The truck driver shortages of 1983 and 2004 could be dwarfed by what's coming by 2012, in the view of Tom Nightingale, chief marketing officer at Con-way. New hours-of-service rules and CSA 2010 are doing nothing to help that situation. Still, there are ways to prepare for the crunch.

As new government regulations intensify the transportation capacity crunch, non-asset-based brokers will be even more hard pressed to find equipment for their customers, says Mike Williams, chief operating officer at Sunteck Transport Group. That could weed out fly-by-night operators that sometimes give the industry a bad rep.

A highly effective way to get needed relief to victims of natural disasters is by marshaling the employees, equipment and expertise of logistics service providers, says Cliff Otto, president of Saddle Creek Corporation. That's the mission of ALAN, the American Logistics Aid Network.

Margaret Kairis, director of customer supply chain operations with Sony Electronics, talks about how the company has collaborated with a select group of retailers to improve in-stock levels, without causing excessive inventories.

The supply chain has helped many companies to weather the recession because it enabled them to react better to either capacity shortage or inventory change, says Simon Ellis, practice director, global supply chain strategies, at IDC Manufacturing Insights. That was largely due to the use of information technology. While cost is always king, investment in the right IT is going to continue.

Getting containers out of China timely and at a fair price is the single-biggest concern of shippers, says Tim Sensenig, executive vice president of Four Soft. But inadequate visibility, government regulations and determining what technology investments to make are very much on the minds of these executives as well.

The world of high-tech entertainment isn't quite so sophisticated when it comes to supplying product for the many channels that have sprung up in recent years. Russ Pearlman, digital content services lead for media and entertainment with Capgemini, details some of the challenges.

Guy Yehiav, vice president of value chain planning with Oracle Corp., describes some innovative techniques that suppliers of consumer electronics can use to improve the matching of supply with demand - drawing on the resources of everyone in the chain.

Leo Lin, chief financial officer of Monster Cable Products, involves himself in every aspect of the company's supply chain, most notably its sales and operations planning process. Here, he offers some tips on how finance executives can break down traditional corporate silos.

John Brockwell, practice leader in trade management consulting with J.P. Morgan, talks about how companies are shifting from a mindset based purely on cost, to one that the accounts for the variability of global supply chains.