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.
It began with a bill from a freshman Congressman with no political experience. The idea that sprung from the bill, that
foreign-earned profits repatriated by U.S. firms could be used to fund infrastructure improvements, has taken on a mini-life
of its own.
In May 2013, Rep. John K. Delaney (D-Md.) introduced legislation to create an infrastructure fund seeded by the sale of $50
billion in bonds with 50-year maturities. U.S. corporations would be encouraged to buy the bonds by repatriating, tax free, part
of their foreign earnings for each dollar they invest. Based on a predetermined ratio, bidders for the bonds would be able to
repatriate a certain amount of dollars for each dollar they invest in the fund. The fund, meanwhile, would leverage the $50
billion investment to provide many more billions of dollars in infrastructure loans or guarantees.
Despite garnering plaudits—former Transport Secretary James H Burnley, IV, a veteran of Washington's transportation
battles, called it the most original financing idea he'd seen in 30 years—Delaney's bill languished in legislative limbo.
Now, just in the past few days, the concept has caught fire. In his fiscal 2016 budget request, President Obama proposed a
mandatory one-time 14-percent repatriation tax to pay for half of his six-year, $478 billion infrastructure funding proposal
(the balance would come from motor fuel tax receipts). Last Thursday, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rand Paul, (R-Ky.),
introduced legislation to allow companies to voluntarily repatriate earnings at a rate of 6.5 percent, well below the current
35-percent U.S. corporate income tax rate, as long as the proceeds are transferred into the Highway Trust Fund, the mechanism
that funds infrastructure projects. U.S. firms have parked about $2 trillion in foreign earnings overseas, largely because they
are loath to pay a 35-percent tax upon the funds' return to the U.S.
The Paul-Boxer bill, called the "Invest in Transportation Act of 2015," would give companies up to five years to complete the
transfer into the Trust Fund. The favorable tax rate would only apply to reparations that have exceeded each company's average
reparation activity in recent years, according to the legislation. Funds to be transferred must have been earned in 2015 or
earlier. No funds may be spent on executive compensation increases, stock buybacks, or shareholder dividends for three years
following the program's end.
Delaney, who has reintroduced his own bill, lauded Sens. Boxer and Paul for putting the issue in a "bipartisan sweet spot"
where a deal can get done. "Two years ago when we started on this framework, no one was talking about combining international
tax reform and infrastructure," Delaney said. "I'm heartened that more and more legislators are advocating our approach."
Congress has less than four months to pass a bill reauthorizing the Trust Fund, which is up for renewal May 31. If Congress
cannot pass legislation, it can extend trust fund authority for a period of time; the current law, which was signed by President
Obama in July 2012, was set to expire in September 2014 but was extended through May.
C. Kenneth Orski, a long-time public policy consultant and expert on infrastructure issues, said he doesn't think the idea of
connecting repatriation and infrastructure will succeed because it doesn't have sufficient support in the House. Orski said that
if a bill does advance, lawmakers would have to decide to either make repatriation mandatory as outlined in the White House budget
proposal or make it voluntary as in the Boxer-Paul bill. Supporters of the Administration's plan argue that a voluntary scheme
may not yield the revenue needed to create a robust funding stream.
Boxer's support could be a key factor in moving the legislative needle. Boxer, who is chairman of the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee, was the driving force in Congressional passage—against long odds—of the 2012 highway
funding legislation. Boxer's influence, combined with the notion that she may want to leave a legacy of legislative success
in the transport arena before she retires when her term is up in 2016, could help the initiative gain traction in both the
House and Senate.
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.