Unboxing Logistics

Creating an AI Strategy That Works With Dana Moffat From Acumatica - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 88

Supply chain experts agree: businesses shouldn’t just throw AI at every problem that comes their way. But as Dana Moffat, product manager at Acumatica, points out in this week’s Unboxing Logistics episode, you can’t afford to ignore AI either. She explains that the success of AI strategies comes down to how well you identify problems, select technology, define KPIs, and measure results. HOW TO CREATE AN AI STRATEGY THAT WORKS According to Dana, the foundation for a successful AI implementation is understanding what you want to achieve and how you’ll measure the results. She says, “You have to have clear objectives and goals. … You need to know … what you want to accomplish and why.” She shares a few questions to guide you through this initial planning stage: * Why do we think AI is the answer to this particular problem or challenge? * How will we know that AI has helped us transform or achieve our objectives? * How do we measure success or failure? SETTING YOUR AI UP FOR SUCCESS Before introducing AI tools, it’s important to ensure your operating procedures are clearly defined. That’s because AI learns from patterns. And “if your procedures or workflows [are] constantly changing, or your processes vary by team or customer … it's hard for AI to learn … because you don't have patterns.” In addition to unpredictable processes, Dana shares another common pitfall when implementing an AI solution: inaccurate data. “AI can inherit bias from historical data, and [that] can reinforce bad patterns. … As much as possible, clean up your data before you start leveraging that AI.” DOES AI REPLACE HUMAN WORKERS? Many people fear that AI will replace human workers, taking jobs and ruining livelihoods. But Lori and Dana have a far more optimistic perspective—they strongly believe that real people are still necessary in the logistics space. In Dana’s words, “There's still a very strong need for domain expertise, especially in shipping and enterprise resource planning. We have domain experts in these different functional areas, and they're very important, so AI cannot replace them.” LINKS * Connect with Dana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-moffat-94850a10/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-moffat-94850a10/] * Visit Acumatica’s website: https://www.acumatica.com/ [https://www.acumatica.com/]

Preparing for Freight Volatility With Chris Caplice From MIT and DAT Freight & Analytics - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 87

In this Unboxing Logistics episode, Lori sits down with Chris Caplice, executive director at MIT Center for Transportation Logistics and chief scientist at DAT Freight and Analytics, to discuss the state of freight in 2026. THE STATE OF FREIGHT SHIPPING IN 2026 Chris begins by laying out the two big forces shaping the freight market—supply and demand—and noting, “Because supply and demand are constantly shifting in this very volatile market, you're going to see prices going up and prices going down on a regular-ish basis.” He explains that while demand is holding fairly steady, the same can’t be said for supply. “A lot of the regulations that have come recently … [are ] increasing the cost of being a carrier. … It's increasing the barrier of entry, so it's constricting the supply of carriers.” The result? “We are going to see a tightening of the market throughout 2026.” SPOT VS. CONTRACT PRICING According to Chris, one of the biggest mistakes shippers make is using contract rates for every lane. Simply put, “It just doesn't make sense for certain lanes that are sporadic, low volume, things like that.” He warns that often, financial leaders prefer the perceived security of contracts, but contracting for everything actually “creates more problems than it fixes.” Fortunately, there’s a simple rule of thumb to know whether you’re balancing spot and contract pricing correctly. Chris says, “Thirty percent of your lanes will [probably] handle [about] 80% of your volume. But … 70% [of your lanes] will handle [about] 20%. So those ones, you don't want to put contract rates on.” In other words, “The vast majority of your volume will go under contract. The vast majority of your lanes will probably be spot.” BALANCING COST AND RELIABILITY IN A TIGHT MARKET Chris acknowledges that saving money is a huge consideration when it comes to shipping. But he cautions logistics leaders to consider other factors, such as carrier availability and reliability. “There's so much excess capacity out there. It's tighter now. So little things can have big ripple effects. So I think the big concern now is not saving every dime. It's more about, okay, will my carriers be there when the market gets tighter, or if my demand shifts, or if the fuel price increases?” LINKS * Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-caplice-1839/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-caplice-1839/] * Visit the DAT Freight and Analytics website: https://www.dat.com/ [https://www.dat.com/] * Visit the MIT Center for Transportation Logistics website: https://ctl.mit.edu/ [https://ctl.mit.edu/]

Unboxing the Trends: USPS Fuel Surcharges, FedEx 2-Hour Delivery, and the Rise of Amazon Shipping With Tim Ranagan and Lori Boyer From EasyPost - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 86

Carrier changes are picking up speed—and starting to impact both costs and service expectations across the industry. In this episode, Tim Ranagan and Lori Boyer from EasyPost break down recent updates from USPS, FedEx, and Amazon. Their conversation focuses on rising surcharges, faster delivery options, and the growing role of Amazon Shipping. USPS INTRODUCES FUEL SURCHARGES USPS is introducing its first-ever fuel surcharge, signaling a shift in how the carrier handles cost volatility. Lori explains that while the change is framed as temporary, it reflects broader pressure across the industry as fuel prices and geopolitical factors continue to fluctuate. She says, “I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more surcharges. … We're at the point where [carriers are] really struggling with costs. So we are seeing more of those costs being carried over to shippers in general.” FEDEX OFFERS TWO-HOUR DELIVERY FedEx’s new same-day service with two-hour delivery windows shows how major carriers are pushing toward faster fulfillment. These options are exciting, but they’re also expensive, and Lori reassures smaller businesses that they don’t necessarily need to offer customers same-day services. While buyers care a lot about reliability, she notes, they’re “not necessarily pushing speed as much as we sometimes think.” AMAZON SHIPPING GAINS GROUND AS A CARRIER Amazon is continuing to invest heavily in its logistics network, including a $4 billion push to expand rural delivery and reach more underserved areas. At the same time, Amazon Shipping is gaining traction as a carrier option within multi-carrier strategies. Lori explains that many businesses are testing it and seeing strong results, adding that “the data shows that Amazon Shipping is becoming a really big player in the carrier industry.” With tools like Luma AI [https://www.easypost.com/products/luma-ai/] that compare carrier performance across cost, speed, and reliability, more shippers are shifting volume based on what actually performs best. LINKS * Connect with Lori on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loribboyer/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/loribboyer/] * Connect with Tim on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-ranagan-mba-2717bb125/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-ranagan-mba-2717bb125/] * Visit EasyPost’s website: https://www.easypost.com/ [https://www.easypost.com/]

EasyPost Insider: Luma AI Advisor, the Shipping LLM You Can Rely on With Tyler Diestel From EasyPost - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 85

In this episode, Tyler Diestel, senior product manager at EasyPost, joins Lori to discuss EasyPost’s latest shipping AI tool: Luma AI Advisor. Tyler explains what Luma AI Advisor is, how it works, and the impact it can make for SMB and enterprise shippers alike. WHAT IS LUMA AI ADVISOR? Luma AI Advisor is an LLM, or large language model. Like tools such as ChatGPT or Claude, Luma AI can process natural-language questions and generate human-like responses. But unlike generic chatbots, Luma AI was built for one purpose: to streamline parcel shipping. Tyler says, “We have this amazing product suite called Luma AI. It … gives our shippers insights into a treasure trove of data. The problem is that a lot of times we provide too much data, and it overwhelms our shippers. … So with Luma AI Advisor, instead of having to sift through the various dashboards, [users] can just chat with this nice little chatbot to find their answers directly.” He also explains why it’s much more effective than ChatGPT or Claude: “Those are answering high-level questions. This LLM has all your shipping data, so it knows exactly what you have done and what you can do to reach your goals.” WHAT DATA IS LUMA AI ADVISOR TRAINED ON? According to Tyler, Luma AI is trained on data from two sources: your own shipping operations and EasyPost’s billions of historic shipments. This makes it incredibly accurate when it comes to finding cost- and time-saving opportunities. “This LLM is trained on your data, but it also takes advantage of our AI models that produce our time-in-transit predictions. … By using our AI-generated predictions, you are leveraging the billions of shipments that we've seen.” WHAT CAN LUMA AI ADVISOR HELP WITH? Tyler shares a few examples of questions that Luma AI can answer: 1. How much do I actually save by adding Amazon to my carrier mix? 2. What carrier has the highest on-time percentage? 3. What carrier do I spend the most on? He’s also excited for future updates, which will allow Luma to help with even more shipping tasks, such as explaining how to enable a new carrier or recommending the best carrier for shipping HAZMAT. LINKS 1. Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdiestel/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdiestel/] 2. Learn more about Luma AI: https://www.easypost.com/products/luma-ai/ [https://www.easypost.com/products/luma-ai/]

The Middle East Shipping Crisis With Sal Mercogliano From What’s Going On With Shipping? - Unboxing Logistics Ep. 84

Just a few weeks ago, the tense situation in the Middle East reached a boiling point when the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. Now, as the effects of the conflict ripple across the world, everyone has the same question: How will this affect global trade? Sal Mercogliano, maritime shipping expert and host of the YouTube channel What’s Going On With Shipping?, joins Lori to help answer that question. Sal shares a nuanced analysis of how the crisis has already affected shipping and what will happen going forward. HOW HAS THE CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST AFFECTED SHIPPING? To understand why the war in Iran will have such a major impact on shipping, you first need to understand choke points. Sal describes them as “narrow little areas where [ocean] traffic funnels together.” And one of the biggest choke points in the world is the Strait of Hormuz, where the Persian Gulf meets the Indian Ocean. Sal explains, “Since the United States and Israel struck Iran … shipping has stopped going through.” And unfortunately, “There's no shortcut here. There's no … ‘Let's go around the Persian Gulf.’ You can't. You've got to go through the strait.” This bottleneck will result in higher costs to businesses and consumers across the world. WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THE CONFLICT CONTINUES? While much of our oil comes from the Middle East, there are other sources. According to Sal, we’ll probably begin relying more heavily on places like the United States, Nigeria, and Venezuela for oil. But that solution comes with its own challenges. Sal explains, “You have to take natural gas and liquefy it, which means you put it into a ship by cooling it. … There's only a finite number of those ships. You have to go further distances, and there's a set amount you can ship because there's finite [resources] available.” WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE CONFLICT ENDS? Even when the conflict ends, Sal expects that shipping will be disrupted. He compares it to driving down the highway: “All of a sudden, traffic comes to a stop for some reason … because there was an accident there an hour ago and it just hasn't cleared up yet. For almost every day of an incident, it takes three to four to clear it out.” While we’re waiting for things to stabilize, Sal recommends that businesses stay informed about global events and look for ways to incorporate more flexibility into their shipping operations. LINKS 1. Connect with Sal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvatore-mercogliano-ph-d-what-s-going-on-with-shipping-95437729/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvatore-mercogliano-ph-d-what-s-going-on-with-shipping-95437729/] 2. Check out What’s Going On With Shipping? on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wgowshipping [https://www.youtube.com/@wgowshipping]