If you are an up-and-coming CPG brand that has secured a deal with UNFI, congratulations! Working with a nationwide distributor can open many doors previously inaccessible to your brand and land you a lot of shelf space. For those of you that do not know, UNFI is a wholesale food distributor. This means […]
Read MoreAuthor: Bethany Cramer
How Inflation is Affecting Consumer Spending Habits and CPG Supply Chains
This article was originally published in Supply and Demand Chain Executive. Consumer packaged goods companies have seen inflation trend higher than the national index. Here’s why value-added partnerships will build an optimized, transparent, adaptable and resilient supply chain. In recent years, the United States has experienced events that have altered the day-to-day lives of […]
Read MoreWhy Companies Should Invest In Tech Even Amid Economic Hardship
This article was originally published in Forbes. In recent years, businesses across many industries have experienced the labor shortages that came after a global pandemic, material sourcing challenges because of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and general financial pressure from sharp inflation rate increases in the United States. These difficulties meant that many companies were forced […]
Read MoreYellow Shut Down: How CPG Shippers May Be Impacted
Long-time LTL carrier, Yellow, announced bankruptcy and the halt of all operations on July 30th, 2023. Saddled with debt after mismanaging large loans paid out by the federal government during the pandemic and struggling to come to agreements with employee unions, Yellow Corporation was forced to shut down. Yellow’s fleet contains roughly 14,000 […]
Read MoreZipline Love Stories: Data-Driven Results from our Favorite Customers
Zipline Logistics is proud to be the only third-party logistics company exclusively servicing the consumer-packaged goods sector. We rely on our world-class team of retail transportation experts, state-of-the-art shipper intelligence tools, and uniquely qualified carrier network to eliminate out-of-stocks and maximize our clients’ gross profit. Our processes are built specifically to resolve the most […]
Read MoreChoose Service this Bid Season
Bid season is just around the corner, and that means that CPG shippers who have frequent, high-volume lanes are gearing up for their requests for pricing (RFP). The market has nearly bottomed out since the last bid season, so it is time for you to contract new rates if it hasn’t been done already. […]
Read MoreCVSA Brake Safety Week Scheduled for August 20th – 26th
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will he holding 2023’s Brake Safety Week from August 20th through the 26th. The focus will be on brake lining and pad violations. During this week, commercial motor vehicle inspectors will inspect and remove commercial motor vehicles found to have out-of-service brake violations from the roads until […]
Read MoreKeep Your Product In-Stock for Back-to-School Shopping
Believe it or not, many consumers have already started back-to-school (BTS) shopping in stores. According to the National Retail Federation, total consumer spend is expected to reach a new record of $135.5 billion when college students are included – about $25 billion higher than last year. Some of the highest spending categories include electronics […]
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2023 Q3 Freight Market Update
The second quarter of the freight market saw rates and tender rejections slow their decline and hover at what many experts believe is the market bottom. Keep in mind, these numbers were recently bolstered by holiday freight and end of quarter inventory crunches that many brands face. The soft market is likely to extend […]
Read More2023 Operation Safe Driver Week: July 9 – 15
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has scheduled it’s 2023 Operation Safe Driver Week to take place July 9-15. Shippers should prepare for tight capacity at this time. Law enforcement in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will be on roadways issuing warnings and citations to commercial motor vehicles engaging in unsafe driving behaviors such as […]
Read MoreWhat Shippers Should Focus on in a Soft Market
Since the decline of the COVID-19 pandemic, shippers have gradually seen negotiating leverage return to their hands as freight volumes fell below the number of available trucks and the market soften drastically. What is a soft market? Currently the Outbound Tender Reject Index (OTRI) — a measure of how often carriers reject their contracted […]
Read MoreHow ChatGPT Could Affect the Supply Chain Industry
This article was originally published in Food Logistics. Over the first quarter of 2023, you’ve undoubtedly seen headlines regarding a new breed of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and chatbots, known as large language models (LLMs), which have the potential to augment or transform how we learn, live and work. For starters, ChatGPT by OpenAI […]
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