Inside a UPS warehouse that prioritizes super-fast shipping

Jul 15, 2024
UPS' Velocity in Louisville, Kentucky, has more robots than workers.
At Velocity, robots are constantly moving through the facility, reprioritizing items that are trending.
Kristin Schwab/Marketplace

Port of Baltimore reopens, but shipping business still feels "touchy"

Jul 11, 2024
The owner of a Baltimore warehouse and shipping company describes how the port's closure and reopening has affected business.
The Port of Baltimore recently reopened, but local shipping business remains tentative.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

There's a logic to the chaos of the global supply chain

Jun 14, 2024
Peter Goodman of The New York Times discusses the complex inner workings of our fragile system and why it broke down during the pandemic.
Increasing resilience would be costly and reduce profitability at many supply chain businesses, author Peter Goodman explains. Above, shipping containers at the Port of Oakland in California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In the barge business, this year has been "consistent, predictable and profitable"

May 1, 2024
At Golding Barge Line in Vicksburg, Mississippi, volume and demand are stable, but rising prices continue to pose a challenge.
"Our equipment is more expensive than ever, to repair it is more expensive than ever," says Austin Golding of Golding Barge Line. "The ability for me to grow is really inhibited by that cost structure."
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Big cargo ships are more efficient. And more risky.

Mar 27, 2024
Cargo ships have grown since the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built. Collisions have greater impact, physically and economically.
The scene of the shipping accident in Baltimore. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked billions of dollars for port upgrades made necessary by the scaling up of cargo ships.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Supply chains already feel the pinch as collapsed bridge blocks Baltimore's port

Mar 26, 2024
And there's no telling how long it'll take to reopen the port. Other East Coast ports will have to handle some of the shipping traffic.
The cargo ship Dali reported losing power before it struck a column on the Francis Scott Key bridge.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Why prices are dropping at furniture retailers like Ikea

Mar 12, 2024
Furniture prices fell 3.7% over the last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report.
Demand for furniture spiked at the beginning of the pandemic, but now manufacturing and shipping costs have eased, making price cuts to furniture possible.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Historic drought at the Panama Canal threatens global shipping

Mar 6, 2024
Many fewer vessels now traverse the canal daily. The water deficit is a global phenomenon that has been linked to climate change.
Water levels at the Panama Canal are among the lowest on record.
Courtesy Panama Canal Authority

“Ro-ro” your boat to Georgia: why the state sees a lucrative future in automotive shipping

Jan 15, 2024
The rural Port of Brunswick is trying to overtake the Port of Baltimore as the top “roll-on/roll-off” port in the U.S.
A Nissan Rogue exits the bay of the vehicle carrier Neptune Ace at the Port of Brunswick in Georgia.
Benjamin Payne

As Christmas looms, the shipping wars accelerate

Dec 21, 2023
UPS and FedEx, not to mention Target and Walmart, are all racing to keep up with Amazon's same- or next- day shipping options because shoppers have become used to faster delivery times.
Amazon says more than half of Prime orders arrived same day or next day during the first half of this year in the 60 biggest U.S. metro areas.
Octavio Jones/Getty Images