Chain Links: What we’re reading this week

 

Who needs addresses to ship packages? Collier’s examines global logistics trends. And millennials are impacting federal transport spending(?)

 

 

Shyp’s Packages Ditch Addresses to Make Delivery Easier

 

San Francisco-based on-demand shipping company Shyp last week announced “address-free shipping,” with a new focus on the actual recipients of packages. The way it works is simple: Instead of shipping addresses, Shyp customers get usernames instead, and their addresses and delivery preferences are synced to those usernames. When a contact wants to use Shyp to send them something, he or she can just type in the username, rather than a street address.

 

Source: Wired.com

 

From First Mile to Last Mile: Global Industrial and Logistics Trends

 

This analysis from the commercial real estate service firm Colliers International notes a growth in size of “first mile” facilities due to the increase in e-tailing. This is because warehouses and distribution centers now need to have more space for automated equipment to handle fast-paced consumer demand. E-tailing is also driving growth in the number of small warehouses located in urban areas.

 

Source: Colliers International Group Inc.

 

Israeli engineer designs grounded drone delivery service

 

Forget “multicoptor” drones hovering over rooftops ready to drop the latest best seller onto your front step (or head). An Israeli industrial designer has developed a ground-based unicycle drone that carries packages on its “head” and delivers the package to the right customer with the help of facial recognition software.

Source: Reuters

 

Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for U.S. Comfort

 

Russian submarines and spy ships are “aggressively operating” near the undersea cables that carry the vast majority of global Internet and telecommunications data. Some U.S. intelligence and military experts are concerned that Russia could attack these vital data conduits if hostilities should erupt, reports The New York Times. This scenario and its potential implications for global trade are discussed in “Uncertainty on the high seas,” by Erik Peterson and Stephen Klimczuk-Massion of A.T. Kearney’s Global Business Policy Councilin the Q2/2015 issue of our sister publication, CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly.

 

Source: The New York Times

 

Driving Habits Among Millennials Impacting Transportation Industry: Report

 

Millennials’ driving habits are impacting federal transportation spending in unusual ways, according to an Oct. 19 report from Standard & poor’s Credit Research and published in Latin Post. The report indicates that the youthful subgroup is less likely to drive, and when they do they're more likely to use compact vehicles. This means they are consuming less gas and depriving the Highway Trust Fund, which is funded by user taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, of revenue.

 

Source: Latin Post