C02 shortage is creating problems in the food supply chain
Good morning! It’s a new day. ☀️
“I do not know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it.” – Susan Butcher, sled dog racer
A recent interview with John Bell, the head of the Department of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business, has caught our eye. Carbon dioxide is a major component of industrial use within the petroleum industry - but also has a large role to play in the food, beverages, beer, and packaging materials sector. A recent drilling incident has created quite the CO2 shortage - so what does it mean down the line?
Check out today’s featured article from Supply Chain Brain to read (and watch!) the interview with John Bell from the University of Tennessee as he dives into why the CO2 shortage is deeply affecting the food supply chain. ☕️
Featured Article:
Watch: Another Crisis for the Food Supply Chain: Not Enough CO2 | Supply Chain Brain
“John Bell, head of the Department of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business, explains why food processors and other industries are facing a critical shortage of carbon dioxide.”
Company Culture & Warehousing 📦
Amazon or otherwise, DC jobs are typically challenging positions
While the troubles and frustrations of Amazon warehouse workers are often highlighted in the headlines, a challenging distribution center job is an industry norm. Compulsory overtime during peak season, long shifts, sore muscles, and exhaustion are just a few of the commonplace complaints that hardly discriminate among employers of warehousing.
Distribution Center workers have valid concerns and complaints about the job - so what can an employer do to elevate some of these problems? Robotics seems to be the direction more warehousing are leaning toward - incorporating new technology in the DCS that will assist human workers with some of the more taxing operations.
Warehousing & Real Estate 🪧
A strong industrial real estate market will continue into 2023
Companies are still showing major interest in expanding their footsteps in the short term, mainly by obtaining warehouse space. The growth of e-commerce sales is still ongoing, and the easiest way to protect one’s inventory is by keeping it in-house as long as possible.
John Morris, president of Industrial & Logistics in the Americas for CBRE, has stated that the industrial market’s strong demand shows no signs of slowing down and that adding distribution and warehousing space is a logically wise move.
Let’s Get Global 🌎
Excited Jimmy Fallon GIF By The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon via GIPHY
🇺🇸 U.S. plastic manufacturing is back on the up and up. After twenty years of falling by the wayside, the United States is reclaiming an advantage over China as plastic products are brought back to be produced domestically. It’s expected that this trend will continue into other sectors as the manufacturing tides begin to change. An organization called Shale Crescent USA - a nonprofit aiming to encourage business growth along the Ohio River Valley - is gathering the data. It’s looking like China’s biggest plastic-making competitors are about to be Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
🚢 Global shipping strategies in 2023 will lean heavily on reducing costs. A survey of large shippers over the past twelve months shows that 62% of companies are viewing cost-reduction strategies as a top priority next year. By utilizing cargo consolidation, duty refund options, and focusing on procuring better rates up front, shippers may be able to get a better bite out of the industry after a sharp plummet post-Covid.
🇪🇺 The European Union and the United States are toe-to-toe over the Inflation Reduction Act. Otherwise known as the IRA, the legislation is essentially the United States’s $370 billion climate plan, offering huge subsidies and consumer tax breaks for North American automakers. The relationship between the EU and the US has been strained since the passing of the bill in August, with Europe claiming this plan is meant to hurt European companies selling in the American market. Japan and South Korea are siding with Europe on this one, claiming it gives the automakers stateside an unfair advantage over the market.
iLevel With You
More topics for the average American household to consider…
🛢️ Last week’s Topeka, KS oil spill is the largest in Keystone history. On December 8th, a ruptured pipe burst into a creek and filled it with enough crude to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. This disaster is now the largest in history on the pipeline’s history and has caused a brief spike in prices at the pump. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the spill has not affected drinking water wells and no evacuations have been poised.
🔋 GM vs. Ford: asking their dealerships to implement public charging stations. The two American automakers are squaring off for the country’s EV market and have announced plans for nationwide charging networks for their vehicles. Both of the car manufacturers are asking their dealerships to build charging stations on-site to encourage the sale of electric vehicles. General Motors has implemented two charging stations available for public use at dealerships in Michigan and Wisconsin and has plans of installing more. According to Hoss Hassani, vice president of GM EV Ecosystem, “nearly 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a GM dealership.”
🚌 Riding the school bus to school is cleaner, but also costlier, than ever. Electric school bus fleets are growing as environmentalists begin to see the fruits of their labor, but school districts are now facing a complicated array of hoops to jump through in order to obtain one - or ten. Subsidies and restrictions can create issues for school district administrators and not to mention… an electric school bus costs three to four times as much to purchase as a brand new diesel-powered bus. However, it is largely agreed that electric vehicles help the environment and these buses will also be better for the children that they carry.
GET SMART
Ramp up that brain power for these advanced topics…
🌬️ Floating wind turbines are the latest rage. The United States is taking aim at the potential to produce a massive amount of clean energy in the near future, and floating wind turbines could be the answer for a swift transition. Several locations around the world are testing offshore wind turbine farms and areas such as the Great Lakes and the Mediterranean Sea could be the home to some of the strongest wind resources the world has to offer.
⚡️ Electrifying America’s trucking fleets is no easy task. The nonprofit American Transportation Research Institute is doing the research and reports that there are three major issues the nation will need to tackle in order to reach full electrification. The U.S. supply and demand will need to be upended, electric vehicle production will need to be revamped, and truck charging requirements will need to be met on the smallest levels of the supply chain.
🔋 Modern infrastructure is getting the wake-up call of a lifetime. Both in the regulatory and social fields, electric vehicles are getting the push. Power capacity inadequacies are a consistent source of rebuttal from those who criticize the electrification movement, and not without good reason. The nations aging electric grid will need some serious updating if it is to meet the requirements a fully-electrified country and industry will have.
Safety 🦺
Risk of Truck Driver Cell Phone Use | Trucking Info
Trucking Info contributor Vesna Brajkovic writes about a recent Virginia Tech Transportation study that concluded texting on a hand-held phone was one of the least Riley incidents of distracted driving that could be encountered by a truck driver while behind the wheel.
Unions 🪧
CNBC contributor Michael Wayland writes about the recent landslide vote to unionize by the workers at General Motors joint venture battery plant in Ohio.
Business Strategy 💡
FedEx to launch consolidated returns service | Supply Chain Dive
In this article, Supply Chain Dive Editor Sarah Zimmerman writes about FedEx’s latest launch: a consolidated returns service being offered as a low-price option for shippers.
Five Formidable Transportation Challenges Facing Shippers | Supply Chain Brain
Supply Chain Brain shares a special report regarding the transportation challenges shippers are facing as demand slows.
Discussing The Lessons Learned In Transportation Procurement Management | Talking Logistics
Talking Logistics contributor Adrian Gonzalez writes about the freight procurement strategies many companies are taking on.
Ports 🚢
Port of Savannah to transform terminal into container-only operation | Supply Chain Dive
Supply Chain Dive Associate Editor Alejandra Salgado writes about the Georgia Port of Savannah’s decision to transform its Ocean Terminal into an all-container operation as volumes at the location continue to rise.
Leadership 🏆
Q&A: Wes Wheeler, President of UPS Healthcare | Logistics Management
Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Herman writes about his interview with Wes Wheeler, President of UPS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS.
Fuel ⛽️
Average US diesel prices drop for 5th straight week | The Trucker
The Trucker News Staff writes about the declining prices of diesel fuel after months of sky-high prices.
Electric Vehicles 🔋
ATRI identifies top BEV adoption barriers | Fleet Maintenance
Fleet Maintenance contributor Cristina Commendatore writes about The American Transportation Research Institute’s latest findings regarding the implementation of electric vehicles on a wide scale.
Fleet Maintenance Providers Prepare for Electric Trucks | TT News
TT News Features Editor Michael Freeze writes about trucking leaders speaking at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council in October.
Trucker’s Lounge 🧢
Joliet, Ill., faces class action lawsuit over trucker ticketing practices | Land Line
Land Line contributor Chuck Robinson writes about the civil lawsuit leveled against the city of Joliet, Illinois regarding an entrapment scheme to fine truck drivers.
1400 pounds of meth hidden inside bags of carrots, worth over $3 million | Back The Truck Up
Contributor Rooster writes about the 1400 lbs of carrots disguising over $3 million worth of meth that was uncovered at the U.S.-Mexico border in Otay Mesa, California.
Company Culture 🎉
How AI/ML can address the supply chain labor shortage…but not like you think! | Logistics Viewpoints
Logistics Viewpoints contributor Polly Mitchell-Guthrie writes about professionals and their desire to have their ambition fulfilled in the workplace with vision, leadership, and clarity.
Industry Forecast 📊
Report: Companies set their sights on better materials management in 2023 | DC Velocity
DC Velocity Staff writes about the trend for supply chain executives to reduce material supply risks as we enter the new year.
Sustainability ♻️
Can Hybrid Packaging Improve Sustainability? | All Things Supply Chain
A guest blogger writes about the demand for sustainable packaging increasing and whether a method of hybrid packaging is a good option.
Inflation 💸
The Demand for Delivery is Diminishing as Food Prices Skyrocket | Food Logistics
Food Logistics contributor Yariv Bash from Flytrap writes about the increasing price tag on most food items and what delivery services should do to keep business flowing regardless of inflationary pressures on consumers.
The Workday Dash is an aggregation of articles regarding the transportation logistics, trucking, and supply chain industries for November 28, 2024, from iLevel Logistics Inc.