Freight Forward: #TPM25 Day Two

Welcome to Freight Forward, where each Monday, I’ll recap what happened in supply chains the previous week through JOC.com articles and additional sources and also what to expect for the week ahead.

I’m Cathy Roberson, a supply chain writer and researcher. For this weekly series, I serve as a research analyst for the Journal of Commerce (JOC), for whom I identify trends, provide thoughts and input into stories, and assist with air express and parcel last-mile queries.with air express and parcel last-mile queries.

Move over Taco Tuesday yesterday was renamed Tariff Tuesday as tariffs went into effect for most Canadian, Mexican and Chinese exports to the US.

Indeed, at the TPM Academy session - Coming to Terms With What Trump's Tariffs Really Mean with Cameron Roberts, every chair was full and folks were standing in the back and along the sides to hear Roberts.

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The session – Navigating Trump 2.0 Tariff Era – continued the tariff discussion. I particularly like this Tweet/quote from panelist Scott Lincicome, Vice President, General Economics and Stiefel Trade Policy Center, Cato Institute: “I’ve done my job telling people the stove is hot. I guess it’s time for them to touch the stove.”

While tariffs were top of mind for many folks, there were other sessions of importance.

• The interview with DSV CEO Jens Lund who talked about the fragmented freight forwarding market, DSV’s acquisition of DB Schenker and the outlook for the market.
• A conversation with Lineage's Adam Forste was really interesting – Forste discussed the growth of Lineage, the cold chain market and its investment in Emergent Cold Latam.
• Airfreight – Yes! There was an airfreight session with Alan Beacham, Managing Director, Toll Group, Prathibha Hampapur, Global Category Leader-Inbound Logistics, Lululemon and Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer, Xeneta. E-commerce was a hot topic as was de minimis.
• AI has been around for decades, but its impact on logistics is still unclear. Eric Johnson and industry experts from BlueCargo, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Altana Technologies, and Ship Angel explore how AI is driving efficiency in trade and logistics management.

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As I wandered around, I asked folks what their biggest takeaway from TPM is:

• We need to rethink how we think about AI.
• We’re not alone regarding retooling systems to handle tariffs.
• Learning more about tariffs and their impact.

What is your biggest takeaway from TPM?

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TPM25 in the news:

• The Loadstar - Volatile ocean rates the stumbling block to index-linked contracts ?
• The Loadstar - Gemini carriers making good on schedule reliability promise, so far
• Bloomberg - US Fees on China Ships Risk a Surge in Costs, Top Carrier Warns
• JOC - DSV’s Lund says more global forwarding consolidation is needed
• JOC - Gemini hitting 90% reliability target as new network rolls out: Habben Jansen
• JOC - BNSF believes Barstow hub can improve service to smaller markets

That's it for now. Thank you for reading! For readers interested in reading more Journal of Commerce stories, click here to subscribe. Enter code FFNL20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any subscription option. (Note that this is only for first-time subscribers or for upgrading a current subscription).

-Cathy