Entirely female Space X crew in recovery operation
Good morning! Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our readers in the supply chain industry! As we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland today, let's take a moment to reflect on the importance of efficient and reliable supply chains in ensuring that the festive spirit can be enjoyed by people all over the world. From the production and transportation of traditional Irish foods and beverages to the logistics of shipping green decorations and apparel, the supply chain plays a vital role in bringing St. Patrick's Day celebrations to life.
So grab your shamrocks and let's dive in! 🇮🇪🍀🍻
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Elon Musk is getting kudos and making history this week by having the first-ever all-female crew to be a part of a recovery operation off the Florida coast. This operation was carried out on the vessel named “Doug” which is designed for retrieving rocket boosters and reusable payload fairings. The shipping and maritime operations industry is also looking to be more gender diverse, as only 1.2% of seafarer workers are women.
Check out today’s featured article from GCaptain to read more about the historic operation trip that happened off the coast of Florida and what it could mean for maritime and sea shipping gender diversity around the world. Will Elon Musk start putting together women-only space missions?
Featured Article:
All-Female SpaceX Crew Makes Space Recovery History | G Captain
“Elon Musk’s SpaceX is making a little bit of history this week with what is believed to be the first all-female crew involved the space recovery operations off the coast of Florida.”
Electric Vehicles & Fuel Tech 🔋
North America’s biggest machinery conference unveils new EV power
On March 14-18, Las Vegas held the industry’s largest trade conference, this was the first meeting since the pandemic in 2020. Over 130,000 people attended this 4-day event. While diesel still dominates construction sites many EV vehicles were shown by many different companies around the Expo Hall.
Electric vehicles can be more efficient and have lower operating costs than traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. This can be especially important for construction sites, where vehicles may be used for long hours and consume a lot of fuel. Electric vehicles also produce fewer emissions than traditional vehicles, which can help construction sites reduce their environmental impact and meet sustainability goals. Some cities and countries have regulations in place that require construction sites to use electric or low-emission vehicles. By using electric vehicles, construction sites can comply with these regulations and avoid penalties.
Trucking & Taxes 🚛
New truck tax may be repealed in House bill
This new bill could end the federal excise tax on heavy trucks for good. This tax has been around since 1917 as a way to help pay for World War 1, many have tried to get it removed but have been unsuccessful until now. This new bill will be taking away the 12% tax on heavy trucks and trailers which will help businesses reduce costs and even help consumers not pay so much for essential goods.
Truck owners feel that the tax is unfair, as they may feel that they are already paying enough taxes through other fees such as fuel taxes, registration fees, and tolls. They may also feel that the tax is discriminatory against truck owners, as other types of vehicles are not to be subject to the taxes. The cost of the truck tax is also seen as an additional financial burden for truck owners, especially for those who may be operating on a tight budget. They feel that they cannot afford to pay any more taxes or fees than they already do.
Let’s Get Global 🌎
🇪🇺 Europe says electric vehicles are proving to be too expensive for the middle class. Europe has slowed production of lithium-powered cars, their production this year is expected to be over a million cars less than the original estimate. The cost of the battery pack, which is the most expensive component of an electric vehicle, can account for a significant portion of the overall cost of the car. While battery costs have been decreasing in recent years, they are still higher than the cost of traditional combustion engines.
🇮🇹🇩🇪 Italy and Germany team up to change EU’s combustion engine ban. Germany, Italy, and some other small eastern European countries have formed an alliance in order to voice opposition to Europe’s ban on combustion engines. This ban is hoping to phase out all internal combustion engines by 2035, Germany’s Volkswagen has said that many combustion engine cars are able to run in a climate-neutral way and should be exempt.
🚂 Why will intermodal freight be the future? Intermodal refers to the transportation of goods or cargo using multiple modes of transportation, such as rail, truck, and ship, without handling the goods themselves when changing between modes. Intermodal transportation can offer several benefits over traditional transportation methods, including reduced transportation costs, improved efficiency, and reduced environmental impact. It can also help to overcome the limitations of individual transportation modes, such as limited capacity or geographic reach.
iLevel With You 🏡
More topics for the average American household to consider…
💰 FDIC announces how they protect your money after a bank run. The FDIC insures deposits in participating banks and savings associations up to a certain amount per depositor, per account type, and bank. This means that if a bank fails, the FDIC will step in to ensure that depositors receive their insured deposits, usually within a few days. The current standard insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category.
🔋 Private sector investments = better EV charging network. J.D. Powers announced that their studies have shown there was a rise in charging stations not being used and ultimately failing in the last couple of years. The data shows that nearly 2 out of 5 visits to a charging station were left unsuccessful in 2022. What could private sector investments do to help?
🤑 People can combat inflation and its losses. Steep prices are here and not leaving any time soon. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has said that bakery items have risen 16.1% in the last year because of the inflation challenges. These can be helped by company owners analyzing data and refining budgets when managing their cash flow. These changes could help everybody in the long run, because inflation is not going to completely disappear anytime soon.
Get Smart 🧠
Ramp up that brain power for these advanced topics…
🤖 DHL Supply Chain and Boston Dynamics launch successful robot dancing videos. DHL has been gaining more popularity from their recent music videos that collaborate with Boston Dynamics robots dancing. The robots are used to unload trucks, but also seem to have a funky wheel or two. These dances are also helping engineers improve the movements and precision of the technology.
🏆 Top opportunities and challenges for supply chain executives. Many highlighted challenges in conversations with executives of the supply chain and logistics were things like the uncertainty of the future, a talent or skill shortage, and sustainability problems. Maria Villablanca of “Future Insights Network” said that she believes that the industry is falling short of positive change and innovation.
🇺🇸 Truckload capacity continues to lower in the US. Graphs showing the capacity trends in interstate truckloads by the DAT are being seen as a decline since mid-2022. The changes are calculated by how many trucks enter or re-enter the market against departures.
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.