Agenda

Networking Lunch
Location: Court A – E, Lobby Level

Third-party logistics firms today manage retailer and other company facilities at inland ports, but rarely do they take the lead in securing the industrial property and then operating it for the benefit of multiple customers. However, that is beginning to change as smaller retailers, consumer products and other firms seek to tap into the cost saving benefits of rail intermodal and inland ports. This panel will explore 3PLs’ evolving role in the intermodal and inland port network.

• The full IPI delivery concept by a single FF or NVO – 3PL is becoming much more common in Global Transportation, and how these Supply Chain experts are using Inland Ports in their DC-Modeling Strategy for Retailers.
• What value-added services are 3PLs offering to cargo interests?
• How 3PLs are able to secure domestic and marine containers even during times when there are equipment shortages

Speakers:

• Moderator: Tim Feemster, Senior Managing Director, Newmark Grubb
• Robert T. Pericht, Senior Vice President, Warehouse Operations, Saddle Creek Logistics Services
• Bob Shaunnessey, President , Partners Warehouse
• Ken Miller, Vice President, Operations Intermodal North Region, JB Hunt Transportation Services Inc.

Location: Court F – J, Lobby Level

Historically, exporting goods via container from the North American heartland is a challenge, as the destination of imported containers rarely matches up with where containers are needed for export. Inland container rail intermodals, or inland ports, represent a breakthrough in achieving the holy grail of “export matching.” APL’s decision last year to open a 43-acre equipment management operation adjacent to the Union Pacific Joliet Intermodal Terminal is one example of how convergence of import and export containers is being achieved at inland ports.  In this session attendees will hear from ocean carriers that are progressing to that same synergy of matching empty containers in the heartland to export loads.

• Which inland destinations offer the best opportunities for matching import and export containers?
• Where are the inland ports with available capacity?
• Access to capacity and total cost savings
• Will steamship lines develop additional pricing that limits the movement of containers from major inland port hubs?
• Is there an opportunity for short line railroads to develop “multi-railroad” inland ports by combining multiple class I railroad cars?
• What do “export processing centers” at inland ports look like?
• Do steamship lines and railroads share the cost of repositioning empty containers from inland hubs to remote export locations, for example to grain-producing regions of the upper Midwest?

Speakers:

• Moderator:  Bill Mongelluzzo, Associate Editor, JOC
• Greg Tuthill, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, NYK Line (North America), Inc.
• Gene Seroka, President-Americas, APL Ltd.
• John Anfinson, Senior Manager International Transportation, Target Corp.
• Matthew Hancock, Manager, Global Consolidation/Deconsolidation Services, Caterpillar Logistics Inc.

Location: Court F – J, Lobby Level

Are the East & Gulf Coasts headed for a port shutdown? Current longshore labor negotiations covering the East and Gulf coasts are unquestionably the most volatile and unpredictable element in the U.S. transportation system. With International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett saying on Aug. 22 that “It looks like we’re going to have a strike,” BCOs and other industry players are bracing for the worst. National Retail Federation President and CEO Matthew Shay said there’s “a real risk of disruption,” given the recent breakdown in talks between the ILA and USMX. This session will feature JOC Senior Editor Joseph Bonney, the journalist who is most closely following the negotiations and has first reported all the major stories. He has attended recent negotiations and is regularly in touch with both labor and management. He will give his perspective on the talks and take questions.Speakers:

Moderator: Bill Mongelluzzo, Associate Editor, The Journal of Commerce
Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor, The Journal of Commerce

The most effective site selection decisions for distribution centers are made when a corporation’s logistics and real estate departments work closely together, making decisions on the DC network with full visibility to transport costs. Yet too often real estate professionals at shipper/BCO organizations make DC site selection decisions without fully incorporating logistics considerations, tending to place too much emphasis on incentives, free land, and tax abatements. Such a narrow approach can result in lost opportunities for tremendous cost savings, reduction in drayage, supply chain integration into the rail intermodal network, and others. This panel will discuss how organizations are avoiding being constrained by historical considerations and, instead, are looking to the future: modeling, for example, what a network might look like if fuel costs are 15-30% higher in three years, as they could very well be if current trends continue.

• What real estate/transportation costs should be identified to paint a total cost picture?
• What costs are minimized by making DC site selection decisions with both RE and logistics departments?
• What is more important in the logistics calculation – inbound costs from the port to the DC or outbound costs from the DC to the stores or customers?
• How frequently do the logistics vice president and real estate vice president both sit on the site selection team?
• Is a joint real estate/logistics approach to site selection a growing trend? If so, are site selection teams paying more attention to in-bound supply chains located in close proximity to transportation infrastructure within a 50-mile circle of where their “out-bound delivery system consultants” tell them to be?
• Importance of transportation costs versus land costs and labor costs in DC site selection

Speakers:

• Moderator: Adam Roth, Executive Vice President, NAI Global Logistics
• Jeff Starecheski, Vice President, Logistics Services, Sears Holdings Corporation
• Brent Lindstrom, Director of Sales for the Americas, Caterpillar Logistics Services, LLC

Location: Court F – J, Lobby Level

As retailers build new supply chains specific to e-commerce fulfillment, integrating with rail intermodal is a high priority. Most of the new DCs built or occupied over the past few years to serve e-commerce fulfillment – in locations such as Phoenix, Columbus, South Carolina and many other locations – are tied to inland ports. The opportunity is to connect rail intermodal with access to UPS or Fedex truck hubs while accessing surge labor capacity and taking advantage of available sales tax advantages. This panel will explore the rapid adoption of intermodal by e-commerce supply chains and the issues that are arising.

• How advancements in information technology and packaging systems are helping to reduce transportation costs at E-commerce fulfillment centers
• Is the consumer delivery model of “free ground shipping” forcing e-tailers to develop a larger DC network as small package pricing costs escalate?
• What will the new e-commerce DC’s look like? Does it require a new DC altogether?
• What is the projected growth of the e-commerce channel in 5, 10, 20 years?
• What is the growth potential for E-Commerce Fulfillment Centers, and will they look and be constructed like Large Box DCs or are they totally different?

Speakers:

• Moderator:  Curtis Spencer, President, IMS Worldwide
• Blaine Kelley, Sr. Vice President, CBRE
• Jim Theusch, Business Development Consultant, Ryan Companies US, Inc.

Location: Court F – J, Lobby Level