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.
The rank-and-file Teamsters' union members at UPS Freight, UPS Inc.'s less-than-truckload (LTL) unit,
overwhelmingly voted to reject a five-year contract proposal already approved by the company and union
leadership. The vote, which was 4,244 to 1,897, sends both sides back to the bargaining table and raises
doubts about whether a deal can be finalized before the contract's July 31 expiration date.
At UPS' larger small-package unit, the situation is not as clear-cut, yet it still spells potential trouble
for the Atlanta-based giant and for Teamster leaders. As of late Monday, the contract seemed headed for approval
but only by a slightly more than 4,000-vote margin. According to dissident group Teamsters for a Democratic Union
(TDU), the contract passed with the narrowest margin of victory in the history of UPS labor agreements. The first
national contract was reached in 1979. Before then, the two sides worked under regional and local compacts.
In addition, TDU said members rejected 17 regional supplements and riders to the contract. If accurate, that would be
the largest number of supplemental and rider rejections in the Teamsters' 110-year history.
Unlike with UPS Freight, the Teamsters did not confirm the results of the small-package contract on its
website as of last night. UPS and Teamster leaders tentatively agreed on both pacts in April. The small-package
contract, which also expires July 31, covers about 240,000 UPS employees. The LTL pact covers between 10,000 and
12,000 workers at UPS Freight. Combined it is the largest collective-bargaining agreement in North America.
All of the rejected supplements and riders must be renegotiated and re-voted on before a national contract can be
signed, according to TDU. That's because the contract is one integrated document, not separate or regional agreements.
If a supplement or a rider is rejected for a third time, that becomes a strike vote, TDU said.
Ken Paff, TDU's national organizer and a frequent critic of Teamster General President James P. Hoffa, called the
votes on the two contracts "a big repudiation" of Hoffa's efforts. Paff said the outcomes are a "pretty big deal" for UPS as well.
In a statement issued last night, UPS said it "has not been officially notified of voting results, and it is our
understanding that the ballot count will continue tomorrow." UPS said it would not comment further until it was notified
by the Teamsters of the results.
The small-package master contract passed on the backs of members in the Southeast, the mid-Atlantic, and New England.
In those regions, the margin of victory was close to 12,000 votes. In the rest of the country, the margin of rejection was
about 7,000 votes.
The most striking blow came from the Central region, home of the largest supplemental agreement. There, Local 89 in
Louisville, Ky.—which represents about 9,300 small-package workers and is the largest Teamster local in the UPS system—
rejected the master agreement by a vote of 3,388 to 483. The rank-and-file rejected its supplement by an equally convincing
vote of 3,520 to 441. Louisville is home to UPS' primary global air facility known as Worldport. In mid-May, leaders of the
local had advised members to reject the small-package and UPS Freight contract proposals.
POINTS OF CONTENTION
Based on public statements over the past 24 hours, the biggest bone of contention is the proposed shift from a
UPS-administered health plan to a Teamster health plan with UPS and the union as trustees. Opponents of the shift
say it will result in benefit cuts for the affected workers. Additionally some opponents, such as the leaders of
Local 89 in Louisville, say there is no clear explanation of how the transition would occur.
"Health care sunk [both contracts]," said a high-level union source.
Union officials have also voiced concerns that the raises for package workers in the proposed master contract
fall below the level of increases called for in the current pact. They are also worried that the agreement contained
no pension increases for the first four years.
The Union's executive board also took a dim view of the tentative UPS Freight contract, saying it fails to eliminate or
reduce the practice of driver subcontracting, which was one of the union's main grievances. UPS Freight subcontracts about
half its driving work, according to union officials.
Judging by the resounding defeat of the UPS Freight agreement, the rank-and-file were unhappy with the proposed creation
of a separate "line-haul driver" division designed to reduce the incidence of driver subcontracting. According to Local 89
in Louisville, the contract still fails to eliminate or reduce the practice. Newly hired employees of the division would earn
20 cents less per mile than other members, local officials said.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
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.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.