Intermodal Archives - Odyssey Logistics

Driving resilience and innovation across Odyssey

waw-ts — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 16:18:10 +0000

2024 was a year that tested the resilience of supply chains everywhere — port disruptions, unpredictable markets, and geopolitical conflicts kept us all on our toes. At Odyssey, we turned these challenges into opportunities to build stronger partnerships, deliver smarter solutions, and enhance the services we provide to our customers. I’m proud to say that, […]

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Transloading to Offset Port Challenges and Rising Transportation Costs

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:53:02 +0000

The movement of goods across different transportation modes during a shipment’s journey to its final destination, transloading is a popular choice for companies that want to improve efficiencies, save money and leverage the strength of multiple modes. With transloading, the goods stay in the same container for the entire journey—even as they’re switched from ship […]

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March Toward Agreement? Update on CPKC & CN-TCRC Rail Negotiations

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:52:00 +0000

August 12, 2024 Update On August 9th, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled that there are no essential services that must be maintained in the event of a strike or lockout at CN or CPKC. The CIRB also imposed a 13-day cooling off period before a strike or lockout could occur. Both the CN […]

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Ready to finish out 2022 strong?

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:12:25 +0000

Here are some transportation, freight and logistics strategies to help finish 2022 stronger and prepare for success in 2023.
The last couple of years have been tough for shippers as they’ve navigated ongoing pandemic impacts, a labor shortage, rising transportation costs, capacity constraints and persistent supply chain challenges. These issues followed companies right into 2022 and were then exacerbated by countless other external factors.
The good news is that there’s still time to end 2022 on a positive note and enter the new year in a strong, fortified position—ready to tackle both existing and emerging transportation, freight and logistics challenges.
Here are five moves you can make now to finish the year strong:
1) Work with a multimodal partner with experience and a wide network of transportation options. The days of sticking with single modes, carriers and routes to get products from origin to destination are long gone. Shippers are using more creative means to optimize their supply chain. With vast expertise across multiple different options and combinations, multimodal logistics partners are good at effectively finding capacity when and where it makes the most economic sense. They use a selection of different carriers and modes to move freight, and then they pass those efficiencies down to shippers who ultimately benefit from having a wider range of choices. If you’re not already working with a multimodal partner, now is a great time to start.
2) Use advanced technology to your advantage. If you’re still trying to run your shipping operation on aging, legacy, on-premises software solutions, it’s time for an upgrade. The cloud has made modern capabilities and functionalities more ubiquitous than ever, and transportation management systems (TMS) now come with features that allow you to manage your end-to-end supply chain. For example, Odyssey’s Shiprite on Demand (SROD) provides simplicity, speed and a trusted carrier network, and our step–by–step technology provides our customers with an efficient and cost-effective alternative to support their requirements, even with the most complicated shipping needs. The platform provides instant quotes, handles the bill of lading booking process, dispatch shipments and provides 24/7 tracking access from pickup to delivery.
3) Plan for more backlogs, supply shortages and port congestion, but work to avoid the bullwhip effect. Global Trade Magazine expects “backlogs from supply shortages and congested ports” to continue in 2023. “In October 2021, 45% of surveyed economists believed supply chain bottlenecks would mostly recede by mid-2022, with another 40% believing it would happen earlier,” the publication states. “Seeing how these issues have yet to resolve in many areas, it’s safe to assume they’ll persist for a while. Supply chain managers must plan around continued backlogs.” Shippers should avoid over-ordering to compensate for these backlogs, Global Trade Magazine cautions. “Caving to demand too quickly could worsen the situation, continuing the bullwhip effect. Instead, supply chains should focus on slow, long-term recovery, restructuring to prevent similar shortages in the future.”
4) Stay up to date on logistics, freight and shipping trends. By staying up to date on what’s going on in the marketplace—whether good, bad or indifferent—shippers can ready themselves to take on challenges and also leverage new opportunities. Start by checking out Odyssey’s Monthly Market Update. It provides a concise overview of current trucking capacity, import/export, GDP, and trucking rate trends. The monthly update also gives you actionable strategies (e.g., how to become a “shipper of choice” for your carriers) that you can use to end 2022 well and start planning for success in 2023.
5) Address the current disruptions and prepare for the emerging issues. Hurricane Ian, ongoing geopolitical issues (e.g., the war in Ukraine, Brexit, etc.), the chip shortage and ongoing labor constraints and negotiations have all impacted the transportation environment in 2022. As you continue to address these current problems, you should also be scenario- and contingency-planning, knowing that there’s likely more disruption coming around the next corner. You’ll want to factor potential disruptions into your year-end planning and keep them top-of-mind as you map out your transportation and logistics strategy for 2023.

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Why you should be working with a multimodal transportation & logistics partner

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 09:25:13 +0000

As they continue to grapple with supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, rising freight costs and other uncertainties, companies need reliable logistics partners that can manage more than just one freight mode or transportation option. By serving as “one stop shops” for most of these companies’ transportation needs, multimodal partners help shippers work faster, save money and manage issues like capacity crunches.

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What the current ILWU and PMA contract negotiations mean for shippers

Thu, 05 May 2022 12:00:48 +0000

A look at how the upcoming port labor negotiations could impact transportation networks and the shippers that rely on them to get their goods from origin to destination.

As of May 23rd, contract talks between the ILWU and PMA have been suspended until June 1, 2022, however, individual committee meeting between both sides are continuing.

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Railroad contract negotiations update

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 09:44:11 +0000

On March 22, 2022, the “TCRC – Train and Engine Negotiating Committee agreed to enter binding arbitration with CP, ending the TCRC strike action that began over the weekend.”

The unions applied to the National Mediation Board (NMB) for a federal mediator to be assigned to the negotiations March 11th-16th, 2022. If the mediation fails, strikes, work stoppages and supply chain disruptions could occur.

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4 supply chain pivots to make now

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 14:19:39 +0000

With the peak holiday shipping season right around the corner and no immediate end in sight to the current supply chain woes, shippers should be sharpening their pencils and preparing for more disruption through the end of 2021 and into 2022.

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Measuring the impacts of the national truck driver shortage

Wed, 12 May 2021 09:09:12 +0000

Tank trucks haul one-third of all tonnage transported by truck, but finding qualified people to drive them is getting more and more difficult. Here’s why it matters and what the private and public sectors can do about it.

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