Companion bills in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate aim to amend the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, removing the overtime exemption for truckers. Predictably, it’s opposed by shippers and rail carriers, and supported by unions, trucking associations and safety groups. A spokesman for a major auto carrier explains why he supports it.
This special report from Multichannel Merchant explores the issue of automation and robotics through the lens of project timelines, lead times on equipment, ROI and performance gains. Industry experts provide perspectives on the business case, implementation and integration considerations, shelf life and future proofing and what’s next.
More than half of frontline workers (54%) said they would leave their field if something else presented itself, indicating the level of dissatisfaction with these critical positions at a time of low unemployment and the difficulty of staffing up workforces, a new survey found.
Instacart and the attorney’s office for the city of San Diego have reached a settlement over charges it misclassified its delivery drivers as contractors, a heated and ongoing issue in California and elsewhere that challenges the economics of last-mile delivery companies using the pervasive gig model.
Amazon is jumping on the peak surcharge bandwagon for the first time, asking sellers using its Fulfillment By Amazon service to pay 35 cents more per item for goods sold in the U.S. and Canada, running from Oct. 15 to Jan. 14, according to CNBC. This follows peak fee announcements from both FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service.
An activist investor group with control of at least two board seats at FedEx is reaching out to FedEx Ground contractors to see what they think of efforts by a new association of independent service providers to collectively approach management about challenges to their operations.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to hikes rates in January as a hedge against a projected $1 billion inflationary hit on 2022 operating costs. The USPS reported a $459 million third-quarter loss, which excluded a $2.15 billion impact from reform legislation addressing prefunded retiree healthcare. A peak surcharge is also being imposed.
The head of a renegade association of FedEx Ground contractors said those businesses have a strong case to be reclassified as franchisees, which would challenge the very contractor model the unit is built upon. Spencer Patton said many contractors could meet the reclassification test, giving them more legal rights and benefits.
UPS exceeded its Q2 revenue and earnings projections, but lower volume due to consolidation steps, including reducing Amazon packages by contractual agreement, plus the challenged macro picture didn’t resonate well on Wall Street. UPS is also piloting a delivery density program for major retailers through an OMS partnership.
Building operational resilience and developing problem/solution scenarios for your ecommerce fulfillment center prior to a recession will allow you to be nimbler. Have a plan vs. just hoping it doesn’t occur; hope is not a strategy. Include department heads early, identify areas to review and develop a course of action.