
Search
or Search by TOPIC



Search Supply Chain Videocasts

Sign-Up Free Newsletter

Supply Chain by the Numbers

- May 9, 2024

Supply Chain by the Numbers for May 9, 2024

Amazon Rolling Out Electric Big Rigs; Shoplifting Bust in NYC; Penn State Gets Rare Earth Grant; Willams-Sonoma in Made in USA Trouble

tG

12
That’s how many fully electric big rigs Amazon it intends to operate this year, starting at Southern California’s bustling Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex. That as the company unveiled the trucks from Volvo this week. Amazon is already using eight of these semis at the ports, where regulations mandate that all drayage trucks to have zero emissions by 2035. Amazon’s deployment marks its first foray into electric big rigs, expanding its vehicle electrification approach from ocean ports to the consumer’s home. It is part of Amazon’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Currently, a little more than 1% of the 23,761 trucks that serve the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex are zero-emission vehicles – including 201 electric big rigs.

$1Million+

That was the value of allegedly stolen retail merchandise that was moved through a business owned by two New Yorkers charged this week with possessing the stolen goods. A New York beauty store just blocks away from the Empire State Building resold more than $1 million worth of goods that had been stolen from Macy’s and a many other retailers. The charges say the organized crime effort took in and resold the goods stolen by others. $212,000 of the merchandise was from Macy’s, while the remaining pilfered goods came from CVS, Rite Aid, Duane Reade and other retailers. “Through our investigation, we found that Rehana’s Cosmetics was well-known to shoplifters, who would willingly bring them stolen items,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as the shoplifting wars continue on.



$4.99 Million
That was the size of a grant that a Penn State research team was awarded from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and assess advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements and other critical metals and minerals from coal and coal by-products. That according to the university this week. The materials, which are abundant in the Earth’s crust but challenging to extract and primarily sourced from China, serve a vital function in modern technology, including smartphones, electric cars, wind turbines and defense systems. The newly funded project will help to establish a 100% domestic supply chain, reducing US reliance on foreign suppliers, perceived as a huge risk.



$3.2 Million
That’s how much home goods and kitchen items retailer Williams-Sonoma agreed to as a civil penalty in a deal with the Federal Trade Commission for violating a “Made in USA” order. According to the FTC, Williams-Sonoma advertised that some products it sold under its various retail banners were made in the US but they were actually manufactured in China and other countries, according to reports this week. It’s not the first time Williams-Sonoma has had such troubles. In 2020, The FTC sued the company, accusing it of similar misleading claims of products made in the United States. Williams-Sonoma paid about $1 million to settle that case.

Feedback

No Feedback on this article yet.