Supply Chain by the Numbers for Week of Jan. 6, 2011

Supply Chain by the Numbers

- Jan. 6 , 2011 -

Fewer Hours of Service Coming; Logistics Grads in Good Shape; E-Commerce Continues to Soar; China Still Hoarding Rare Earth Metals



10
The new limit on daily truck driver the Federal Motor Carrier Safety administration says it is favoring, yet not completely decided upon, under another round of proposed Hours of Service rules published last week for review in the Federal Register. That change alone could hit driver productivity by about 10%, though in practice the impact is usually less than that. But in total, the changes could be a big deal for carriers and shippers. See Proposed New Hours of Service Rules a Lump of Coal in Trucking Industry Stocking, ATA Says

48%

The number of companies in a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers that said they plan to hire supply chain/logistics graduates in 2011. That led Forbes magazine to ponder on "2011's hottest job you never thought of." This may seem surprising to Forbes and others, but not to us!


15.4%
Growth in on-line retail sales in the 2010 Christmas season, according to analysis by the MasterCard Spending Pulse report, substantially above the solid growth in overall sales of some 5.5%, as consumers continue to migrate on-line. Though bad weather in many parts of the country may have played a bit of a factor this year, on-line sales continue to climb - with many impacts on the supply chain.




35%
The cut in China's export quota in so-called rare earth metals for the first half of 2011. These metals, for which China currently holds a near monopoly, are critical for many high tech (e.g., cell phones) and clean energy products, among others, and were a subject of global concern about China supply throughout all of 2010. One US based producer, Molycorp, is restarting a US mine closed 10 years ago.