Sessions

Kick-Off Keynote - Perspectives From Lee Corso: "Game-Winning Business Fundamentals"
The ability to adapt to rapid and dramatic change in today’s business world is critical to the success of any company. During this entertaining opening keynote, sports broadcaster and ESPN football analyst Lee Corso shares his perceptions of how the fundamentals of game-winning football are similar to game-winning business fundamentals – all while reflecting on the most exciting and funniest moments of his broadcast career. In the off season, Corso also serves as Director of Business Development for Dixon Ticonderoga, a leading pencil manufacturing company, and will offer insights on the company’s greatest achievements and biggest challenges – particularly as they relate to their strategic supply chain strategies.

Keynote: Lee Corso. Sports Broadcaster and analyst on the three-time Emmy-Award-Winning College Game Day on ESPN

Tuesday Keynote: "What Shippers Need To Know About the Economy and the Freight Market"
Freight transportation is an indicator of the health of our country's economy – and we continue to watch for signs of economic recovery and growth. During this session, one of the most respected and well-known leaders in the transportation industry will share his insights on:

• The overall state of the economy and the transportation industry (including opportunities and challenges facing those shipping freight by rail and by other modes).
• Freight demand projected for the future, and what the freight transportation industry needs to do to prepare for it
• Transportation infrastructure investment requirements needed to accommodate freight demands.
• Current supply chain challenges facing shippers and what solutions are available to them.
• What needs to be done to compete in a globally marketplace and how supply chain strategists play a key role in this.

Keynote Presenter: Matthew K. Rose, Chairman and CEO, BNSF Railway

Advocacy Panel: "Understanding The Importance Of Grassroots Efforts"
Are you an American? Want to influence Congress? Do more than vote. Give them solutions. The 535 members of Congress and their staffs are people who respond to good ideas and energy, just like the rest of us. We can’t delegate our future to policy professionals who know neither us, nor our local work. We need to feed the system with fresh ideas -- directly. And we can’t make change without taking a critical look at grassroots advocacy. This session will provide:

• Provocative discussion around the issues most important to transportation.
• Context around how these issues will impact your organization’s efficiencies and transportation strategies.
• What you can do to make a difference.

NASSTRAC “Collaborative Learning Labs”
NASSTRAC’s unique Collaborative Learning Labs allow you to learn best practices from other shippers, and share practical ideas and common challenges with your peers. These relevant 50-minute discussions enable transportation and supply chain executives to collaborate with each other in a facilitated, small-group format on these topics:

• Transportation cost management (facilitated by Brendan Daly, VP Supply Chain Americas, Zodiac Pool Systems)
• Capacity challenges (facilitated by Doug Bley, Director of Global Logistics, Pentair)
• Carrier selection
• CSA (facilitated by Jeff Tucker, CEO, Tucker Company Worldwide)
• Fuel surcharges

CEOs of Providers: “New Realities in a Multimodal World”
Significant challenges continue to place pressure on our nation’s service providers, including an evolving economic recovery, rising operational costs, highly volatile fuel prices, and labor issues. Yet other factors such as emerging technologies and shifting markets also present new opportunities for the industry. This panel discussion will feature high-ranking executives with leading transportation companies who will provide:

• Insights on the current condition of the transportation industry and the impact a sluggish and uncertain economy has on it.
• Provocative discussion on the biggest challenges facing all modes and potential solutions to them.
• Examples of how their firms are responding to the most significant transportation and supply chain challenges facing manufacturers, retailers and distributors.
• A vision of how emerging trends will shape changes in the industry’s future.

Panelists include: Virginia Albanese, President & CEO, FedEx Custom Critical; James Welch, President & CEO, YRC Worldwide; Shelley Simpson, President & CMO J.B. Hunt Integrated Capacity Solutions. Moderated by C. John Langley, Ph.D, Professor at Penn State University and NASSTRAC Education Advisor.

Washington Update: "Less Gridlock and More Sense?"
Despite enacting a new Highway Bill, Congress in 2012 was largely immobilized by gridlock. The House of Representatives could not develop its own Highway Bill due to lack of agreement among its members and a “Fiscal Cliff” looms. With the November Elections over, what can we expect from Congress as it relates to shipper advocacy issues – less gridlock and more common sense?

This session will address changes among key leaders on Capitol Hill and at key agencies. This session also will cover revised CSA rules, safety and security regulation, and the many regulatory rule-makings produced by MAP-21, along with opportunities, dangers and risks to your supply chains. In addition, you’ll gain an update on the Hours of Service court fight and the latest judicial decisions on other key issues related to transportation and supply chain progress.

Presenter: NASSTRAC's Legal Counsel John Cutler, McCarthy, Sweeney and Harkaway.

Shipper Roundtable Discussions
"The Unique Dynamics of the Shipper/Broker Relationship"
Outsourcing continues to be a common practice among shippers as they manage the complexities of their supply chains and focus on their core compentencies. During this session, participants will discuss:

• How brokers can provide a valuable service for shippers, particularly in a tight capacity market.
• Where can brokers fit within a shipper’s transportation network?
• Contractual differences between broker and carrier contracts. What do I need to know?
• Criteria for selecting a professional, ethical broker. How can I protect my company? And how do I know the carriers selected by brokers are safe and have proper authority and insurance?
• How do the new surety bond and certification regulations affect the industry?

Facilitator: Nancy O'Liddy, Director of Government Affairs, Transportation Intermediaries Association.

“Supply Chain Preparedness and Resilience: Hurricane Sandy and Lessons Learned”

In the fall of 2012, Superstorm Sandy impacted over 100 million people and is expected to be among the 10 most expensive hurricanes in U.S. history. Damages to ports, roads, bridges and tunnels significantly disrupted supply chain activities, forcing businesses to activate emergency plans and seek alternate supply routes. This interactive roundtable discussion over lunch will focus on the experiences of transportation executives, with the following learning objectives:

• What critical continuity plan components enable businesses to maintain operations?
• How supply chain companies are important to disaster response and recovery
• How do partnerships between business and government promote faster recovery?
• Factors that encompass a “whole community” approach to disaster operations

Facilitated by Kathy Fulton, Director of Operations, American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN)

The Next Generation Of Logisticians: Opportunities, Issues, Threats
While the industry becomes more sophisticated, so do the requirements expected of “the next generation” of professionals to keep moving our companies forward. This unique session allows graduating students in transportation and supply chain to share perspectives on the following questions:

• What are you realistically looking for in a career in logistics? (Perspectives on the opportunities and challenges from their generation’s viewpoint).
• Are you prepared for “real world” requirements as you enter the workforce? (This addresses the concern that some students just out of school demonstrate academic programs that only stress concepts and theories rather than operational and tactical capabilities).
  

"Understanding Carrier Pricing To Make Your Freight and Operations More Efficient"
A major challenge for today’s shippers is ensuring they have adequate capacity to move their freight through the supply chain while managing costs. Due to the driver shortage and other industry and economic factors, these challenges are expected to remain on the top list of shippers’ pain points. But there are ways to address these head-on by better understanding the needs of the carriers. This session will provide insights from top carriers, such as UPS Freight and Estes Express, to provide shippers with:

• An understanding of pricing fundamentals followed by carriers. It will address such questions as: How do carriers price their services? What freight and traffic pattern factors influence rates positively or negatively?
• Practical ideas on how shippers can mitigate carrier costs and make their freight and operations more carrier-friendly to positively impact rates.
• Tips that shippers can implement, ranging from appropriate packaging enhancements and how cartons are positioned on pallets to changes in pick-up efficiencies that will improve freight handling processes and enhancing communication.

Panelists include John Barton of Con-Way; Ken Burroughs of UPS Freight; Paul Dugent of Estes Express. Moderated by Gail Rutkowski of Wabash Worldwide Logistics.