Guest: Matt Lekstutis of Efficio on China and world trade; The upbeat forklift market; Automation comes to the high seas

Guest: Jim Mozer of Crown and ITA on forklift safety; Venture capital invests in warehouses; Strengthening global disaster response

Our guest on this week's episode is Jim Mozer, Senior Vice President at Crown Equipment Corporation. He is representing the Industrial Truck Association, the industry association for the lift truck industry. This coming Tuesday, the supply chain industry hosts National Forklift Safety Day. Now in its 13th year, this day is set aside annually to remind us of the importance of safe practices when working on and around forklifts. National Forklift Safety Day is sponsored by the Industrial Truck Association. Our guest and DC Velocity Group Editorial Director David Maloney discuss what will take place at Tuesday’s National Forklift Safety Day event in Washington, D.C. The logistics sector has seen a tremendous impact in recent years from venture capital and other investment firms, through mergers and acquisitions, taking private companies public on the stock market, and other strategies. This week Senior News Editor Ben Ames wrote a story about more big money making changes in the industry, but it wasn’t in a sexy area like robotics or drones, it was in good old fashioned warehouses. Earlier this week, German logistics giant DHL Group announced the launch of its DHL Academy of Humanitarian Logistics (DAHL). Senior Editor Victoria Kickham reports on this global training initiative designed to give humanitarian organizations and local responders practical logistics knowledge and skills—ultimately allowing them to better prepare for and respond to crises. Articles and resources mentioned in this episode: * Industrial Truck Association (ITA) [https://www.indtrk.org/] * BKM and Kayne Anderson acquire $1.81 billion of industrial real estate [https://www.dcvelocity.com/logistics/warehousing/bkm-and-kayne-anderson-acquire-1-81-billion-of-industrial-real-estate] * DHL Group launches DHL Academy of Humanitarian Logistics [https://www.dcvelocity.com/editorial/featured/dhl-group-launches-dhl-academy-of-humanitarian-logistics] * Visit DC Velocity [https://www.dcvelocity.com/] * Visit Supply Chain Xchange [https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/] * Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com [podcast@agilebme.com] This podcast episode is sponsored by: ID Label [https://www.idlabelinc.com/]

Guest: Matt Lekstutis of Efficio on China and world trade; The upbeat forklift market; Automation comes to the high seas

Our guest on this week's episode is Matt Lekstutis, director at Efficio, a supply chain and consulting firm. Two weeks ago, President Trump had an historic meeting with China’s President Xi. It was a highly anticipated gathering, as there was a lot to talk about, including the war against Iran and the ongoing oil constraints. Our guest this week talks with DC Velocity Group Editorial Director David Maloney to unwrap what took place and to discuss international trade and world-wide threats to our supply chains.  Senior Editor Victoria Kickham reports that buyers of forklifts and pallet-handling equipment are upbeat in 2026, with many expecting to increase capital expenditures on those items this year as compared to last year. This information is based on a recent Voice of Market report [https://interactanalysis.com/market-sentiment-improves-for-forklift-buyers/] from London-based research firm Interact Analysis. The researchers surveyed decision-makers involved in the use, selection, and purchase of automation technologies for their facilities globally. We’ve been writing for years about autonomous vehicles, first with AGVs and AMRs in warehouses, there are self-driving forklifts, outdoor delivery robots on sidewalks, increasingly self-driving cars, a small but growing number of self-driving trucks, and some flying drones both indoors and out. But a story that caught the eye of Senior News Editor Ben Ames this week was about autonomous commercial ships. Articles and resources mentioned in this episode: * Officio [https://www.efficioconsulting.com/en-us/] * Report: Market sentiment for forklift and pallet handling tech improves [https://www.dcvelocity.com/editorial/featured/report-market-sentiment-for-forklift-pallet-handling-tech-improves] * IMO launches safety code to regulate autonomous ships [https://www.dcvelocity.com/transportation/maritime-ocean/imo-launches-safety-code-to-regulate-autonomous-ships] * Visit DC Velocity [https://www.dcvelocity.com/] * Visit Supply Chain Xchange [https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/] * Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com [podcast@agilebme.com] This podcast episode is sponsored by: ID Label [https://www.idlabelinc.com/]

Guest Hannah Hurckes of Boss Lady Logistics on fallout from the Supreme Court’s broker decision; Gaining “Momentum” with Agentic AI; A robotics acquisition

Our guest on this week's episode is Hannah Hurckes, Founder and CEO, Boss Lady Logistics. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on a case that could end up changing the freight industry as we know it, especially the brokerage part of freight movement. Hurckes shares the details and the impacts of this landmark ruling with DC Velocity Senior Editor Victoria Kickham. The buzzword of the season in supply chain software right now is agentic AI. But that technology, and artificial intelligence overall really, is still so new that there are probably more questions than answers about how it will affect each user’s own business processes. This week Senior News Editor Ben Ames traveled to Las Vegas to attend the Manhattan Associates Momentum conference, where much of the discussion focused on some new tools to help users implement agentic AI into their workflows and deal with the “blackbox” problem. Warehouse robotics and automation company Locus Robotics [https://locusrobotics.com/] said this week it has acquired Nexera Robotics [https://www.nexera-robotics.com/]. Nexera is a Vancouver-based developer of advanced robotic grasping technology. This is a big deal because it will help advance Locus’ newest offering—its Locus Array system--which it released at the MODEX show in April. Victoria Kickham reports. Articles and resources mentioned in this episode: * Boss Lady Logistics [https://www.bossladylogistics.com/] * Manhattan Associates launches marketplace of AI Agents [https://www.dcvelocity.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/manhattan-associates-launches-marketplace-of-ai-agents] * Manhattan tool explains the why behind agentic AI decisions [https://www.dcvelocity.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/manhattan-tool-explains-the-why-behind-agentic-ai-decisions] * Blue Yonder launches AI agent testing system [https://www.dcvelocity.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/blue-yonder-launches-ai-agent-testing-system] * Locus Robotics acquires Nexera Robotics [https://www.dcvelocity.com/editorial/featured/locus-robotics-acquires-nexera-robotics] * Visit DC Velocity [https://www.dcvelocity.com/] * Visit Supply Chain Xchange [https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/] * Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com [podcast@agilebme.com] This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner [https://www.werner.com/freight-quote/]

Guest: Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney on the 2026 Reshoring Index; Will AI take away jobs? Safety in trucking fleets

Our guest on this week's episode is Patrick Van den Bossche, partner at Kearney, a global management consulting firm. There has been a huge effort in recent years to return manufacturing to the United States, as much of this production has been outsourced to overseas factories for decades. But have these attempts been successful? Van den Bossche is the lead author of new research called the 2026 Reshoring Index Report and offers his insights and findings from the report on whether the current state of reshoring initiatives..  Artificial intelligence has so many up sides that investors are betting big right now on the benefits of the technologies – you can just look at the stock market for evidence of that. But we do hear of the downside of the many jobs AI may eliminate. Ben Ames reports on new research that shows which types of jobs are most vulnerable and the areas of the world that might be most affected (Hint: the U.S. is high on the vulnerablity list). There is a wealth of data in trucking today, much of it derived from the telematics and other advanced technology tools that connect what’s happening in the truck to a company’s broader IT system. Companies can use this vast array of data to improve safety and enhance operations. But while most small and mid-sized fleets claim to be “data rich,” they say they are starved for ways to best use the information they get from all of those tech tools. Articles and resources mentioned in this episode: * Kearney [https://www.kearney.com/] * Allianz report: Unemployment rates could be shaken by immigration, Iran War, and AI [https://www.dcvelocity.com/supply-chain/other-services/labor/allianz-unemployment-rates-could-be-shaken-by-immigration-iran-war-and-ai] * Fleets struggle to turn safety data into action [https://www.dcvelocity.com/editorial/featured/fleets-struggle-to-turn-safety-data-into-action] * Visit DC Velocity [https://www.dcvelocity.com/] * Visit Supply Chain Xchange [https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/] * Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com [podcast@agilebme.com] This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner [https://www.werner.com/freight-quote/]

Guest: Omar Qari of Logicbroker on how retailers and brands respond to shifting geopolitical uncertainty; Carton diversity drives sortation designs; China doubles down on robotics

Our guest on this week's episode is Omar Qari, CEO of Logicbroker. Every industry has had to adjust to the ongoing geopolitical uncertainty – the Iran war, high fuel prices, volatile tariff policy – the list goes on. So, how are retailers and brands making the needed adjustments to deal with these shifting trade conditions and uncertain supply availability? Our guest offers his insights with Senior News Editor Ben Ames. Most warehouses have packages of some kind that they need to sort - either inbound cases that have to go to storage or processing areas or goods in outbound packages that have to be sorted to dock doors. Senior Editor Victoria Kickham wrote for this month’s DC Velocity about how the wide diversity of these cartons is driving changes in automated sortation system design. Ben Ames reports that it’s no surprise  that robotics technology is taking on a larger role in how supply chains operate. We’ve also seen for some years now that many of the Asia-Pacific nations are leaders in that category, both in building robots and in using them for applications like manufacturing. But we saw a report this week about exactly how China sees that sector developing in coming years. This comes from China’s latest Five-Year Plan, which is China's blueprint for operating its economy. And sure enough, the country said it will continue to place robotics at the heart of its industrial system, along with artificial intelligence.  Articles and resources mentioned in this episode: * Logicbroker [https://logicbroker.com/] * Sortation Report: Pushing the limits [https://www.dcvelocity.com/material-handling/pushing-the-limits] * China places AI-powered robots at the center of its five-year plan [https://www.dcvelocity.com/material-handling/robotics/china-places-ai-powered-robots-at-center-of-five-year-plan] * Visit DC Velocity [https://www.dcvelocity.com/] * Visit Supply Chain Xchange [https://www.supplychainquarterly.com/] * Send feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.com [podcast@agilebme.com] This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner [https://www.werner.com/freight-quote/]