DC Velocity - February 2018

The first sign of this will be in the upcoming semi-annual contract bid cycle, which starts in March and runs through May, he said. The one factor that could spell relief on the roads would be an improvement in the rail portion of intermodal service, which Hartford said deteriorated in 2017.

The current year may be the peak of rate elevation, although 2019 and 2020 look strong as well, Hartford said. While the pace of rate increases will decelerate as time passes, it won’t contract quickly, he said.

A SOLID ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Hartford’s bullish outlook on the economy was echoed by Donald Ratajczak, the noted economist, who predicted at the conference that U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) would rise more than 3. 1 percent, U.S. industrial production would rise by 4 percent, and world economic growth would increase by 3. 9 percent. The global economy is in a synchronized recovery, and there is little to impede it for the balance of the year, Ratajczak said.

The economist noted that U.S. retailers are in solid shape on the ordering front because they have reduced once-elevated inventory levels by shuttering thousands of stores—about 7,000 in 2017 alone. Retailers with large brick-and-mortar exposure have been forced to rethink their network strategies in light of the tremendous growth of e-commerce, which has led many consumers to migrate their buying patterns from physical to digital. Ratajczak noted that the inventory problem all along was not too much product, but too many stores.

The one potential fly in Ratajczak’s ointment is inflation: His “leading inflation indicators” turned positive over the past two months after trending flat to negative for months prior to that, he said. This portends accelerating inflation by around mid-year, he said.

—M.S.

Automatic Systems Inc.’s Warehouse Automation and Distribution Group has opened a new office in Rock Hill, S.C. … Industrial battery charger manufacturer Ametek Prestolite Power has published a case study highlighting the warehouse operations benefits its customer Piazza Produce has realized during its 12-year relationship with Prestolite Power. The case study can be found on the company’s website, www.prestolitepower.com. … Dorner Mfg. Corp., a manufacturer of conveyors and related equipment, has revamped its website, www.dornerconveyors.com. Users can now access translations in more than 100 languages as well as find and download all service manuals and literature, look up parts information, and use a conveyor selector or 3-D CAD tool. … Fortna has become a bronze sponsor of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). Fortna’s sponsorship will provide ongoing support for ALAN’s disaster relief efforts. … Pro Trans’ San Diego transportation and border processing facility has moved to a new 21,875-square-foot facility, also in San Diego, that features 10 dock doors and fenced trailer parking on three acres. … CFI, a North American full-truckload carrier and subsidiary of TFI International Inc., has introduced its “Experienced Driver” compensation package, which is designed to recognize and reward the skill and professionalism of seasoned truck drivers. … Honeywell has signed an agreement to acquire a 25-percent ownership interest in Flux Information Technology, a provider of warehouse management and related supply chain software in China. … Open Sky Group, an authorized reseller of JDA warehouse, labor, and transportation management software, now has 17 clients’ warehouses up and running on JDA Software versions 2017.1. … End-to-end fleet management solutions provider KeepTruckin has joined the FourKites ELD Certification Program, an initiative to encourage business practices that facilitate supply chain data transparency. …

Ken Okaniwa, consul general of Japan in Miami, visited Florida’s Port Manatee in mid-December in an effort to strengthen commercial connections with the Gulf Coast port and its global trade hub. … Dematic, a supplier of integrated automated technology, software, and services, has opened its latest Monitoring and Response Center (MARC) at its engineering facility in Holland, Mich. … Expedited freight specialist Covenant Transport has launched a $40,000 teaming bonus program aimed at teams and single drivers willing to convert to team driving. … Florida’s Jaxport achieved double-digit growth in container volumes in the first two months of its fiscal year 2018 (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30), moving 204,492 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), compared with 165,571 TEUs during the same period in FY2017.