“The U.S. LEI increased sharply again in May, confirming the outlook for more economic expansion in the second half of the year after what looks to be a much weaker first half,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director, Business Cycles and Growth Research, at The Conference Board. “While residential construction and consumer expectations support the more positive outlook, industrial production and new orders in manufacturing are painting a somewhat more mixed picture.”
News
Institute for Supply Management
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June for the 30th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 73rd consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
U.S.-NAFTA freight totaled $93.3 billion in April 2015 as all modes but air carried less U.S.-NAFTA freight than in April 2014, according to the TransBorder Freight Data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Year-over-year, the value of U.S.-NAFTA freight flows by all modes decreased by 6.8 percent. Large decreases in the value of NAFTA trade by pipeline and vessel in April were due to the reduced unit price of mineral fuel shipments.
Over the last few weeks there have been two separate trade related bills making headlines.
Both the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) have the potential to help American workers. Understanding the purpose of each bill, and where the bill is at in Congress, can become a bit complicated. To help sift through the acronyms and related details, we have provided you a definition of each bill, as well as where the bill stands in the legislative approval process currently.
American Trucking Associations
American Trucking Associations’advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.1% in May, following a revised loss of 1.4% during April. In May, the index equaled 132.1 (2000=100). The all-time high is 135.8, reached in January 2015.
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, emphasizes we should, “Begin with the end in mind.”
If your end goal is satisfied customers, logistics offers the solutions and technologies to manage supply chains while supporting multiple business functions, all in an effort to achieve that outcome.
A new authoritative report credits logisticians’ savvy management of their transportation networks for holding logistics costs to a historically low percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the 26th Annual State of Logistics Report (SoL), the logistics and transportation industry chalked up its best year since the Great Recession, with U.S. business logistics costs rising 3.1 percent to $1.45 trillion last year.
Are unsung heroes residing in your transportation and supply chain departments?
From their dock and warehouse surroundings, logistics professionals use information flow, physical inventory flow, and financial flow to improve company profits. Read more.
May shipment volume and payments have reached high points for 2015. Both indexes have been rising for the last four months after a dismal January due to bad weather and delays at West Coast ports.
The House of Representatives by a narrow margin has passed and sent to the Senate the controversial FY2016 Department of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that President Barack Obama said he would veto if it reached his desk without major changes, including three involving the trucking industry.