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CaseStack, a warehousing and transportation company, announced has expanded its Retailer Consolidation Program to Chicago. The company, a third-party logistics provider (3PL) to more than 1,000 suppliers, began the Retailer Consolidation Program in Dallas in 2003. By partnering with retailers and manufacturers, CaseStack combines multiple less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments headed to the same retailer distribution center onto one truck, helping to reduce cost and increase efficiency for all three parties. The goal of the program is for small and mid-level suppliers to enjoy the less expensive truckload pricing reserved for large suppliers instead of the more costly LTL pricing they are usually afforded.

Anne Ferro, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), recently told shippers that they need to stop undermining truckers' ability to drive safely and stop wasting their time. Not surprisingly, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) applauded her remarks.

Ferro said that a "constant refrain, a constant complaint" heard during the FMCSA's public hearings on hours-of-service regulations was about the valuable time truckers waste at shipping facilities waiting to be loaded or unloaded. She also said truckers are under increased financial and mental stress when their legal driving hours are eaten up by that time wasted loading docks.

AIAG, an organization focused on best practices for automotive manufacturers and service providers, has published Recommended Business Practices for Long-Distance Supply Chains, a set of guidelines to identify waste, errors and miscommunication across intercontinental, ocean-going supply chains.

“Companies expect global shipments will be late, so they build waste and inefficiency into their operations to compensate for a bad process,” says J. Scot Sharland, executive director of AIAG. “AIAG volunteers, who represent stakeholders at all levels of the global supply chain, have proven that it doesn’t have to be that way.” The AIAG has developed a system that will let companies reduce parts inventories and premium freight shipping costs, and reduce the time employees spend tracking shipments.