If supply chain technology startups, flame-outs and trending topics were a bingo card or a drinking game, the only question is which would come first: the card being filled or the player blacking out. An industry that for the longest time was late to the party on innovation now finds itself at the center of an influx of investment and innovation for technologies seeking to bring efficiency, transparency, traceability, decision-making, enhanced prognostication, and sustainability.

In the 2024 version of Gartner's Annual Supply Chain report, they listed nine top trends for this year and the near future:

• Cyber Extortion

• Supply Chain Data Governance

• End-to-end sustainable supply chains

• AI-Enabled Vision Systems

• Augmented-Connected Workforce

• Composite AI

• Next-Generation Humanoid Working Robots

• Machine Customers

Cyber Extortion is certainly one that is in the news, both on the non-asset service provider side as well as on the asset-owning side. Given the news this week as well of discovery of a major vulnerability in the cockpit and crew access systems, the persistent checking for vulnerabilities is with good cause.

Ask anybody in logistics older than Gen Z, and they'll tell you that the biggest bifurcation in logic was the time and money spent on client-facing tools and visibility and the paucity of investment to make your own platform(s) both operate efficiently and have interoperability with others.

But why did this happen? The argument could be made that two key developments moved the industry from stasis and status quo to innovation.

The first was the ability to move away from the "all under one roof" approach to technology that large forwarders used to their advantage because they had budgets, programmers and IT infrastructure to build and operate their own environments. The second, was the advent of the API and the ability for people to deploy multiple best-in-class solutions instead of having to live in that single environment.

Those two items were already playing out when private equity money got into the game and the pandemic struck and changed how the world - and governments - saw and treated logistics.

Today, there are two kinds of technology companies. There's either the de facto category goliath, or a constellation of competitors engaged in a Darwinian battle of life-or-death to become their category's goliath. But for many of those companies, are they fighting with the exit and investor payoff in mind without necessarily solving the problem they were created and funded to address?

It is with this in mind that we decided that Eric Johnson, Senior Editor, Technology, for the Journal of Commerce, would be the best person to ask for his opinions. Eric has interviewed founders, pored over financial reports, sat through more pitches and demos than any human being should be forced to endure in their lifetime and presided over multiple in-person and online panels and forums covering just this topic.

Source Material:

• Gartner Magic Quadrant: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-03-20-gartner-identifies-top-trends-in-supply-chain-technology-for-2024

• DHL Logistics Trend Radar: https://www.ajot.com/news/dhl-logistics-trend-radar-7.0-unveils-emerging-ai-trends-and-sustainable-solutions

• Bypassing Airport Security Through SQL Injection: https://ian.sh/tsa

• CBP ACAS Implementation Guide: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2024-09/ACAS%20IG%20v2.3.1_508.pdf

In this edition of Logistically Speaking, Cameron and Scott look back on the NCBFAA's GTEC Conference in Chicago held July 28 - 30, 2024, and discuss a variety of issues and topics that were covered at the event. They spent time discussing the new FMC rules, an interesting case in Georgia over demurrage and detention fees and a reminder about the importance of having the basics in place if you're an NVOCC as it relates to your FMC Qualifying Individual.

They also reacted to observations by four GTEC attendees about what topics are important right now in internationl trade:

• Duty drawback

• FMC basics

• Forced labor

• Export compliance

Thanks to Robyn Moore, Managing Consultant, Duty Drawback for Mohawk Global, Melzie Wilson of The Global Zolutions, Kellie Case, President, The Camelot Company and Kim Calicott, Export Compliance Manager, Mallory Alexander International Logistics.

If it's an election year, there are three certainties you can expect from Congress:

1. 100% of House members are focused on getting re-elected.

2. 33% of Senators are focused on getting re-elected.

3. Probably less than 10% of the country has any belief they'll do something meaningful and significant for the country, other than getting out of DC to stump for their jobs.

Increasingly, though, the two major parties are seeking to both contrast themselves to their opponents while simultaneously appearing unified on issues that are "American" (which feels like a code word for 'nationalist').

The question is with social unrest at home, two geopolitical conflicts where America is contributing money and materiel and a presidential replay coming in November, will anything of substance be passed by both chambers to become law?

If anybody knows the answer to that question, it's Peter Friedmann. Peter wears two hats; one is colloquially "Our man in DC," as he is of Counsel to the Pacific Coast Council - an organization consisting of and representing the interests of customs broker and freight forwarder associations along the US West Coast. His other is as Executive Director of the AgTC, a trade association of agricultural exporters looking for overseas market access and equitable treatment for his members from shipping companies whose commercial and financial focus feels import-centric.

Between mid-May and Election Day, both chambers will be jointly in session for thirty-nine days, with an extra five days for the House and eleven for the Senate. Oh, and that includes not working a single day in October. Nice work if you can get elected to it, huh?

For cargo owners and companies working in support of domestic and global supply chains, there are a multitude of issues being debated. From the retroactive renewal of GSP to OSRA 2.0 and a bevy of proposals encompassing China, de minimis and the EV industry, whether you're directly in the industry or a consumer affected by these proposed bills, logistically speaking, will it be a year of trade or tariffs, and what can and should we expect out of Congress in an election year?

Source Material:

• H.R. 7986 - The GSP Reform Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7986

• H.R. 7979 - End China's De Minimis Abuse Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7979

• H.R. 1833 - The Ocean Shipping Implementation Act of 2023. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1836

• H.R. 7980 - End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act of 2024. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7980

• https://qz.com/biden-us-china-china-tariffs-evs-chips-electric-cars-1851474998

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/14/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-action-to-protect-american-workers-and-businesses-from-chinas-unfair-trade-practices/