The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

This week’s edition of The Buzz featured co-hosts Scott Luton and Greg White. In addition to covering top supply chain news stories, they teased some of the supply chain factoids shared in the most recent edition of “With That Said,” the Supply Chain Now LinkedIn newsletter, the busiest global airports and the busiest U.S. seaports.

In this livestream, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, Scott and Greg discussed:

• How many shoppers are willing to accept slower eCommerce delivery speeds in exchange for slower delivery timing

• Possible explanations for the 1 percent drop in U.S. retail sales reported in March – and why those same factors may have caused online retail sales to increase by 1.9 percent

• Surprises and confirmations to be found in recent lists of the busiest airports in the world and the busiest U.S. container ports/seaports

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton and Greg White here with you on Supply Chain. Now, welcome to today’s livestream. Greg, how you doing?

Greg White (00:40):

I am holding up pretty well, Scott, after having walked about 20 miles in the last two days, but all worth it.

Scott Luton (00:47):

Yeah, do, do, tell.

Greg White (00:50):

Well, so, you know, the Heritage Golf tournament, which, um, was, is now an elevated tournament. They doubled the purse money. Yeah. Prize money. So, uh, now a whole bunch more golfers that we’ve heard of play it. Um, and it went into, we got free golf yesterday, but, you know, they had a sudden death playoff between Jordan SPE and Matt Fitz Patrick. Yep. Uh, who ulti Matt Fitzpatrick, who ultimately won by hitting the ball that close from about 180 yards on the hole. Just truly impressive to do that. So, um, yeah, it, but it was a lot of walking, huge crowds. Uh, and I’m, I am, uh, I despise waiting to park.

Scott Luton (01:40):

Yeah. And

Greg White (01:42):

Just couldn’t bear to ride a shuttle. So I rode my bike, which was not a huge ride, but after having walked around all day, I’m feeling

Scott Luton (01:53):

It <laugh>. Well, sounds like a great time. It was a great tournament. Weather was gorgeous. Yes. Um, there weren’t three days worth of weather delays like it was, uh, last weekend. And, uh, you’ll have to get pictures from, from Greg White, especially as you rode your bike.

Greg White (02:10):

I didn’t take pictures while riding my bike. <laugh>. I did see, uh, some people who shouldn’t have been riding their bike just on one trip home, I saw crash a tree on his bike. Okay. Deer jump out in front of a, of a moving vehicle, man. The, the whole area that the course is in is, uh, it’s a big housing development. Yes. Also a nature preserve. So, just incredible. I mean, alligators everywhere. All, all the fun stuff you see on television,

Scott Luton (02:43):

Man. Okay. Uh, well, maybe Mutual of Omaha will sponsor the, your next, your next Golf Adventure. But, hey, regardless, folks around <laugh>, I don’t know. That’s a throwback for sure. Uh, and, and little tie in, in maybe for some of our listeners, uh, animal Kingdom was a, uh, um, a, a program that came on decades ago and was famously sponsored for years by Mutual of Omaha. I can picture the host, uh, now, but, uh, we’ll save that for, uh,

Greg White (03:12):

Marlon Perkins. Is that right?

Scott Luton (03:14):

That sounds sounds about right. Sounds about right. Maybe someone in the, uh, in the cheap seats can, can help us out there. Mutual

Greg White (03:21):

Normal hospital exists, Scott, just for

Scott Luton (03:23):

Your Oh, really? Okay. All right. I had no idea. Yeah. Um, well, folks today, no, we’re not talking golf. We’re not talking Animal Kingdom or an insurance. We’re talking supply chain. It’s a supply chain bus live show that comes at you every Monday at 12 and Eastern time. As always, Greg and I, and many of you will be discussing a variety of news and developments today, really across global business. And hey, we want to hear from you. So give us your take in the comments. We’re gonna say hello to a few folks momentarily and Greg, in fact, yes. Any of our listeners or viewers or listening or watching to the pod, uh, the podcast replay of this, Hey, we invite you consider joining us live on LinkedIn or YouTube or one of the other, so, so social media channels of your choosing. We’d love to hear from you.

Scott Luton (04:09):

Okay, Greg? Mm-hmm. Let’s share a couple program notes and then we’re gonna say hello to a few folks. We want to invite you, all of you to our next webinar session. We had a one heck of webinar last week. Yeah. Y’all may have caught that one. All focused on, uh, supply chain planning. Well, coming up on May 4th at 12 and Eastern Time with our friends at Evenflow and N four, we are diving into what running a data-driven supply chain means to Evenflow as they’ve gone through supply chain transformation, uh, that has helped power them through this crazy environment we’re in, uh, driving successful outcomes, including driving customer experience, uh, or optimizing customer experience. So, Greg should be a great session on May 4th, 12, new Eastern Time, right?

Greg White (04:54):

Data driven is the only way to do it. I have to confess a minor distraction. I have Pearl Jam going through my head right now, but, but yeah, I mean, I think, look, the bar has been raised. We’ve asked for a seat of the table. We’ve gotten it, we’ve gotten the awareness that we wanted. Now we have continue earn. So data driven, metric driven supply chain company’s, it’s uh, it’s

Scott Luton (05:21):

Free. That’s, that’s right. That’s right. And we guarantee, uh, your <laugh> your admission charges. That’s right. That’s right. Satisfaction guarantee. Right? And little, uh, I love what Greg said there about, uh, Pearl Jam Even Flow was a great tune, and I think one of their first big hits if you’re a music lover. Uh, so I love how you work that in there, Craig, as always. Okay. Um, so that’s webinar next week. But this week we’ve got, uh, a wonderful live stream coming up this Thursday, 12 Eastern Time is part of the, um, the supply chain. Now, OGs, it’s Paul Noble, uh, and Nick Griffith with Baron. And we’re gonna be talking about some opportunities for savings and reducing friction and a lot more that might be right up under your nose. Greg, I know you know this, uh, really well, huh?

Greg White (06:07):

Yeah. I mean, there’s a, a ton of, of value out there. Look, we keep asking the question, how many parts does it take to build an f150? All of them. But the parts that go into creating the parts, or moving the parts, or assembling the parts, all of that matters too. I think the layers that exist in the supply chain, this is a great opportunity to discover what those layers are, how to impact those affirmatively, and make sure that the supply chain keeps moving and keeps moving cost effectively.

Scott Luton (06:37):

That’s right. Folks, join us. I, I promise you, you’re not gonna miss it this Thursday, 12 and an Eastern Time. And we dropped the links both to the webinar, uh, there in the chat as well as to the livestream. So you’re one click away from making it really easy.

Greg White (06:52):

It’s like, we have done this before. <laugh>, not we, Scott. Well,

Scott Luton (06:56):

Okay.

Greg White (06:57):

Yeah. It’s like the pros behind the scenes. I’ve done this

Scott Luton (07:00):

Before. I’m so glad you mentioned that, Greg. Cause it, Dawn, I’ve forgotten until last night. We’ve been watching. Um, and Amanda, remind me of the title. It’s a dating show on Netflix. And last night, Greg, if you saw it, um, millions of other people saw it. Netflix decided to livestream the finale. Whoa. However, I’m not sure they have live streamed previously. So they had a massive, a massive collapse. Folks couldn’t connect. Yes. Netflix, the, the billion dollar player in, in all the world of streaming, uh, had some serious issues live streaming. And that reminded me, Greg, to your, to what you said a minute ago, folks, just because it looks easy, <laugh> doesn’t mean it is easy. So if Netflix can, uh, can run into some challenges, anyone can. Yeah. Uh, so all right. So Greg, let’s say look to a few folks and, uh, Jonathan’s back with us via LinkedIn. Jonathan, hope this finds you well, always enjoy your perspective. Uh, this is Susie Martinez from uh, LA And we’re not talking Laura, Alabama. Greg. No. Um, mom is with us back. Welcome in. Leah Luton from Akin South Kaki. Hi, mom. Natalie tuned in again via LinkedIn from Charlotte, North Carolina. Great to see you. Natalie Joseph Morena.

Greg White (08:15):

Joseph Wow.

Scott Luton (08:17):

Been a while

Greg White (08:18):

Blast from the past. Yeah. Welcome

Scott Luton (08:20):

Back. I bet he hails Greg, uh, uh, if he’s still in the New York City area, I believe doing some great things, including creating some great podcast content. Uh, this is Felix from Scotland. Felix, hope this finds you well. Mark Preston is back in the house from Peachtree City, ga. Mark, hope this finds

Greg White (08:39):

You just got back from Starbucks on his golf cart,

Scott Luton (08:42):

<laugh>. Maybe so, maybe so. Um, and then look here. Natalie said that she started her supply chain career, I would say a couple decades ago. You know, that’s our rule,

Greg White (08:53):

Right?

Scott Luton (08:54):

With Evenflow, Greg,

Greg White (08:56):

How about that

Scott Luton (08:57):

Small world.

Greg White (08:58):

So I would love to have you join Natalie and Judge Harshly,

Scott Luton (09:03):

Judge Harshly.

Greg White (09:04):

How are they going now, <laugh> versus when you were

Scott Luton (09:07):

There? Absolutely. Uh, let’s see, via, uh, Valla, perhaps, uh, via LinkedIn. Great to see you here. If I got your name wrong, please let us know. We wanna get those right. And then finally, Sheldon is back with us, present and accounted for. All right. A good day to all. All right, Greg, are you ready to get started?

Greg White (09:25):

Yes. God, I am,

Scott Luton (09:26):

Man. We got a bunch of work, a bunch of work to get into. I wanna share one more resource with folks. With that said, this was a fun LinkedIn newsletter to put together, Greg Supply Chain, factoids, air and Sea. And so we had about 21,000 subscribers read over the weekend. Uh, some of the things we’re gonna tackle here today, the busiest global airports and, and number one won’t surprise you probably. And the busiest US container ports, seaports. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, and a lot more. So, so make sure you sign up for, with that said, it hits every Saturday or Sunday morning. And, uh, it offers a different twist on the wide world of global supply chain.

Greg White (10:07):

One that isn’t a surprise, of course, is Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world. That’s right. Every year since 1996. But how high Georgia Ports landed was surprising to me. And what that tells me, Scott, is there’s a lot of volume going through Brunswick. Yes. And a lot of it, of course, vehicles because of all the automotive production that’s done here. So

Scott Luton (10:30):

You’re so right. And folks, if you dig that kind of stuff, you’re in Good. You’re in a good spot. Cause we’re gonna dive into those top 10 lists here towards the, uh, the bottom, the bottom of the hour or towards the second half of the show. Your pick your pick, which

Greg White (10:45):

Bottom of the hour, just think about where the hands for

Scott Luton (10:47):

Me. Okay. Bottom of the hour. That’s, thank you, Greg. I, I know I can count on you. Um, all right, folks. Uh, let’s dive into our first topic here today. I’m gonna bring this up here. Um, this is interesting, and, and I would tru I would treat this as good news. I really think this is good news. Um, at least from my perspective. So from an e-commerce delivery standpoint, Greg, we’re seeing signs that consumers are starting to realize, Hey, I don’t need those socks and toothpicks rush to me by tomorrow. That’s great. Right? And it appears it’s a new trend for consumers are being a little more patient when it comes to delivery. For example, uh, the big a, so Amazon Delivery Day program, they rolled out, I think in 2020. It focuses as, as many of our listeners may know, on delivering one day a week to Amazon customers cutting down on deliveries and packaging.

Scott Luton (11:36):

So, volumes, subscribers to this service have doubled since 2020. Hmm. Uh, as this article, uh, that comes to us from our friends at Wall Street Journal points out in a recent survey by Pop out Inc. E-commerce sh uh, shoppers that preferred same or next day delivery dropped from 18%, which sounds to me low anyway, but according to their data, 18% to 10%. And then other surveys that y’all find in this article show that overall delivery speed is overall lessening priority for consumers. So, Greg, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about this development.

Greg White (12:14):

Thank heavens is what I have to say. I was just thinking, Scott, about us kvetching about, uh, Christmas at 20 with all the boxes that we had stacked up in our respective garages after the holidays. Right? Right. And, you know, what an effort we put in to try and do that. We have been Amazon Delivery Day customers, whatever you wanna call it, from virtually the very beginning. So our day’s Wednesday, so if you ever wanna steal anything off my front porch, Wednesday is the day to do it. Um, Scott, I don’t know what your day is, but I can’t wait to hear. But, um, I, I think what’s important is rec, uh, the recognition that we aren’t buying a ton of stuff that we didn’t have before. Now we’re replenishing things. It’s easier to get outta the house. Right. We, um, and, and people wanna get outta the house. I mean, you know, have always, I think wanted to, right. I still have some things delivered, and I still appreciate two day delivery, not necessarily from Amazon, but Costco, uh, because our other house, as you know, is on an island. So it’s, I don’t even know, I don’t even know how many miles. It’s like 90 miles to the nearest Costco, which, you know, is torture for my wife

Scott Luton (13:29):

And Hello, Vicky.

Greg White (13:30):

Yeah. So anyway, I think, I think it’s good that there’s some sanity here. I love the idea of scheduling it, and finally people, because now that we’re back to spending our own money, right? That was part of what this article was about, because we’re back to spending our own money. We care how much it costs to have things delivered and demand for same day and even hours or 15 minutes delivery has gone way, way down on those things. I think we’re learning to plan a little bit better. But isn’t it interesting, Scott, that nearly three years, well, three years since the shutdown of the pandemic, we’re still seeing the ripples of those, what I would’ve argued, what I would always argue are temporary shifts in the economy, and they’re just, some of them are just starting to filter their way outta prominence in the economy. Yep. I think we’ll start to see it more towards the second half of this year. We’re gonna talk about, I think everybody knows what I’m alluding to, but we’re gonna talk about the economy and, and, and where it’s going, at least in the states and where it’s gone in other parts of the world. But I think we’re gonna see some economic headwinds to excessive exuberance and, uh, you know, get anything right now at any cost.

Scott Luton (14:52):

Yep. You know, um, there’s so much to talk about in this development, and, and this isn’t overnight. This has been, uh, gradual. Right? Right. But I, I go back to when I read this, first off, this is this, this kind of, um, it’s aligned with, with how I’ve always, um, or at least for the most part, approached my e-commerce decisions, right? I hate, I hate the notion as you were alluding to of all the, not only all the packaging, but man, all the trips for one small little package here, one item there, whatever. Um, so I love what’s taking place here. And you know, I think also, uh, Greg is, um, it thinks, what comes to my mind is your comment about, you know, consumers or the beginning and the end. And hopefully, and I’m, I’m going on, I’m, I’m make, make a little leap here.

Scott Luton (15:38):

Hopefully consumers really have had that eureka moment that, that, hey, if they value sustainability and, and, and, uh, and reducing empty miles, all the things, well, they play a really active role. And if we can shift our thinking that we don’t need those two picks next day, we don’t need that pair of woven socks same day, you know, if we can really play an active role in changing those expectations, that really will help global supply chain to make more gains, uh, when it comes to, um, all things, uh, sustainability and, and then, and then some. So I think that’s, that’s really why it’s good news, uh, in my ears, Greg, you, I know you’re dying to, to comment here.

Greg White (16:19):

Faith and humanity is so encouraging, Scott. Mine is a little bit more, I don’t wanna say practical, let’s call it pragmatic. And that is when it costs more, we will do less of it. And, and it should cost more because of the inefficiencies that are inherent. And I think people are finally succumbing to that. Look, I am a firm believer that economics drive every company’s and every person’s virtually every decision. And, um, because companies absorbed that for a long, long time and can no longer, now it’s back on the consumer, and the consumer won’t, won’t absorb it, at least for now, right? Yep. I think we, we have to acknowledge this sort of false economies that we’ve lived in for the last two-ish years with government subsidies for us existing, um, which was nice. I didn’t get any, but I’m sure it was nice for those who did.

Greg White (17:13):

And now that we’re back, like I said, now that we’re back to spending our own money, yes. Our altruism will show through our saving our own money. Yes. Right? We will become accidental environmentalists. Right? Like my great great grandparents who said things like, turn off the water. When you’re brushing your teeth, you’re wasting water shut off the lights in. You know, when you leave a room, you’re wasting electricity. Right. They weren’t, I wouldn’t say they were against environ, you know, saving the environment, but they weren’t solely focused on it. Right? Right. They focused on what impacted their pocketbook. And when doing worse for the environment impacts your, your pocketbook negatively, that’s when you’ll do better for the

Scott Luton (17:58):

Environment. The phrase that comes to my mind as you shared that is, Hey, I don’t care what you call me as long as you call me and, and little twist on it. I don’t care why you do it, as long as we’re making gains when it comes to these sustainability initiatives and just

Greg White (18:11):

Do the right thing.

Scott Luton (18:13):

Yeah. Right. That’s right. Just do the right thing. And as we’ve talked about, and we don’t have to dive deeper here, doing the right thing can really help the bottom line. That’s where we’re seeing some leaders out there, right. Uh, acting on that.

Greg White (18:24):

That’s an entire discussion unto itself, which we have had from time to time we’ll have in the future. But I, and you and I align completely on this, and that is, I firmly believe that you can do the right thing and create profitability, better profitability, better cash flow and impact on your company or your personal life. Absolutely. Can do it. Yep.

Scott Luton (18:46):

Agreed. Super aligned using, uh, modern day lexicon. Super. Yes. Okay. <laugh>. All right. Let’s say hello to a few folks. Uh, Mohe is back with us. Professor Mohe. Hey, it’s forever.

Greg White (19:01):

Yes. He’s been busy though. I mean, if you’ve been following, it’s easy to see that’s been busy, right? Yes. Going State University.

Scott Luton (19:09):

That’s right. <laugh>. Well, so he hasn’t, I’ve seen him, uh, really active in the project management space, which is great. He’s al always doing great things for his students. So Moji hope you and your family are doing well. And he says Pearl Jam was way ahead of his, of, of, of their time on supply chain, even for even Flow is the theme song, synchronized supply chain parts, information, and cash. Right? I just rolled Mohe. You paint a wonderful picture and I love your how you wove in one of the greatest bands of the 20th century there.

Greg White (19:44):

Everybody who’s ever heard that song is now, it’s now going through their head. And it probably should be like, it’s like he said, a theme song for

Scott Luton (19:52):

Right. We know, Hey, maybe we can get Eddie Vetter to join us on our webinar next, uh, in, in May when we

Greg White (19:58):

<laugh>. Yeah. Probably Scott

Scott Luton (20:00):

<laugh>. Alright, so, uh, and, and Greg, you still can’t make me laugh, man, that, that’s, I’m still getting over the pollen.

Greg White (20:07):

Get the doctor’s office. Yes. The doctor’s

Scott Luton (20:09):

Office. That’s right. I gotta get there. Um, all right, let’s see here. And folks, we did drop the link to that first read. Hey, y’all, check it out. Let’s know what you think. Uh, don’t take our word for it. Uh, hey, Tom Rafter. Good to see ya. Appreciate your content. You’re cranking out all the time.

Greg White (20:23):

Savik,

Scott Luton (20:25):

I believe still in Spain. Yes. That’s a great memory, Greg. Man. T squared holds down fort for on YouTube. It’s Monday. Bring on the nourishment. It’s coming. T-Square, it is coming.

Greg White (20:36):

I like how he writes the accent in there, <laugh>.

Scott Luton (20:40):

I do too. Um, and folks, if you’re not, if you haven’t checked this out on YouTube, hey, why are you waiting? What are you waiting for? It’s easy. You can see it, you can hear it, you can comment. And, uh, as T-Square has said in previous broadcasts, there’s not as many, um, um, firewall issues.

Greg White (20:57):

Oh, is that right? Oh, that’s

Scott Luton (20:58):

Cool. Yeah. Donna, Donna k. Great to see you, Donna. Love the excessive exuberance. Greg, is that anything like irrational exuberance? She asks,

Greg White (21:07):

Yeah, but I’m a sucker for alliteration, so I always change it. Also, I cannot remember who the fed chairperson was when, who came up with irrational exuberance. Was it Bernanke? I can’t remember. Anyway, um, but love that. Yeah,

Scott Luton (21:22):

I do too. I do too. And hey, you know, this guy, I remember, uh, Eric Wilhelm. He loves how cute we are together, Eric. Hey, thank you. We appreciate that.

Greg White (21:32):

We’ve got matching, not matching quarter zips, but we’ve got quarter zips,

Scott Luton (21:35):

<laugh>, we got Quarter Z for days. Eric, hope it’s been a while. Hope this finds you well. And, uh, I think you still do it. I love your charitable golf tournament each year that you put, you and, and the team have put on and invested in and really helping kids and families. So hope this finds you well. Great. Great to have you here today.

Greg White (21:52):

I think Eric has sold yet another company

Scott Luton (21:55):

Really

Greg White (21:56):

Recently. Yeah, man, pretty much. He finds a hole in the market, fills it, and then somebody else comes and goes, Hey, we’ll have some of that. Then he just goes and does it again.

Scott Luton (22:07):

Oh, again and again, rinse and repeat.

Greg White (22:09):

Oh my gosh. And I just told him what my, he lives right behind me, and now he knows what my Amazon day is.

Scott Luton (22:15):

God, he’s gonna be your, your packaging’s gonna be gone. That’s it, Greg. That’s it. At least we’ll know who did it. All right. So let me share, I’m gonna, we got a lot of comments here. I’m gonna share, uh, two quick ones. Uh, Tom, uh, I always say that being sustainable shouldn’t cost more the opposite. Cause so much of sustainability is about getting waste out of systems. It should be cheaper.

Greg White (22:35):

Exactly. Well said. I mean, I think we have to confess that there is a lot of slack in the supply chain, and exactly Tom’s point, we can benefit by taking that slack out and that Slack impacts, um, ESG as well.

Scott Luton (22:48):

So, excellent point. Thank you, Tom. And I know you’re very passionate and, and put out a lot of great content along those lines, Amanda, getting back to comic relief, she says, I had a substitute teacher in seventh grade chorus that wore fringed cowboy boots and sang even flow for us. She, she’ll never forget it. I bet those words paint a thousand pictures there. Um, all right. So mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Greg <laugh>. Where are we going next here? Let’s see what we’re covering next. I think we are going to dive into some of these economic, uh, trends that you speak of. So, Greg, beyond economics, also some industrial trends here in the US as reported by our forensic Reuters. So here’s the core numbers. I’m, uh, this is a full article, lots of moving pieces. I’m gonna give you the, the TikTok version of the, of what was delivered here.

Scott Luton (23:36):

Retail sales fell 1% in March, which is more than expected. The decrease, uh, Greg was seen generally across sectors, except one bright spot was online sales, which were up 1.9% as folks maybe were out there looking for deals. Now, according to data from the Fed manufacturing production fell 0.5% in March. And this comes on the heels of what we thought was good news in February, where manufacturer production had increased 0.6%. Lastly, perhaps some good news here. We’ll see, we need a lot more data to roll in some signs point to inflation retreating. But Greg, I gotta tell you, at the grocery store this weekend with Amanda and I, I saw no signs of re of inflation retreating. So, uh, Greg, your thoughts on these economic and industrial trends, and then some.

Greg White (24:27):

Well, I think it’s a, I think it’s a sign that, uh, what the Fed is doing is working. The intent is to slow down the economy. And what, uh, was a bit of a surprise for me was that retail sales are mostly bought on credit. It makes me wonder how many people buy it on credit and then immediately paid off. But I had never really thought about the fact that, at least in the States, right, that so many people buy retail goods on credit. Now, they’re not talking about grocery, they’re talking about goods other than, than, but, um, I think that, I think that shows that it’s starting, starting to slow, but I think we have to recognize that that does not mean prices are dropping. That just means they’re continuing to rise at a rate less than they were rising before.

Scott Luton (25:16):

Excellent point. Preach that louder folks in the back. It’s the rate, it’s the rate versus the actual absolute dollar value, right?

Greg White (25:23):

Right. Nothing is going down in prices. Housing. Some housing rents in some cases though, are, are starting to go down. Um, and we’re gonna, we’re starting to see some impact on the commercial side of that. Um, but yeah, prices are not, they’re continuing to go up at a, at more than double the rate that the Fed has as a target, which is about 2%. So inflation is still rampant. And, uh, we continue to see it, uh, you know, at least it’s not accelerating, but I think the Fed is a long way from, from backing it down, honestly. I mean, again, I’m going to, I’m going to qualify this with my usual statement, which is not an economist, right, but Right. Every bit as often as They’res never, um, I think it was a mistake for the Fed not to have gone a half a point the last time. And I think we’re gonna continue to see this will not, again, my prediction, this will not, this next, uh, raise of rates will not be the last one.

Scott Luton (26:34):

Yeah. I think they’re, they’re, and, and also I’ll preface this by saying, not only am I not an economist, but nothing I’ve ever done in my entire life reflects that, uh, one iota that I am even a potential economist. No <laugh>, no interest. That’s not my gift to be on this earth, folks. But, uh, to Greg’s last point, I think we’re poised for another increase in May. Um, and overall, Greg, if I’m not mistaken, all these rises is, is one of the biggest, um, uh, fiscal, uh, policy changes in, in decades by the Fed in the eighties. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Greg.

Greg White (27:10):

Right. And, and also by the way, based on the eighties standard, um, measurement of inflation, we’re at virtually the same inflation rate except for interest rates. We’re at the virtually the same inflation rate as we had in the eighties, but they’ve changed the inflation rate measurement to filter, I would argue, obfuscate real inflation.

Scott Luton (27:35):

That’s a good word. Obfuscate one of my favorites. I’m gonna learn how to spell it and use it one day. Um, all right. So enough about economics, folks. Y’all check out, we have dropped a link, uh, to that article right there in the chat. Y’all one click away. Let us know what you think. Uh, a couple comments here. T squared says, price gouging is alive and well, uh, Catherine says, I’ll say, nothing’s going down. It’s still $2 for a can of beans at my grocery store. Hey, same. I feel your pain. Uh, let’s see here. Greg, Greg Studer from the, the pride of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I believe says, ask 10 economists the same question, and you’ll get 10 different answers with the same data used. Greg, great to have you here, Greg. I think you, Greg, I think Greg’s right?

Greg White (28:23):

I think all Greg’s are right, especially in this case.

Scott Luton (28:26):

Oh, <laugh>, uh, oh, that’s right. That is right. All right. So Greg, great to have you here. And, uh, let’s keep driving. I wanna share, you know, a minute ago we touched on, uh, Eric, uh, and, and one of his big charitable initiatives each year. Well, folks, this is one of ours, right? And there’s other things that, that certainly we invest in and support. But, uh, this leveraging logistics for Ukraine initiative, which has sadly been going on for over a year. Well, it’s still in need, right? There’s still a ton of need out there. So, the next planning session that really drives these efforts, and when I say these efforts, efforts to get, uh, almost, uh, a million tons of humanitarian aid to families need in Ukraine and Poland, that’s right. Working together, uh, with, with led by Vector Global Logistics and the ecosystem that they’ve really pulled together. Man, the numbers are big eye popping. Well, all of that’s driven by these monthly planning sessions. So we invite you to join us for the next one, May 9th, 11:00 AM Eastern Time. You don’t have to give anything. You don’t have to say anything. You can just sign up and get a sense of what’s going on. Greg, uh, your comments around this program here,

Greg White (29:35):

I’m tired on, right? Um, but I mean, as long as it is, it’s something worth listening to. It’s something worth supporting. Um, and it’s a really good cause. It is. There is no overhead taken. Whatever you donate goes straight to those in need.

Scott Luton (30:00):

Agreed. Agreed. Folks, and you can, we dropped a link in the, uh, the chat. Y’all wanna click away from checking that out. Um, all right, so moving right ahead. Uh, now this is cool. We talked about this on the front end of the show, and I wanna share some of these numbers here. So first off, Greg, mm-hmm. <affirmative>, let’s talk about, um, the world’s busiest airports. Now, this data came out from our friends at the Airports Council, international ACI world. Um, and this came out in early April, right? So number one, as Greg mentioned, was Atlanta ga. Uh, and that shouldn’t surprise many folks. Um, but Greg, one of the things that this surprised me, and folks, when we talk about busiest, this is, as you can see there on the graphic, this is total passengers in Plained and Dpla Passengers in Transit counted once. That’s a little note from the ACI about the data, but Greg, I was surprised how many US airports make up the top 10. Um, and the latest figures here, and, and, and I’ll read these off for anyone, might be, might be listening, uh, to the podcast, replay Atlanta, number one, Dallas Fort Worth, number two, Denver, Colorado. Number three, Chicago. Number four, Dubai. Uh, number five, lax. Number six, Istanbul. Number seven, London. That’s Heathrow. Uh, number eight, new deli. Number nine, and Paris number 10. Greg, your thoughts here around, uh, these busiest airports?

Greg White (31:24):

I’m honestly a little bit surprised not to see Frankfurt in, uh, Amsterdam, in, in the top. Uh, they have always been very busy airports. Um, and it is incredible that there are so many in the states that are, uh, so busy. Uh, but I mean, it, you know, it just goes to, if you look at the change versus 21 against the change, you know, versus, uh, 2019, you can see there’s still a lot of opportunity to come back to volume levels, which seems impossible for me to understand. If you, I mean, if you’ve been on a flight in the last year or so, right? They all seem crowded, and I can only guess that there are fewer flights, and that’s why they’re packed to the brim. Yep. So, I don’t know. What do you think, Scott? I, I, I think

Scott Luton (32:17):

Well, packed to the rim with B brim sounds like, uh, a commercial from the eighties, I believe. What coffee? Yes, it was, it was a terrible, um, and sorry if Brim is still around, I used to drink it as a, as a kid. Cause I couldn’t make coffee, but I could make instant coffee. My mom, let me make that <laugh>. It’s, uh, a little bit different. But, uh, back to these busiest airports, it’s interesting to look at, uh, to your, what you were calling out Greg, uh, the 2019, the 2021, and 2022 rankings. I mean, look at this, uh, Dubai or, um, yeah, look, look at Dubai there, number four mm-hmm. <affirmative> in 2019. They were 27th and 2021, and then back to fifth and 20 22 1. And if you go to Instanbul, uh, Turkey here, they’ve had a more of a gradual progression from 28th and 2019 to 14th in 2021 to top 10, number seven. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> in 2022. Heath Row, of course, is, is no newcomer to this list as, as I think you mentioned, right? You know, it’s one of the world’s busiest airports for, for Millennium, it feels like. But, um, but I would not, and and I’d love to dive in deeper here, uh, with DA with Dallas and Denver, not so much Chicago, but Dallas and Denver being two and three. That was surprising to me, Greg.

Greg White (33:30):

Yeah. I, I can’t, I can’t explain those. Uh, one Dallas, I believe is an American Airlines hub. Hmm. I thought going through it today on my way to the, the, uh, sixth largest airport, lax Yep. <laugh>, um, in Denver, I think is a United Hub.

Scott Luton (33:48):

Ah, there we go.

Greg White (33:50):

It probably has something to do with being a hub for some of the larger airlines. Yep. And remember the good old days when Chicago, or Chicago or Tokyo were the busiest airports in the world. And those were, in some cases, the old days.

Scott Luton (34:06):

Well, and you would know, and I’m not, I’m not gonna put your, your status out there, but you, uh, you have been flying airplanes and have flown a lot of them. So, uh, I bet you could almost write a book on, on your travels, Greg, but, uh, I’m looking forward to hearing your,

Greg White (34:21):

Yeah. If it hadn’t been just for business, I probably could. Yeah. <laugh>, I’ve seen, as, you know, as, as I’ve told many people, I have seen, uh, the inside of airports, taxi cabs and hotels in some of the most beautiful, beautiful places in the world.

Scott Luton (34:36):

<laugh> Bear back in a hurry. Um, well, folks, check it out. We got a link here to that, to this data. You’ll also see, uh, air cargo and its rankings there. And you’re also looking at those numbers. You’ll see kind of the, uh, the market that has been in. But check it out. Let us know what you think from the data that was released, uh, about two weeks ago. All right? So Greg, not only are we gonna cover airports, but we’re gonna cover us container ports, seaports, right? So check this out. So this is from our friends at Supply Chain Dive, one of the, a great source for all sorts of, uh, of content and supply chain. I like the whole dive family of publications. I know we talk about retail dive here a lot, but, uh, they’ve got a whole family. So check out.

Scott Luton (35:18):

This is, um, this is only put here to top five. They put, as you can tell with this graphic, they, they built a top 12 list. But I wanted to, to really look at the top five. Cause Greg, you mentioned this on the front end. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Georgia Ports comes in number four. So I’ll just read these from top to bottom. This again, shouldn’t surprise anybody in terms of the rankings, but let’s look at the trends. So number one, port, port of la, number two, port of New York and New Jersey. And this, again, is, is, uh, busiest. Basically busiest container ports, uh, uh, in 2022. Uh, number three, port of Long Beach. Number four, Georgia ports, number five, port Houston there in Texas. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But look at the five year trends here, Greg. Uh, the Port LA has gained about 452,000, uh, TEUs, 20 foot equivalent units, uh, in those five, in that five year. But the port of New York and New Jersey up 2.3 million TEUs, uh, port Long Beach, up a million. The Georgia ports 1.5 million to use gain the last five years. And of course,

Greg White (36:24):

That’s A3 percent increase for those ports for the Georgia ports. That is, man, an incredible lift. Same for Houston. And, you know, a lot of that we’ve talked about over the last, gosh, 30 years, three years now. The, a lot of that was the shifting of goods coming from China to Port Houston and, and Georgia. Yep. Ports as well. And of course, you know, New York, the, um, except for maybe Boston, the nation’s biggest and most long running, uh, commercial ports, right? So, mm-hmm.

Scott Luton (37:01):

Well, uh, fascinating list. Y’all, y’all, y’all can check out the full, uh, top 12 list, uh, clicking on this link here. And again, big thanks to our friends at Supply Chain dive that, um, put out great content and, and data driven content, uh, might be the phrase of today. Um, Greg, we are just shooting through, shooting through, uh, news topics here on this busy Monday morning, April 17th. Tough, tough to believe. We’re already, man, we’re halfway through the fourth month of 2023. Where has Tom gone to your point? Um, alright, next couple topics here I wanna share. Um, a couple of our series, uh, Greg, that folks should hopefully is, are, um, these series aren’t new to our listeners, but, you know, one of the things we are very passionate about, Greg, is supporting our veteran community here, right? Um, one of our longest running series have been Veteran Voices and look at Air Veteran Voices has published their 77th podcast episode.

Scott Luton (38:07):

Uh, this one features David tr, uh, US Navy veteran, uh, great conversation, of course, led, uh, Greg by the, uh, Uber talented Mary Kate saliva, um, and Army veteran doing wonderful work. Uh, but Greg, you know, when we think about the veteran journey and, uh, veteran, overall veteran experience, especially here in the 21st century, when, you know, man, we’ve been at war for two decades and, you know, one of the things we’ve talked about and, and we support regularly dating back to, uh, I was, I was asked the other day, Hey, when did you meet Greg White? And I was like, well, he was on the show early, uh, before we worked together, but we’re really stuck out in my brain, Greg, beyond your wonderful perspective and expertise that I gave a kick out of, um, a couple times a week. But if you remember back with the, the Georgia Logistics Summit, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, back in 20, what was that, 2017 or something? Whatever it was,

Greg White (39:06):

17 or 18. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

Scott Luton (39:08):

So, uh, we, uh, had put an effort together to send a hundred veterans at no charge them to this, to this big, um, um, supply chain event. It was George Logistics Summit and modex co-located, right? And, um, we had to put together money to make that happen because I think the charge was, you know, 60 bucks particular or something. And we didn’t want the veterans to come out of, out of pocket to be able to, to network and find jobs and, and gather market intel. Well, Greg, and I know you don’t tout this, but this is, again, I was being asked where we first met. As I started to raise money, uh, as a broke young entrepreneur, I said, Hey, Greg, this is what I’m doing. And Greg, I don’t think I finished the sentence and you had written a check and sent it my way.

Scott Luton (39:51):

And then better yet, you took that donation and you rebel rouses the rest of the board members to see, okay, look here. I can’t be the only one doing this. And, and we, we met our goal. Yep. Not only do we meet our goal, but we got, uh, we, we coordinated with a hundred veterans to get out. And Greg, I think of the, um, the art of creating your own luck. Cause we didn’t expect these veterans to actually have job opportunities at the summit. We knew that conversations may go, you know, may produce a wild variety of things, but Greg is one of the companies I think that you were advising actually wanted to hire veterans. Right? And they offered, they were offering jobs at the event for, to some of these folks that came out.

Greg White (40:30):

Yeah, that’s right. I was running a startup at the time, uh, that was predominantly owned by the same investment group as this group that builds, uh, fulfillment warehouses. And I didn’t even talk to the board about it, you know, I mean, I think it was for 10, maybe 10, you’re right, veterans, right? And I didn’t, you know, so I didn’t talk to the board about it, but then I just mentioned it to one of the board members and they’re like, Hey, we wanna hire vets, so can you let ’em know that we wanna do that, as, you know, as they come in. And Yeah. And it worked out yet serendipitous that, right?

Scott Luton (41:05):

Oh, man. Absolutely. And, and again, all this is kind of, uh, anecdotal, uh, to to, to our listeners and viewers as I was, uh, reflecting on this Veteran Voices program and kind of it’s genesis and all the different things that has have transpired ever since. This was a big early, um, uh, early event in our Veteran Voices programming, you know, finding real tangible ways to support our veterans. Not, um, in not lip service driven, but really, really, you know, trying to, you know, get them into events. And then in this case, as Greg has shared, man, if you can remotely help find jobs, I mean, that’s what it’s all about. So

Greg White (41:44):

The particular motivation for me and you, Scott, is your, your experience with transition, which you were fortunately successful for, but not every, it’s not as se it’s not as not simple, but it’s not as, uh, successful for, for every veteran. And what we’ve realized over time, Scott and I from doing this, is that the, uh, military culture is so insular. They have their own language. They learn logistics in the military and assume that, and, and they have no other, uh, basis of reference other than to assume that that’s how logistics works elsewhere. Cause literally, logistics was defined by the military thousands and thousands of years ago, right? So, so what logistics has evolved to in the civilian realm is far different than what it’s, uh, it, what it exists as in the military realm. And creating that translation between military and the civilian realm is really, really critical.

Greg White (42:45):

Understand, I think Scott really requires companies to understand military logistics at whatever level we allowed to. All right. You know, and what it moves and how, how things move and to what end and, and, and, you know, and that sort of thing. So that you can create a frame of reference for the veteran, because the veteran is not gonna be able to do that. It’s not, it’s not cause of lack of anything except, except frame of reference. When you are in the military, you don’t discuss how civilian logistics occur right? At all. And therefore you have no frame of reference. It’s just like you think your mom’s apple pie is the best apple pie. Cause you’ve never had anything else

Scott Luton (43:26):

<laugh>,

Greg White (43:28):

Although it may be in some cases. But, but I think that that initiative, if I could encourage employers or people who are trying to assist with that transition, is to understand that transition and, and be able to speak both languages, both the civilian realm and the military realm of logistics skills or thing in applies to, to aspect civilian rail. That building that bridge is really, really

Scott Luton (43:57):

Critical. Yep. A hundred percent agree. And folks, as Greg is, uh, is calling out there, man, lean in to the veteran talent pipeline. Cause once they’re given that frame of reference, once they’re charged with their responsibilities, they can figure it out, right? They’re can figured out and, and you know, there’s civilian, um, uh, and I don’t, I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna typecast, but, you know, because folks more and more hiring managers ha, hadn’t served in the military. Sometimes there can be, since they don’t understand everything that Greg is just kind of sharing there, they kind of pull back. But don’t do that. Don’t, that’s, there’s a human element at play there. Don’t do that. Lean into the veteran, uh, talent pipeline and, um, man, you can really meet or help. It’ll really help you address your overall staffing, uh, needs. And Greg, yes, sounds like being a good leader, reaching out and helping others.

Scott Luton (44:50):

Great story, Greg. Uh, amen. And whether it’s for veterans or, or any other group, man, just, just acting on in a very tangible way, lending a helping hand, regardless, uh, we’re all charged with doing that. Um, all right, so again, I wanna point y’all back to Veteran Voices. A great work that US Army veteran Mary Kate Saliva as Host is doing. Check out the latest episode that we’ve dropped. Uh, we also put it in the chat there, uh, featuring, uh, US Navy veteran David Turn. Uh, Greg also wanna call out, uh, digital Transformers doing great work. Uh, Kevin L. Jackson, the fearless host there, one of a kind, he, he led, uh, a great episode last week focused on cybersecurity network modernization, a lot more, uh, presented in partnership with at and t business. It featured Helen U and Sally e Dr. Sally Eves, I should say.

Scott Luton (45:45):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Outstanding conversation. Y’all check that out. Um, wherever you get your podcast from, you can, uh, just like you can with supply chain now, or Veteran Voices or Digital Transformers, you can search that out and, uh, download and subscribe, Greg. Man, a lot of stuff going on. I, I meant to, I meant to make one more point when it comes to veterans, because we’ve got an episode coming out. Greg with, uh, Tom Harvey, who is the Chief Supply Chain Officer with BJC Healthcare, 22 year Army veteran that then transitioned into the healthcare space. And BJC Healthcare is one of the country’s largest nonprofit healthcare organizations. I is the state of Missouri’s largest employer. I think I’ve got that right. Um, and he is a case study of why <laugh>, why there is such a tremendous opportunity with engaging hiring veterans and getting ’em involved in your supply chain and then some, and, and what they can do. And, and not only what they can do, but how they can lead and how they can serve as a force multiplier for your organization. Uh, Greg, we’ve covered a lot of ground here today. Um, and we’ve got a couple more minutes. You’ve got a big trip coming up. You’re going out to, um, can I let the cat of the bag? Sure. Okay. So you’re headed out to la Are you going to get one of those delicious in-N-Out burgers?

Greg White (47:09):

I likely will because there is a enormous in and out right next to LAX airport.

Scott Luton (47:16):

Ah,

Greg White (47:17):

We’re not going out there solely for Wednesday to go get it. Totally kidding. <laugh>. Um, well, I’m not really at liberty to announce, uh, right what I’m going for till later. Alright. But in the next week or two. Okay. We’ll be able to do that.

Scott Luton (47:43):

So I can’t wait. I can’t wait. Who knows, maybe we’ll, we’ll do it. Uh, the buzz. We’ll get first dibs. We’ll see.

Greg White (47:49):

Oh, there you go,

Scott Luton (47:50):

<laugh>. Well, hey, uh, let’s see here. This LinkedIn user and Catherine Mann, let me know who it is. Assist with students finding workforce options. Some want to pursue US Army options, and they appreciate our comments regarding helping veterans and job support. There’s so much opportunity there. Uh, and that’s Susie. Hey Susie, thanks for that. There’s so, so many opportunities to help our veterans with the transition with finding meaningful work. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, not work below what they have done and what they’ve got expertise and experience around. We’ve come a long way. It feels, and I’d love to look at St Statistics there, but it feels like we’ve come a long way to addressing that, uh, in the last 20 years or so. But, but in my conversations with veterans from from coast to coast and around the world, we still have a lot more, a lot more heavy lifting to do to, to honor that commitment I believe that we, uh, that we have with veterans.

Scott Luton (48:42):

Um, alright. So Greg, uh, give us out of all everything we, we touched on here today. This was like a, uh, uh, we hadn’t had one of these in a while. It was kind of like a Baskin Robbins supply chain buds here today. Little bit of this, little bit of that, little bit of this little of that look from economy to, uh, e-commerce preferences to veterans, of course, to some of our shows, uh, you name it. So what if, if folks leave this live stream with one thing that they don’t forget about, what would that one thing be from your perspective, Greg?

Greg White (49:14):

I think we’re gonna see the economy. Let me, let me set this up a little bit before I give that one thing. I, we’re gonna see the economy, the markets, um, go sideways for a good while. Probably the next three plus years. Um, growth is gonna be fairly slow. The market, the stock market, the public markets are gonna be fairly slow. We’ve seen slow downs in investment in even successful and well established technology companies. Uh, so we’ll start to see innovation slow down over the next, uh, one to three, maybe even as much as five years. I think people have to pre prepare for, um, kinda a leveling off of things and just recognize that this is part of a cycle. It’s part of a cycle that virtually two and two generations have never been through, right? So it doesn’t signal anything except a cycle.

Greg White (50:11):

And it’s easy in this, uh, time where everything has to be a robust or, um, you know, a breakthrough story to get caught up in, in whatever the hype is. And you can see as we’ve done, done these shows, I’m, you know, as we were talking about the economy, Scott, I was realizing that we see it going up, we see it going down. You see the market doing the same thing, and basically it’s effectively going sideways or, you know, maybe slightly increasing or decreasing periodically. Yep. But to think about this on a longer time horizon and, and realize that there are a lot of people taking the right approach right now, which is to curb spending curb debt, definitely curb debt because the interest rates are so very high. And, um, as someone who got trapped by that during the great recession, I can tell you that debt at a high rate is virtually impossible to get out of.

Greg White (51:05):

And, and I think we have to be aware that now is the time for us to, I, I don’t wanna say buckle down, but to become very, very conscious of how you spend and what you spend and whether you need it or whether you want it. Um, the economy is telling us a lot of that right now with, with prices and, and, um, shipping. You know, the price of everything, the price of shipping, the price of products and that sort of thing. People are starting to get there, uh, in terms of distinguishing between what they need and what they want. Focus on what you need now. Focus on building a solid foundation or maintaining a solid foundation and be prepared when in the next, like I said, three to five years, the economy starts to take off again. Yep. That’s the thing I could say is, is you know, build your, build your house on stone, right?

Scott Luton (52:00):

I haven’t heard that in a while.

Greg White (52:01):

Right? Now is the time to do

Scott Luton (52:02):

That. Don’t build it in a little shifting sands or whatever hymn that, uh, we always reference when we talk about that. Right. A strong foundation that you can spring off of and leverage off of. Will said there, Greg and hey <laugh> Joseph. Marta says, Hey, I

Greg White (52:16):

Just saw that’s

Scott Luton (52:18):

Hilarious. If did go out there solely, out, solely for Inn Out Burger, no one would blame you. He says, love that. That’s

Greg White (52:26):

Shouldn’t it is worth it.

Scott Luton (52:29):

Wow. That’s right. Delicious. Okay. Well, folks, uh, we’re gonna wrap a few minutes early here on today’s supply chain Buzz. Thank y’all for being a part of the programming. Really appreciate all the comments and questions that were put in the chat. Greg, always a pleasure to knock this out with you. Safe travels.

Greg White (52:44):

Likewise. Thank

Scott Luton (52:45):

You. And we look forward to sharing in some good news in a few weeks.

Greg White (52:48):

Yeah, I’m looking forward to

Scott Luton (52:50):

It. Big thanks again to Amanda and Catherine and Chantel and every, all the folks behind the scenes for making, uh, allowing us to make, to make this happen here today. Folks, whatever you do, make sure you listen to The Startup Whisperer one, Greg White, but, uh, hey, take action with some of these things, especially going back on the veteran’s things. I’m gonna pound that until the day I die. And, uh, to my last breath, find a practical way to help out someone in need, especially if they’re a veteran. But you gotta take action deeds, not Words, is what it’s all about. With that set Scott Luden challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (53:27):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.