Our guest on this week's episode is Suketu Gandhi, a partner and global chair in the Strategic Operations practice at management and consulting firm Kearney. The annual World Economic Forum was held last week in Davos, Switzerland. This year it was more politicized than normal, especially with more than 60 heads of state making appearances and lots of international intrigue. But while the politicians stole the spotlight, the primary purpose of the meeting each year is to bring business leaders together to talk about how to improve business operations. This week’s podcast guest was one of the attendees and speakers at the conference and shares his impressions and takeaways from the week in Davos.

Artificial intelligence is being applied to all sorts of supply chain operations. This week we learned about some practical applications for the tech in the less-than-truckload space, as CH Robinson has some nifty new tools to avoid missed LRL freight pickups.

The annual SMC3 JumpStart meeting was held this week in Atlanta. The conference deals with the major issues and challenges facing the trucking industry. Key themes across the three days were the state of the freight economy (which remains marked by uncertainty), rise of artificial intelligence (which is being applied pretty broadly in LTL), and accelerating levels of fraud across the industry (which pose risks from both a safety and economic perspective).

Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A new series is now available on Top Threats to our Supply Chains. It covers topics including Geopolitical Risks, Economic Instability, Cybersecurity Risks, Threats to energy and electric grids; Supplier Risks, and Transportation Disruptions Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.

Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

• Kearney
• CH Robinson uses AI agents to avoid missed LTL freight pickups.
• LTL industry meets in Atlanta
• Visit Supply Chain Xchange
• Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
• Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com

This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner

Other links

• About DC VELOCITY
• Subscribe to DC VELOCITY
• Sign up for our FREE newsletters
• Advertise with DC VELOCITY

Our guest on this week's episode is Ronak Amin - global product marketing lead for fleet, mobility, and transport solutions at Here Technologies. Bridges and trucks are two elements that do not mix well. Many would be surprised to learn that an over-the-road truck strikes a bridge or an underpass every 36 minutes. Of course these accidents risk lives besides disrupting traffic flow. What can be done to prevent bridge strikes? Our guest offers some insights.

One major container ship line recently decided to resume sailings in the Red Sea but has now backed out of those plans and will instead continue sailing around Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal. In recent years the canal has been nearly empty of commercial traffic, due to violence and missiles from forces in Yemen, who were targeting Israeli and other western hemisphere ships due to the bloodshed in Israel’s war with Hamas. What does this change mean for shippers looking for some certainty in an ever-changing environment?

We’ve talked a lot about advances in humanoid robots recently, and there was more news this week. New Gartner research released on Tuesday found that the hype around humanoids is outpacing the technology’s readiness for large-scale deployment in logistics—and that means that we will probably see a lot of pilot projects over the next few years, but it’s going to be a while before these human-looking robots become commonplace on the warehouse floor.

Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A new series is now available on Top Threats to our Supply Chains. It covers topics including Geopolitical Risks, Economic Instability, Cybersecurity Risks, Threats to energy and electric grids; Supplier Risks, and Transportation Disruptions Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.

Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

• HERE Technologies
• CMA-CGM flip flop on Suez Canal transits could spook global shippers
• Report: Humanoid robots to stall at pilot scale
• Visit Supply Chain Xchange
• Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
• Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com

This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner

Other links

• About DC VELOCITY
• Subscribe to DC VELOCITY
• Sign up for our FREE newsletters
• Advertise with DC VELOCITY

Our guest on this week's episode is Tony Bradley, president and CEO of the Arizona Trucking Association and the executive director of the Arizona Trucking Association Foundation. We have seen huge changes within the trucking industry during the past year based on two big issues – the licensing of non-domiciled drivers and the huge surges we see in freight fraud. Victoria Kickham finds out more about what is being done to address these issues in this week’s guest interview.

One of the technology topics that has gotten a lot of buzz lately has been humanoid robots, which of course are that family of robots that have heads and bodies and torsos, and either walk on two legs or roll on a moving base like an AMR. This technology is very new of course, and has been seen only in research labs until recently. Ben Ames reports on an example of how one of these critters might fit into a real world workflow.

A recent survey of North American transportation, logistics, and supply chain executives reveals a disconnect between what those leaders see as the promise of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and their readiness to implement them. Victoria Kickham reports on a new survey that examines the effects of adopting AI and machine learning (ML) in logistics, and it revealed some interesting information about Agentic AI and its role in the industry.

Supply Chain Xchange also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A new series is now available on Top Threats to our Supply Chains. It covers topics including Geopolitical Risks, Economic Instability, Cybersecurity Risks, Threats to energy and electric grids; Supplier Risks, and Transportation Disruptions Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes. The podcast is also available at www.thescxchange.com.

Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:

• Arizona Trucking Association
• truckingresurgence.com
• Siemens completes pilot test of humanoid robot
• 42% of logistics leaders are holding back on Agentic AI, survey shows
• Visit Supply Chain Xchange
• Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
• Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com

This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner

Other links

• About DC VELOCITY
• Subscribe to DC VELOCITY
• Sign up for our FREE newsletters
• Advertise with DC VELOCITY