Allroadsleadtochina has an excellent article about “The Box”; a book about the history of the ocean container and it’s impact on world trade. Allroadsleadstochina comments on how the “box” contributed to China’s extraordinary growth over the last 20 years. Check out allroadsleadtochina for the entire article as well as a link to more information about the book. I’m looking forward to reading this book next month.

It seems like the number of supply chain/logistics related magazines has increased significantly over the last 5 years. Another one was just recently launched at the China Supply Chain Council conference in China entitled, “Chaina”. According to the press release announcing the release, this magazine is:

the first-ever magazine dedicated to covering global supply chain management issues from a China perspective…and is already being touted as the “must-read” magazine for global supply chain professionals.

The magazine is available as a free subscription only for senior level supply chain executives and senior managers. You can subscribe here.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone to check out our handy Industry Links in the upper left hand corner of this blog under the section titled “Internal Links”. Under Industry Links you will find a number of handy links that provide extensive lists of 3PL providers, Airlines, Conversion Tools, Exchange Rates, Seafreight (steamship lines), and much more.

We take pride in providing comprehensive lists of companies in the 3PL industry as well as links to useful sites and tools that can help you in your day to day work. If you find any broken links or wish to add your company to one of the lists, drop us a line. Also, if there is a certain link that you think would be of value to our readers that we haven’t listed yet, let us know. We are always looking for ways to increase the resources and information available on our blog.

A few of the thousands of families still homeless after Hurricane Wilma struck three weeks ago started moving Sunday into the first trailers set up here by the federal government.
The aftermath of damage left by Wilma around South Florida has gotten little national attention as Louisiana and Mississippi try to recover from the earlier devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

But more than 478,000 households in 13 Florida counties have applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual help, about 70% from Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Thousands of people formed long lines last week to sign up for temporary food stamps, and more than 3 million people were expected to qualify for the aid because of damaged homes, ruined food and lost jobs. Most schools reopened just last week. And most of the 3.2 million customers who lost electricity finally got power restored.

Wilma was a Category 3 storm when it struck the Gulf Coast of South Florida with 125-mph winds. The hurricane still carried a wallop as it reached the Atlantic Coast as a Category 2 hurricane with 105-mph winds. The storm and subsequent rain have left an untold number of people still living in damaged houses, apartments and condominiums.

Read the whole thing. For those of you who want to help our fellow citizens struggling in Florida, please go here.

In the meantime, please check out our Industry Links section which we are constantly updating. We added more airlines today and are slowly but surely adding many more useful links to all of us in the industry, whether you are a shipper, a 3PL, an integrator, a carrier, or just a curious reader.

Our goal is to one day have the most useful industry links one can find. Feel free to contact us if there is a useful link you think we should add (key word being USEFUL).