Early in 2023, the Reverse Logistics Association held its 19th Annual Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was their biggest event yet, with over 350 member companies and over 800 people registered for the event, which featured a pitch competition, awards ceremony, top notch content, and – of course – plenty of networking time. Tony Sciarrotta has been the Executive Director of the Reverse Logistics Association since 2016 and is a return guest and co-host in the Supply Chain Now Reverse Logistics Series. Tony has also held a variety of sales and marketing positions in the consumer electronics industry, including President of Reverse IT Sales & Consulting and 25 years at Philips Consumer Lifestyle. In this classic Supply Chain Now episode, Tony joins host Scott Luton to share his main takeaways from the event and to shine the spotlight on top trends in reverse logistics: • How new software is automating the business decisions about whether each return should be liquidated, resold into the secondary market, or sold via a special business channel • Why he is challenging business leaders to prioritize reverse logistics by appointing someone at the VP or even the C-level to own their management…

The data doesn’t lie, and in Q1 2026, it’s telling a story the freight industry hasn’t seen in years. In this special episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott W. Luton and Karin Bursa welcome Bobby Holland, Director of Freight Business Analytics at U.S. Bank, and Bob Costello, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the American Trucking Associations, for a deep dive into the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index for Q1 2026. The episode unpacks seven critical takeaways from the quarter, including a historic 12.9% spike in freight spending, a rare supply-side recovery driven by tightening capacity and surging fuel costs, and regional breakdowns across the West, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast, with stops on tariff impacts, cross-border trade with Canada and Mexico, and what a $7.22-per-gallon diesel price in California means for the broader economy. Together, they explore why this recovery is unlike anything we’ve seen since the pandemic boom, what the Goldman Sachs recession outlook gets right (and wrong), and how supply chain leaders can use real, verified freight data, not feelings, to make smarter decisions in an unpredictable 2026.   This episode is hosted by Scott W. Luton and Karin Bursa. Produced by Trisha Cordes, Joshua…