Shippers are still steaming over delays caused by West Coast dockworkers during contract negotiations with terminal operators in late 2014 and early 2015. But problems at the region's ports extend well beyond union intransigence.
It's been about five years since ocean carriers began selling off their chassis in the U.S., forcing shippers to obtain the equipment elsewhere. But the new regime is anything but settled.
Typically, when a protracted longshore labor dispute comes to an end, and operations on the docks return to normal, all parties vow to move forward and bury any residual acrimony. This time around, that might not be the case.
Lithium ion batteries are found in countless high-tech products – laptops, medical devices, security systems, disaster relief equipment and weather monitors, to name just a few. But are they too dangerous to ride on airplanes?
So the Federal Aviation Administration has given Amazon.com, Inc. permission to begin testing delivery drones in the U.S. But there are still a number of logistical hurdles to be overcome, before the technology becomes feasible for everyday commercial use.