Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Come January when the 113th Congress is sworn in, it will be "Back to the Future" for the
House committee that oversees transportation and infrastructure in the United States.
At that time, Pennsylvania Republican Bill Shuster will become chairman of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee a dozen years after his father, the legendary Elmer Greinert "Bud" Shuster, resigned
from the same post. Shuster will succeed Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla), who is required to step down because House
rules permit members to serve as chairman for only one session of Congress.
Shuster, 51, has served in Congress since 2001, when he won a special election to succeed his
father. Shuster has served on the committee since entering Congress and currently chairs its
Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.
Shuster was one of the House conferees that negotiated a 27-month, $109 billion transportation-funding
measure that was signed into law in July. The bill was the first multi-year re-authorization of transportation
and infrastructure programs in seven years.
Those close to the process said Shuster was instrumental in educating freshmen lawmakers on the nuances
of transportation and infrastructure issues and the procedures required to successfully steer the bill
through House-Senate negotiations so it could reach President Obama's desk for signature.
"He played the role of loyal deputy to Mica and clearly was a valuable team member," said a high-level
Washington source. "I believe his views and Mica's on major transportation issues are similar."
Janet F. Kavinoky, executive director of transportation and infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
hailed Shuster's selection, calling him "very knowledgeable about transportation" and an advocate of seeking
bipartisan support for legislative initiatives.
FUTURE UNDER SHUSTER
Kavinoky added that in the next transport re-authorization cycle, Shuster will likely be interested in pushing for a bill with
more funding and a longer duration attached to it. "He understands the value of increasing the
level of investment in transportation and infrastructure and the value of a long-term bill" to
ensure that highway projects that often take several years to complete have the funding stream
to do so.
One issue that will be closely watched will be Shuster's view on the status of federal motor
fuels taxes, which is the near-exclusive source of funding for transport programs and which have
not been raised in nearly 20 years. Shuster told reporters last week that everything is on the
table with regards to revenue sources, including gas taxes. The committee has no jurisdiction
over taxes, which is the exclusive domain of the House Ways and Means Committee. Still, given
his elevated role in shaping transportation policy on Capitol Hill, Shuster's comments and
position are expected to be relevant.
Both the White House and Rep. Mica have opposed raising gas taxes, saying it would be a
regressive levy that would retard the nation's fragile recovery. The current transportation
funding law keeps taxes at current levels until 2015. The federal fuel tax on diesel use is
24.4 cents a gallon and 18.4 cents for gasoline.
C. Kenneth Orski, editor and publisher of "Innovation Briefs," a Potomac, Md.-based newsletter
covering transport and infrastructure issues, said he doesn't see much change in policy, noting that
broad policy directives in the House are generally set by the leadership and not by committee chairmen.
Shuster is believed to have good relations with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (R-Va).
Orski called Shuster's style "more diplomatic" than Mica's. Those speaking on condition of
anonymity agree, saying that while Mica and his predecessor, Minnesota Democrat James L. Oberstar,
spoke in abstract terms about bipartisanship but when push came to shove both would try to force
the minority party in the chamber to bow to the will of the majority.
One source added that Shuster will draw upon a wide range of stakeholder views and be more
tolerant of dissenting views than Mica was. "If you pissed off Mica, you were out," said one source.
Shuster's seat, representing Pennsylvania's staunchly Republican ninth district, which is west of Harrisburg,
has been a legislative family affair for 40 years. Bud Shuster served the district from 1973 to 2001, the
last six of those years as the committee's chairman. The elder Shuster was known for his love of the
"earmark," a provision that directs approved funds to be spent on specific projects in a Congressman's
home district, often in exchange for the lawmaker's support of a certain bill.
Though Shuster did not invent the earmark, their numbers exploded during his tenure as he skillfully
used the process to build support for bills coming out of his committee.
States across the Southeast woke up today to find that the immediate weather impacts from Hurricane Helene are done, but the impacts to people, businesses, and the supply chain continue to be a major headache, according to Everstream Analytics.
The primary problem is the collection of massive power outages caused by the storm’s punishing winds and rainfall, now affecting some 2 million customers across the Southeast region of the U.S.
One organization working to rush help to affected regions since the storm hit Florida’s western coast on Thursday night is the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). As it does after most serious storms, the group continues to marshal donated resources from supply chain service providers in order to store, stage, and deliver help where it’s needed.
Support for recovery efforts is coming from a massive injection of federal aid, since the White House declared states of emergency last week for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Affected states are also supporting the rush of materials to needed zones by suspending transportation requirement such as certain licensing agreements, fuel taxes, weight restrictions, and hours of service caps, ALAN said.
E-commerce activity remains robust, but a growing number of consumers are reintegrating physical stores into their shopping journeys in 2024, emphasizing the need for retailers to focus on omnichannel business strategies. That’s according to an e-commerce study from Ryder System, Inc., released this week.
Ryder surveyed more than 1,300 consumers for its 2024 E-Commerce Consumer Study and found that 61% of consumers shop in-store “because they enjoy the experience,” a 21% increase compared to results from Ryder’s 2023 survey on the same subject. The current survey also found that 35% shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail (up 4% from last year), and 15% say they shop in-store to avoid package theft (up 8% from last year).
“Retail and e-commerce continue to evolve,” Jeff Wolpov, Ryder’s senior vice president of e-commerce, said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings. “The emergence of e-commerce and growth of omnichannel fulfillment, particularly over the past four years, has altered consumer expectations and behavior dramatically and will continue to do so as time and technology allow.
“This latest study demonstrates that, while consumers maintain a robust
appetite for e-commerce, they are simultaneously embracing in-person shopping, presenting an impetus for merchants to refine their omnichannel strategies.”
Other findings include:
• Apparel and cosmetics shoppers show growing attraction to buying in-store. When purchasing apparel and cosmetics, shoppers are more inclined to make purchases in a physical location than they were last year, according to Ryder. Forty-one percent of shoppers who buy cosmetics said they prefer to do so either in a brand’s physical retail location or a department/convenience store (+9%). As for apparel shoppers, 54% said they prefer to buy clothing in those same brick-and-mortar locations (+9%).
• More customers prefer returning online purchases in physical stores. Fifty-five percent of shoppers (+15%) now say they would rather return online purchases in-store–the first time since early 2020 the preference to Buy Online Return In-Store (BORIS) has outweighed returning via mail, according to the survey. Forty percent of shoppers said they often make additional purchases when picking up or returning online purchases in-store (+2%).
• Consumers are extremely reliant on mobile devices when shopping in-store. This year’s survey reveals that 77% of consumers search for items on their mobile devices while in a store, Ryder said. Sixty-nine percent said they compare prices with items in nearby stores, 58% check availability at other stores, 31% want to learn more about a product, and 17% want to see other items frequently purchased with a product they’re considering.
Ryder said the findings also underscore the importance of investing in technology solutions that allow companies to provide customers with flexible purchasing options.
“Omnichannel strength is not a fad; it is a strategic necessity for e-commerce and retail businesses to stay competitive and achieve sustainable success in 2024 and beyond,” Wolpov also said. “The findings from this year’s study underscore what we know our customers are experiencing, which is the positive impact of integrating supply chain technology solutions across their sales channels, enabling them to provide their customers with flexible, convenient options to personalize their experience and heighten customer satisfaction.”
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Two European companies are among the most recent firms to put autonomous last-mile delivery to the test with a project in Bern, Switzerland, that debuted this month.
Swiss transportation and logistics company Planzer has teamed up with fellow Swiss firm Loxo, which develops autonomous driving software solutions, for a two-year pilot project in which a Loxo-equipped, Planzer parcel delivery van will handle last-mile logistics in Bern’s city center.
The project coincides with Swiss regulations on autonomous driving that are expected to take effect next spring.
Referred to as “Planzer–Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO,” the project aims to address both sustainability issues and traffic congestion in urban areas.
The delivery vehicle, a Volkswagen ID. Buzz battery-electric minivan, will feature Loxo’s Level 4 Digital Driver navigation software, a highly automated solution that allows driverless operation. The van was retrofitted to include space for two swap boxes for parcel storage.
During the two-year pilot phase, Loxo’s Digital Driver will navigate a commercial vehicle several times a day from Planzer’s railway center to various logistics points in Bern's city center. There, the parcels will be reloaded onto small electric vehicles and delivered to end customers by Planzer’s parcel delivery staff.
Following the completion of the pilot phase, Planzer and Loxo will build on the program for rollout in other Swiss cities, the companies said.
The partners said the project addresses the increasing requirements of urban supply chains and aims to ensure the “scalability of their disruptive solution.” With largely emission-free delivery, it contributes to greater levels of sustainability for the city as a living space, they also said.
“The uniqueness of this project lies in the fact that it will have a direct impact on society,” Planzer’s CEO and Chairman Nils Planzer said in a statement announcing the project. “We didn't just want to integrate automated technology into existing systems, we wanted to develop a completely new concept and a new business model.”
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.