Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Truckers will have ways to steer clear of Atlanta's collapsed Interstate 85

Alternative highways available to move freight.

It is setting up to be a long, hot summer for metro Atlanta commuters, though truckers needing to navigate around a suddenly broken interstate highway that runs through the heart of the city may have it somewhat easier.

Thursday night's fire and subsequent collapse of an elevated section of Interstate 85 just north of Atlanta's downtown area is likely to shut the heavily travelled, 10-lane artery for several months. The raging fire, believed to have been set by three homeless people clustered under the elevated span, broke out about 6 p.m. Within an hour, a section of the northbound side of I-85 had collapsed, shutting down the artery in both directions. It is a nightmare come true for the thousands of motorists who rely on that section of the interstate to move around the congested region. About 243,000 vehicles travel over the affected area alone each day, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.


Truckers are prohibited from using the region's three primary interstates, I-85, I-75, and I-20, within its perimeter highway, I-285, unless they are making local pickups and deliveries. Once beyond the perimeter, truckers can use I-75, which parallels I-85 through the city before branching off toward central Georgia and the west coast of Florida to the south, and toward Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan to the north and northwest. Interstate 20 is an east-west artery that heads toward Alabama to the west and Augusta, Ga., to the east.

I-85 is a 668-mile span that runs north to Petersburg, Va., just south of Richmond, and south toward Montgomery, Ala.

Though truckers have safety valves around I-85, there is little doubt that the location of the affected stretch will create headaches for goods movement. The re-directing of commercial vehicles is likely to further stress arteries that are already horribly congested.

The convergence of I-285 and I-85, an area known to locals as "Spaghetti Junction" for its five-level stack interchange that resembles a concrete pretzel, was named in January as the country's most congested truck interchange for 2016 by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry's nonprofit research group. It was the second straight year the interchange captured the dubious honor.

The Latest

More Stories

Clorox partnership helps suppliers meet carbon reduction targets

Clorox partnership helps suppliers meet carbon reduction targets

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) provider The Clorox Co. has partnered with Manufacture 2030 (M2030) to help Clorox's suppliers meet their carbon reduction targets and advance the company's long-term goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

In addition to its flagship Clorox bleach product, Oakland, California-based Clorox manages a diverse catalog of brands including Hidden Valley Ranch, Glad, Pine-Sol, Burt’s Bees, Kingsford, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, 409, Brita, Liquid Plumr, and Tilex.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

U.S. map with drought risk

Everstream Analytics quantifies how climate risk affects supply chains

Supply chain risk analytics company Everstream Analytics has launched a product that can quantify the impact of leading climate indicators and project how identified risk will impact customer supply chains.

Expanding upon the weather and climate intelligence Everstream already provides, the new “Climate Risk Scores” tool enables clients to apply eight climate indicator risk projection scores to their facilities and supplier locations to forecast future climate risk and support business continuity.

Keep ReadingShow less
packaging supplies plastic films

Innotex Packaging launched from merger of three companies

The investment firm LongueVue Capital has bundled three shipping product companies together to create Innotex Packaging Solutions, calling it an integrated flexible packaging solutions provider that unites Summit Plastics, ClearView Packaging, and Fredman Packaging.

According to New Orleans-based LongueVue, the “strategic rebranding” brings together the complementary capabilities of these three companies to form a vertically integrated flexible packaging leader with expertise in blown film production, flexographic printing, adhesive laminations, and converting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Picking reimagined

What happens when your warehouse technology upgrade turns into a complete process overhaul? That may sound like a headache to some, but for leaders at paper crafting company Stampin’ Up! it’s been a golden opportunity—especially when it comes to boosting productivity. The Utah-based direct marketing company has increased its average pick rate by more than 70% in the past year and a half. And it’s all due to a warehouse management system (WMS) implementation that opened the door to process changes and new technologies that are speeding its high-velocity, high-SKU (stock-keeping unit) order fulfillment operations.

The bottom line: Stampin’ Up! is filling orders faster than ever before, with less manpower, since it shifted to an easy-to-use voice picking system that makes adapting to seasonal product changes and promotions a piece of cake. Here’s how.

Keep ReadingShow less
autostore AS/RS at toyota materal handling site

New AutoStore AS/RS at Toyota Material Handling’s DC will increase parts volume and fulfillment speed

With its new AutoStore automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) system, Toyota Material Handling Inc.’s parts distribution center, located at its U.S. headquarters campus in Columbus, Indiana, will be able to store more forklift and other parts and move them more quickly. The new system represents a major step toward achieving TMH’s goal of next-day parts delivery to 98% of its customers in the U.S. and Canada by 2030, said TMH North America President and CEO Brett Wood at the launch event on October 28. The upgrade to the DC was designed, built, and installed through a close collaboration between TMH, AutoStore, and Bastian Solutions, the Toyota-owned material handling automation designer and systems integrator that is a cornerstone of the forklift maker’s Toyota Automated Logistics business unit. The AS/RS is Bastian’s 100th AutoStore installation in North America.

TMH’s AutoStore system deploys 28 energy-efficient robotic shuttles to retrieve and deliver totes from within a vertical storage grid. To expedite processing, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced software determines optimal storage locations based on whether parts are high- or low-demand items. The shuttles, each independently controlled and selected based on shortest distance to the stored tote, swiftly deliver the ordered parts to four picking ports. Each port can process up to 175 totes per hour; the company’s initial goal is 150 totes per hour, with room to grow. The AS/RS also eliminates the need for order pickers to walk up to 10 miles per day, saving time, boosting picking accuracy, and improving ergonomics for associates.

Keep ReadingShow less