The US Department of Transportation has launched what may be a “Hail Mary pass” to extend the Highway Trust Fund by reintroducing a new version of the same transportation bill that failed to get passed last year. The HTF will expire at the end of next month if no action is taken. It was extended … Read more
The Reusable Packaging Association last week issued new guidelines for use of reusable plastic containers, which are becoming an increasingly popular way to transport fresh and perishable products in the supply chain. The voluntary guidelines encompass the washing, handling, storing, packing, displaying and collecting of plastic containers in the supply chain, as well as defining … Read more
Editor’s Note: In today’s Thursday Feature, we travel to a courtroom in Santa Barbara County, California, where the impact of a forklift crash are still being felt by its victims and their families. Adolo Pozos Sr. stood in a California courtroom last Thursday. A few feet away sat the man who killed his wife and … Read more
Charging that the Union Pacific Railroad nurtures a “culture of retaliation” against its workers, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration slapped the railroad with $350,000 in damages in connection with a worker who was disciplined ror reporting a workplace injury. The incident occurred Dec. 22, 2013, at the Union Pacific’s yard in North Platte, … Read more
In cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, people who need to get from one place for another are increasingly skipping the subway or taxi stand and instead touching an app on their smart phone called Uber to arrange for a safe, affordable ride. Companies like Uber, Lyft and others act as a middleman, … Read more
In 1957, inventors Alfred W. Fielding and Marc Chavannes were sitting around their workshop in Hawthrone, New Jersey, when they came up with a really bad idea. What if we took two shower curtains and sealed them together, trapping pockets of air bubbles inside? Wouldn’t that make an excellent … wallpaper? The decorating idea didn’t … Read more
Editor’s Note: In today’s Thursday Feature, we are going to examine the rise of the machines, or why robots have suddenly made the leap from manufacturing to widespread use in material handling in warehouses and distribution centers. Just a few years ago, robots were widely used in manufacturing but rarely — if ever — seen … Read more
Today is April Fool’s Day, the one day of the year that office pranks are not only socially acceptable, but anticipated. While just about everybody appreciates a good April Fool’s prank, you don’t want to spend the afternoon in human resources explaining why you thought your joke was appropriate for the office. So here are … Read more
Ringing the outskirts of Chicago and its suburbs like a glistening diamond necklace are a series of 22 intermodal rail yards. These bustling facilities are buzzing with activity 24 hours per day as cranes transfer hundreds of cargo containers per hour from towering stacks to semi trailer trucks and rail cars belonging to the biggest railroads … Read more
Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are tiny electronic devices that can be embedded into products, parts, tools and other items so that they can be tracked as they move through the production and into the supply chain. When used in conjunction with strategically-placed RFID reader devices, they can provide precise, real-time information about the … Read more
