In this episode, I discuss everything you need to know about General Rate Increases or GRI's in the small parcel and less-than-truckload space.  Every 9-11 months, freight carriers announce they will be taking an general rate increase. But in fine print they'll add "the impact of this general rate increase may vary by specific lane or shipment characteristics such as weight or class", which makes it difficult for the typical shipper to calculate the real impact to their business.

So I try to educate you about these increases, what the real impact like is for a shipper and how companies can better insulate themselves from gross rate hikes moving forward. I hope you find this insightful!

In this episode, I interview Don Hebert, Director of Recovery Services at the Center for Addiction Recovery Education and Success (CARES). Don shares some shocking statistics about addiction's impact on business, citing a the fact that the US Surgeon General reports that substance abuse costs the US Economy over $400 billion a year.

Don shares statistics that nearly 1 in 10 people in the work force are dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. The expense to companies associated in dealing with these employees in the form of treatment costs, lack of productivity and employees not showing up for work is astronomical. With a massive shortage of warehouse employees, manufacturer workers and truck drivers, company execs and managers cannot afford not to deal with this problem.

Don shares the huge benefits to companies that are taking this epidemic head on and points to practical things executives can put in place that can help employees recover and become healthy, hard working, loyal individuals that can change the entire culture of the organization.  

If you are getting invoiced for extra charges after you ship your products, chances are the freight carriers are likely hitting you with Weight & Inspections.  In this episode, George Muha describes how and why this is happening and how your company can avoid these extra charges starting today.  

In this episode George Muha interviews Paul Tatro founder and creator of Blockchain U Online that offers a 10 module course that certifies participants in the foundations of blockchain. Paul also a #1 best selling author of Blockchain Unchained, The Illustrated Guide to Understanding Blockchain.

Paul shares his insights about how blockchain will revolutionize the business world and explains how it will benefit logistics and supply chain across the globe.

Paul describes blockchain as the following: "By delivering records that convey offer and acceptance, block chain is a value exchange protocol that provides a trust layer for the internet and records that are stored on digitally recorded ledger in packages called blocks.

Listen as Paul does a fantastic job breaking all this down in easily understandable way.

Listen to this riveting podcast as George Muha interview's Gustave A. Larson Company's Vice President of Supply Chain Greg Toler.  In this episode, Greg describes his amazingly successful career in operations that took him from a professional baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees to going back to school and learning distribution from some fantastic mentors.

After playing 6-years of Major League Baseball, Toler cut his teeth in the Jacksonville, FL distribution center for Boise Cascade Office Products where he spent 12-years learning best of breed operational processes and techniques.  In 1999, he took a Director of Distribution job for GA Larson where he helped the company go from 18 distribution centers to 53 and to the position he holds now.

Toler describes how he used his experience from Boise Cascade to bring an immediate impact to GA Larson by implementing Variable Labor Budget (VLB) to measure all of his operational costs and utilizing his own fleet to manage his inbound lead times.

Greg credits his success because of his people and processes and a very supportive ownership who shared Toler's belief in operational excellence.  Toler goes into great detail about things like driving efficiencies, empowering employees and the importance of intertwining purchasing and supply chain.

Lastly, Toler encourages every one in operations to invest in continuous education and networking to make sure they stay fresh and keep learning.