The outsourcing of logistics is supposed to save businesses big money. They pay only for the services they need; they turn over complex operations to a pro, and they get expensive assets off their books. It all makes eminent sense - unless your name is Amazon.com Inc.
Can we predict the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by examining the track record of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta)? Well, maybe.
In the Superman comics, the Bizarro World is a planet where normal people and events become strangely inverted. Which, in the world of global trade and supply chain, appears to be happening with increasing regularity.
By the time you read this, the largest containership ever to call a U.S. port will have visited the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland. It won't be the last. But will regulation and environmental pressures prevent carriers from developing the infrastructure needed to handle these seagoing behemoths?
How would you like to spend substantial amounts of time and money on establishing an overseas supplier to manufacture your product - only to see that partner start competing against you with its own brand?
The reviews are in, and they're nearly all raves. Just about everyone seems happy about the enactment of a long-term, long-awaited transportation bill.