Unlike past government shutdowns, the December 2018 edition is a partial shutdown that will have little immediate impact on the daily lives of supply chain professionals.

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Everyone is talking about trade and tariffs—and the potential impacts on businesses and countries. But do you feel lost in a sea of jargon as you listen to the talk? People don’t mean to be rude. But as they explain what’s at stake and recommend courses of action, they may take for granted that you can speak what is essentially a foreign language as well as they can. » Read More

On Monday July 23, 2018, retiring House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Rep. Bill Shuster, released a discussion draft of an infrastructure bill, otherwise known as a highway bill. While there is little chance of this bill passing this year or next, it is meant to set the boundaries of the debate as Congress looks to a 2020 expiration date of the FAST Act (the last infrastructure bill).

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Last December, the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate went into effect for the broader carrier community, marking a change in how professional truck drivers and commercial motor carriers log hours of service (HOS). The federal ELD mandate, which states that fleets previously using paper logbooks needed to equip their trucks with ELDs, went into full enforcement—which includes issuing non-compliant drivers with out-of-service citations—on April 1, 2018, with the exception of a limited 90-day waiver for the transportation of agricultural commodities that remains in effect until June 18. » Read More

Updates and adjustments to global trade programs have been capturing headlines and creating uncertainty for several months. Even with NAFTA negotiations moving into 2018, there are still other possible global trade updates on the horizon that shippers should keep an eye on. Here’s a brief check-in on two important global trade programs that are on the cusp of potential change.
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Supporting Carriers with a Discounted ELD Program | Transportfolio

Carriers across the country are in the process of choosing the right electronic logging device (ELD) for their business in preparation of the upcoming ELD mandate. Meanwhile, many shippers aren’t sure what actions they should take—if any.
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New Report Recommends CSA Program Overhaul: What Now? | Transportfolio

Hot off the presses, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released the widely anticipated report on the Compliance Safety and Accountability program. This report was required by Congress as part of the FAST Act signed by President Obama in December 2015.
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What Transportation Professionals Should Know in the Event of a Government Shutdown | Transportfolio

While most pundits are now predicting the government will remain open past May 6, 2017 (update provided at the bottom of this post), we thought it would be worth a reminder regarding how a government shutdown would impact the transportation industry specifically. Whether a shutdown is a result of the federal budget that needs to be authorized or raising the federal debt ceiling, the political dynamics that caused the 2013 government shutdown could always return.
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Sanitary Transportation of Food Rule: What You Need to Know | Transportfolio

Do you ship human food? What about perishable animal food? The Sanitary Transportation of Food rule, which is a part of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), will take effect on April 1 for many in our industry. We have been getting a variety of questions around this ruling and what shippers and carriers need to do to prepare. In this blog, Chris McLoughlin, risk manager at C.H. Robinson, and I cover what you need to know.
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