DC Velocity - April 2017

inbound

In 2016, engineers finished the 10-year, $5.4 billion project to widen the Panama Canal so that today’s giant containerships can avoid the hazardous voyage around the tip of South America. Half a world away, transportation leaders in Norway are now laying plans for a similar project, with one crucial difference—instead of traversing a tropical peninsula, the Norwegian canal will allow cargo ships to sail underneath a snow-capped mountain.

The Stad Ship Tunnel will be blasted through just over a mile of solid rock in the Stad Peninsula, near the city of Selje, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA). As for why anyone would want to blast through a mountain, NCA says the aim of this project is to allow ships to navigate more safely through Stad. With no outlying islands to protect it, the Stad Peninsula is one of the most exposed and dangerous areas on Norway’s western coast. The proposed tunnel would allow both passenger and freight vessels to avoid a trip through the dangerous waters.

At an estimated cost of $270 million, the tunnel will be the world’s first full-scale ship tunnel of this size, NCA says. Over a construction period of three to four years, workers will drill a tube 40 yards wide by 54 yards tall, large enough to accommodate ships the size of the coastal steamers used by Hurtigruten, a Norwegian cruise, ferry, and cargo operator. The Norwegian Parliament has already earmarked $120 million for the project, and construction could begin as early as 2018, planners say.

Norway plans ship tunnel

Do you have what it takes to create a killer delivery route? Could you go head-to-head with today’s intelligent routing software and come out on top? Now you can find out without ever leaving your desk.

Last month, fleet management solutions company Omnitracs LLC unveiled a Web-based game that invites players to test their routing chops. Called Route Race, the game challenges players to find the most efficient route to deliver packages across the city and do it quickly—before they run out of gas! Players guide their truck through the streets while strategically picking paths to avoid obstacles, construction holdups, and weather delays. After the player has completed the route, his or her path is compared with the ideal route—that is, the one recommended by Omnitracs’ “Roadnet Anywhere” software.

Designed to be played on either desktop or mobile devices, Route Race was cre-
ated to bring awareness to the challenges faced by companies in executing efficient
deliveries and, presumably, to show off the capabilities of Omnitracs’ software.
“The best laid plans … are often screwed up by traffic or weather or construc-
tion,” the company notes on the game’s introductory screen. “[Parcel delivery
is] a task that’s easier said than done, and Route Race is here to prove it.”
Who’s the most valuable of
them all? If you’re talking about
the world’s most valuable logis-
tics brands, it’s UPS, accord-
ing to London-based valuation
and strategy consultancy Brand
Finance.

Every year, the company conducts a comparative study among some of the world’s biggest companies to evaluate the dollar value of their brands. Among other factors, it considers marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation as well as the brand’s contribution to a business’s revenue. The 25 most valuable brands in some 40 business sectors are then identified and ranked.

With a brand value of $22.1 billion, UPS Inc. was the clear winner in the logistics sector this year, earning the top spot on the “Brand Finance Logistics 25 2017” report. UPS placed well ahead of the sec-ond- and third-place finishers: FedEx Corp. with $17.1 billion and Japan Railways Group (JR) with $12.2 billion. Rounding out the top 10 were DHL ($10.3 billion), Union Pacific ($8 billion), McLane Co. ($4.9 billion,) Poste Italiane ($4 billion), La Poste ($3.9 billion), CSX Transportation ($3.8 billion), and Canadian National Railway Co. ($3.8 billion).