Melinda McLaughlin

The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index for 3Q 2021 has been released, and one thing remains clear: spend is up. More specifically, year over year, quarterly freight spend showed the second largest increase ever – rising 32.6% from 3Q 2020. What’s driving the dollars, and what can this increase tell us about the state of the supply chain across the country? Supply Chain Now co-hosts Scott Luton and Greg White recently sat down with Bobby Holland, Director, Freight Data Solutions at U.S. Bank, and Patricia Gabriel, Vice President US Customer Service & Logistics, at Mondelez International, to find out. Let’s review highlights from their discussion of the report – and take a look at what you need to consider moving forward. But first, what is the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index? The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index is a free report you can download each quarter to keep your finger on the pulse of freight shipping volumes and spend from both a national and regional perspective. The report uses actual transaction payment data, de-seasonalized and calendar adjusted for maximum comparability. How do I use it? When you’re asking the question, “What happened last quarter?” the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index…

Get Ready to increase your supply chain IQ! We’ve got all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams right here from Supply Chain Now this week. On Monday, TEKTOK host Karin Bursa sat down with Scott to look back on 2020 and discuss what’s on the horizon for 2021   On Tuesday’s podcast episode, Kelly Barner joined Scott to discuss the lessons learned in 2020 and what’s to come in 2021.   On Wednesday, Scott welcomed Joe Donnell and Karl Fillhouer with Circle Logistics to talk about the recruiting and talent challenges they faced in 2020, consumer demand predictions after pandemic restrictions are lifted, & the next frontier in technological innovation.   On Thursday, Scott and Greg welcome Nurfad Nadarevic to the Supply Chain Buzz to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, automotive changes ahead, and more top news in supply chain this week.   We ended the week with an episode of TEKTOK, powered by Supply Chain Now, where host Karin Bursa shared the 3 Things C-Level execs need to know about Sales & Operations Planning & Inventory Optimization.   Which was your favorite episode this week? Never miss an episode by subscribing to Supply Chain Now! Make sure you…