins at U.S. trucking and railroad operators is pinching their biggest customers, forcing the likes of General Mills Inc and Hormel Foods Corp to spend more on deliveries and consider raising their own prices as a way to pass along the costs.

Quality product data can be a real competitive advantage for companies that get it right. However, despite more anticipated disruption across industries in the year ahead, many supply chain professionals who realize the long-term benefits of data accuracy still struggle to gain support for comprehensive and effective data quality programs. -Angela Fernandez, Vice President, Retail Grocery and Foodservice, GS1 US

When Teva Pharmaceuticals announced recently that it would begin selling a copycat version of Syprine — an expensive drug invented in the 1960s — the news seemed like a welcome development for people taking old drugs that have skyrocketed in price.

Drones have captured the imaginations of many logisticians. The uses for drones are expanding as more logistics providers test these devices in a number of ways, including inventory and yard management and, of course, delivery. While government guidelines remain either vague or non-existent, drones are being tested and implemented particularly within the healthcare industry to deliver medicines in remote areas as well as in general areas of the US and Europe. -Cathy Morrow Roberson, Founder/Head Analyst, Logistics Trends & Insights LLC

The Internet of Things would seem ideally suited to the task of monitoring and tracking containers around the world.

By 2030, the supply chain market labor market is estimated to experience a 20 percent shortage of trained employees. The skill gap is at the intersection of new process evolution based on emerging analytics, the evolution of blockchain, and the use of streaming data for the building of outside-in processes. While most companies have established programs for new hires and high-performance employees, the training of supply chain employees on next-generation processes is a gap. -Lora Cecere, Founder, Supply Chain Insights