Christmas may be over, but the Christmas tree supply chain is in full swing
Good morning! Are you still feeling stuffed after copious amounts of hot cocoa and delicious food this past weekend? Us too… But New Year’s Eve is around the corner 🎆
The supply chain for Christmas trees is a complex process that involves a range of different activities, including growing, harvesting, transportation, and sales. Christmas trees are typically grown on tree farms, which are specialized agricultural operations that focus on growing trees for sale. When trees reach a certain size and shape, they are cut down and transported to a processing facility, where they are trimmed, bundled, and prepared for sale. They are then typically transported by truck or train to retail locations, where they are sold to consumers. The trees are then sold through a variety of channels, including retail stores, online marketplaces, and directly from tree farms.
But when Christmas is all said and done for the year… what do consumers do with those trees?!
Check out today’s featured article from Supply Chain Management Review to read about the logistics of supplying the public with Christmas trees during the holiday season and what it takes to rid the public of those same trees just as quickly as Christmas comes to a close. ☕️
Featured Article:
The Christmas tree supply chain | Supply Chain Management Review
“Think you’ve got supply and demand challenges? Consider Christmas trees.”
Compliance - Trade & Border Issues 🗺️
Companies have a corporate social responsibility to evaluate human rights due diligence in their supply chains
Human rights in the supply chain refer to the rights of workers and communities throughout the production, processing, and distribution of goods and services. These rights include the right to fair wages and working conditions, the right to freedom from discrimination and harassment, the right to a safe and healthy work environment, and the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Ensuring human rights in the supply chain is an important responsibility for businesses, as they can have a significant impact on the lives and well-being of workers and communities throughout their supply chains. Many businesses have established codes of conduct and other policies to promote human rights in their supply chains, and some have implemented monitoring and verification systems to ensure that these standards are being upheld.
However, the complexity of global supply chains and the lack of transparency in some parts of the supply chain can make it difficult for businesses to ensure that human rights are being respected. This has led to calls for greater accountability and transparency in supply chains, as well as the development of initiatives such as supply chain traceability and certification schemes.
TMS & Supply Chain Tech 💻
Why being selective in choosing your company’s TMS matters
Just any old TMS won’t do. A TMS, or transportation management system, is a type of software that is used to manage and optimize the transportation of goods within a supply chain. TMS software is designed to help businesses plan, execute, and monitor the movement of goods from one location to another, whether within a single facility or across multiple locations. It’s critical that supply chain firms consider cross-functional teams and what their company’s “definition” of a TMS means for them.
TMS software typically includes a range of features and functions that can help businesses optimize their transportation operations, such as:
Route planning and optimization: TMS software can help businesses identify the most efficient routes for transporting goods, taking into account factors such as distance, time, and costs.
Load planning: TMS software can help businesses determine the most efficient way to load and unload goods, based on factors such as size, weight, and fragility.
Shipping documentation: TMS software can help businesses generate and manage documents related to the transportation of goods, such as bills of lading and shipping labels.
Tracking and monitoring: TMS software can help businesses track the location and status of shipments in real time, and provide alerts if there are any delays or issues.
Let’s Get Global 🌎
Twd Changing GIF By The Walking Dead via GIPHY
🇺🇸 U.S. Customs & Border Protection has issued new rules. The “Modernization of Customs Broker Regulations under 87 FR 63267” and the “Elimination of Customs Broker District Permit Fee under 87 FR 63262” are the latest files to be published on the Federal Register by the U.S. Customs & Border Protection. The rules aim to modernize the customer broker regulations already in place and eliminate the district permit fee that is required by customs brokers. Cyber security and records requirements have also been updated and customs brokers should read up on what will now be expected.
🇨🇳 China will likely continue to dominate the EV market, despite global efforts to take away control. Mining and refining lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese, rare earth elements, and other critical green-energy minerals are the key to maintaining a “top-dog” position in the electric vehicle market. The Biden Administration has been combating this by passing legislation and invoking the rarely used Defense Production Act in an effort to push back. But even with these moves in place, it’s likely that it will take a minimum of a full decade to build any sort of infrastructure in the U.S. that can replace what’s already existing in China.
iLevel With You 🏡
More topics for the average American household to consider…
❄️ At least 34 individuals are victims of the freezing winter storm. Sixty percent of the U.S. population experienced a winter weather advisory over the holiday weekend, grounding many flights and forcing many families to hunker down in the blistering cold. Buffalo, New York experienced the brunt of the storm, coating the region in at least 43 inches by Sunday morning.
💸 Illinois and Arizona have the highest speeding fines for CDL drivers. Rounding out at $2500 for a ticket, the states boast the steepest fines… unlike Missouri or West Virginia, which have the lowest. Fines in Pennsylvania top off at $85. That’s quite the difference!
🔋That IRA-enacted tax credit of up to $7,500 may have a complicated start. Those customers who meet certain income and price limits may be able to receive the full credit at the beginning of 2023… but those who don’t will have to wait. There is a complexity to the requirements of the tax credit, which was meant to spur those to purchase electric vehicles.
GET SMART 🧠
Ramp up that brain power for these advanced topics…
🤝 Ever heard of “friend-shoring”? "The term represents the renewed focus on regional supply chains instead of expanding global ones. This consists of a network of businesses and organizations that are involved in the production, processing, and distribution of goods and services within a particular region or geographic area. This can include raw materials suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, distribution centers, and retailers, as well as the transportation and logistics companies that connect these different parts of the supply chain.
💻 Supply chain software: to outsource, or keep it in-house? Supply chain software is a type of computer software that is used to manage and optimize various aspects of the supply chain, such as procurement, production, inventory management, transportation, and distribution. Supply chain software can be used by businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large multinational corporations.
🚂 Rail carload and intermodal volumes in the US are on a steady decline. Down 3.2% by December 17th, rail carloads have been dropping each week in December - the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reporting annual declines. A rail carload is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of freight that can be carried on a single railcar. Rail carloads are typically used to measure the volume of goods being transported by rail, as it allows businesses to determine the number of railcars they will need to move their goods from one location to another.
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.