Last week, we posted about the 2009 3pl study sponsored by Panalpina and a host of others.  We were also reading this more recent Logistics study by Penske and found it useful.  Some bright spots in trucking and air, but less so in ocean shipping.

Trade Data Intelligence Can Tell the Story

According to the Penske site:  “The ocean/waterway sector is where the real “sad story” lies. Almost 20 percent of the container fleet is idle and many ocean shippers, such as Maersk, reported losses for the first time ever last year. Ocean carriers are expected to remain significantly over capacity in the next few years, resulting in longer shipping times and less delivery reliability.”

- Rosalyn Wilson, State of Logistics Report Author

Since 1988, the “State of Logistics Report®” has tracked and measured all costs associated with moving goods through the U.S. supply chain. The report benchmarks key metrics in U.S. logistics such as transportation and inventory-carrying costs, freight volumes, and revenues, giving practitioners a big-picture view of the performance of the U.S. supply chain process.

Here is a link to the press release, which also links to the trends and outlook commentary video: State of Logistics Look for a list of them on the far right column of the page when you get there.

One highlight, noted at SupplyChainBrain:

• Water sector costs fell 21.6 percent and all of the nation’s top 10 ports, except Oakland, registered a decline in TEUs moved. Rates in this sector were pushed down below costs early in 2009 but have risen significantly in recent months.

Hat tip also to Freight Dawg for useful commentary on this Logistics report.

Many business owners and executives, when trying to find information on Trade Intelligence and  US Customs Data will often land on a Google page and see this #1 or #2 Listing that reads:

This #2 link no longer exists: “About the International Trade Administration” (which actually links to this page:  http://www.ita.doc.gov/ooms/oomshp.html)

That page was taken down a long time ago by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and U.S. Department of Commerce when they revamped the Trade.gov site.  We’ve found that most busy execs are looking for this page (next link just below), which lists lots of useful information about Trade Data Basics, exporting, importing, imports, general imports, foreign trade zones, and much more.  However, they don’t make it easy to find, so we found it for you and excerpted the Table of Contents so you can see if this is the page you really want to explore.

http://trade.gov/mas/ian/referenceinfo/tg_ian_001872.asp

***

Trade.gov results for “US Customs Data”:  The Table of Contents includes these topics:

Exports > Domestic Exports > Foreign Exports
Imports > General Imports > Imports for Consumption
Bonded Warehouse
Foreign Trade Zone
Census Basis > Free Alongside Ship (FAS) Export Value > Customs Import Value
Balance of Payments (BOP) Basis
Harmonized System (HS) > Schedule B > Harmonized Tariff Schedule
Standard Industrial Trade Classification (SITC)
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
Trade in Services
Types of Services
Additional Links

Plus, just to give you a fast glance, here is one small content excerpt from the ITA / Trade.gov page:

Harmonized System (HS) – An international classification system standardized between countries at a basic 6-digit level. Commodity classifications in the U.S. are given in two publications, one for exports and one for imports:

Schedule B – Export statistics are initially collected and compiled in terms of approximately 8,000 commodity classifications in Schedule B, Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Commodities Exported from the United States, a publication of the U.S. Census Bureau and based on the Harmonized System.

Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss how to increase your Trade Intelligence IQ.  Call Michael Heffernan at 206-714-1973 or email me at mheffernan@manifestjournals.com

Click here to email: Michael Heffernan.

From DC Bypass to Remote Warehousing to PO Management (inventory management), you can benefit by downloading this State of Logistics study.

2009 marked the 14th year of The State of Logistics Outsourcing report. It is sponsored by Panalpina, CapGemini, Oracle, and the Georgia Institute of Technology where the lead author and founder of the report, Dr. John Langley Jr.,  is a professor of Supply Chain Management.

In this short video, Dr. Langley explains the highlights of the study and what it means for third-party logistics companies and their customers. This video is less than 5 minutes and well worth the time.

In the video, Dr. Langley highlights the three most important findings:

1. Although it is often talked about, 3PL’s and Shippers see working together as a priority now. Both parties see the importance of taking “relationship” to a new level.
2. 3PLs are blending more into Supply Chain objectives — meaning they are listening to Shipper’s needs and concerns and better integrating solutions.
3. Smart companies are seeing how technology can help them achieve greater results. The need for transparency is greater to help improve relationships and technology allows that.

If you learned something cool from this Logistics study, please feel free to tell us about it and perhaps we can explore the topic here on the US Customs Data blog.

Social Networks have opened up so many opportunities for freight and logistics professionals to connect. This week we are looking at just LinkedIn, due to the high number of groups and business executives that are in them.

First up is Freight & Logistics Professionals. This group has brought together over 10,000 freight, logistics and supply chain professionals. Third party logistics experts come together to learn from one another. Guillaume Goder from the Rufaa Group started it back in 2008.  He was also wise enough to start a separate website which has a fair number of members.  You can find the LinkedIn Group with a simple search for the group name, but the main website is: http://www.logistics-professionals.com/

The Logistics and Supply Chain Networking Group has over 21,000 members and is run by Robert Houston of the famous Logistics & Supply Chain Forum held each year. You can bet it is an active community worth joining. The Forum website is found here: http://www.logisticsforum.com/

Dave Waters has built a powerful community for Supply Chain pros with over 30,000 members and active growth on Facebook and Twitter, too. Dave says that Supply Chain Today is the best collaborative Supply Chain community on LinkedIn. They are always on the lookout for new members who want to participate and add value. You can get to it here.

A Truckload, Trucking, Logistics, Supply Chain, 3PL… A group with a l-0-0-n-n-g-g name. It goes on for quite a bit longer, t00.  John Fricke started in 2008 and has over 7,000 members. They push that the group is not for self-promotional efforts, but for education and sharing ideas and having discussion. You can find them on LinkedIn.

While not specifically a freight or logistics group, the China Trade Group is comprised mostly of professionals in the field. Started by Filip Timmermans in late 2007, the group covers mainland China and Hong Kong and pros interested in Import and Export, Sourcing, and more. If you’re doing business in Asia, this group has people from all over the region, not just China and Hong Kong.

There are hundreds of groups on LinkedIn that serve the freight, logistics, trade intelligence, 3PL, freight forwarding, and many other industry communities. Please let us know what ones you find most valuable.

You can find me, Michael Heffernan, on LinkedIn or by email at mheffernan@manifestjournals.com or call me for real time us customs data insights:  206-714-1973.

Thanks for reading.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Manifest Journals blog to serve the international trade community.  Each week, we’ll share news and ideas you can use to improve your business.  From US Customs data to trade intelligence to leading bloggers and trendwatchers who we know, we’ll bring you information and wisdom you won’t find elsewhere.  Please feel free to contact any of our team if you have topics and ideas we should explore.

Thanks

- The US Customs Data Blog Team from Manifest Journals

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