Eric Olson

  Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here:   On Monday, Scott and Greg chatted with Tim Dooner with FreightWaves, about working from home and how it will work going forward, brokers and owner-operators, and more!   Supply Chain Now · “What the Truck is Going On: Tim Dooner with FreightWaves”   On Tuesday we were overwhelmed by the passion for supply chain and the positivity of Jamin Alvidrez with Freight Tribe!   Supply Chain Now · “Meet Jamin: Supply Chain Vet Shows How to Unleash Positivity”   On Wednesday we welcomed Supply Chain Now vets Claudia Freed with EALgreen and Chuck Easley with the Georgia Tech Supply Chain and Logistics Institute back to the show to discuss education and the future of supply chain.   Supply Chain Now · “Supply Chain Lessons Learned from Pandemic: Claudia Freed & Chuck Easley”   Scott and Greg were joined by Cathy Morrow-Roberson with Logistics Trends and Insights for the Supply Chain Buzz, discussing the top news in supply chain for this week.   Supply Chain Now · “UPS Rate Changes & More: Supply Chain Buzz…

Inside the reverse logistics education gap and the economic blind spot keeping it invisible Special Guest Blog Post written by Deborah Dull   Tony Sciarrotta has been asking the same question at industry conferences for years. As the Senior Director of Circularity and Reverse Logistics at the National Retail Federation, he knows what answer he’s going to get. But he keeps asking anyway. “Anybody in here go to school for returns management, reverse logistics, circularity? Any degrees in those fields the room?” It’s rare that anyone raises their hand. “That’s what’s wrong with our industry,” Sciarrotta told me at NRF Rev this January, the first conference under NRF’s new reverse logistics banner. “We still need to fix it.”   The Numbers That Should Make Headlines Here’s what makes reverse logistics so fascinating: the scale is staggering, but the infrastructure to support it needs to be stronger. According to the National Retail Federation, American retailers processed approximately $890 billion in returns in 2024 which is roughly 17% of all retail sales – and it’s higher for ecommerce. But that number almost certainly understates reality. “We have a fragmented industry,” Sciarrotta explained. “Where are all those returns going? It has to be…