Good day,
“Project Sunrise,” Qantas Airways’ 20-hour New York-to-Sydney test flight, the first non-stop air service between the two cities, landed in Sydney on October 19. To hear Qantas CEO Alan Joyce tell it, it will be four years before the flights actually take off. “Simple Flying” reported that Joyce told “Flight Global” that the aircraft that Qantas needs won’t be available until 2023. Airbus Industries has confirmed that it offered Qantas its A350-1000 for Project Sunrise. Boeing’s 777X is the other contender. Another issue will be the level of scrutiny that aviation regulators will impose on any new Boeing model given the many problems surrounding the 737 MAX.
Did you know?:
The number of rich Chinese surpassed wealthy Americans for the first time, according to global bank Credit Suisse. The bank’s annual wealth survey found 100 million Chinese ranked in the global top 10% as of the middle of this year compared to 99 million in the United States.
Quotable:
“Kentucky celebrated record-breaking economic investment over the last few years and must meet the infrastructure demands these new investments create in order to reach full potential.”
– Ashli Watts, president and CEO of the state of Kentucky’s Chamber of Commerce, quoted in the Northern Kentucky Tribune. The state ranked 14th in the amount of freight moved in 2019.
In other news
Renewable energy supplies growing fast
Global supplies of renewable electricity are growing faster than expected and could expand by 50% in the next five years, powered by a resurgence in solar energy, according to the International Energy Agency. (The Guardian)
Google drone takes wing
Six months after receiving a federal government exemption to do so, Alphabet (the parent of Google) subsidiary Wing delivered packages by drone. The 22,000 residents of Christiansburg, Virginia can now order products normally shipped by FedEx Corp., medicine from Walgreens and a selection of candy from a local business – all of which will arrive via drone. (Dawn)
Retailers not first-movers in warehouse technology
Only 25% of retailer/manufacturer/distributor respondents to a survey from enterprise software provider JDA and supply chain intelligence platform EFT said they plan to invest in warehouse execution or warehouse control systems in the near-term to enable higher efficiency in their operations. (Chain Store Age)
Southeast Asian start-ups bringing I.T. to the forefront
New and innovative companies are cropping up in the mid-mile logistics space, such as B2B trucking. (South China Morning Post)
Meet my freight in St. Louis
St. Louis and Illinois regional interests have launched a campaign to make the St. Louis region an “epicenter” of freight transportation in the Midwest. (Belleville News-Democrat)
Final Thoughts:
The great baseball pitcher Satchel Paige once said, “Don’t look back, someone might be gaining on you.” Amazon.com, Inc. may not feel the full heat of companies like eBay and Shopify entering the fulfillment and delivery space. Yet, over time, these firms may begin to chip away at Amazon’s dominance of the e-commerce fulfillment market if they can convince their customers to stay with them for the physical distribution rather than take that business to Amazon. Logistics execution is hardly a slam-dunk, but it’s doable. And there is plenty of available physical capacity to set up shop. eBay and Shopify are not the only companies capable of doing this. The space could get very busy in the coming years, and this, as much as anything else, could make Amazon uncomfortable.
Hammer down everyone!