This story appears in the Nov. 5 print edition of Transport Topics. The Intermodal Association of North America and The National Industrial Transportation League will hold concurrent meetings later this month as rail/truck freight volumes remain close to the peak year of 2006.
IANA’s Expo and NITL’s Trans-Comp are scheduled for Nov. 11-14 in Anaheim, Calif. In addition to trade shows and two general sessions, the 2012 gathering includes 15 educational sessions.
“Our two trade shows — the Intermodal Expo and the TransComp Exhibition — are always at the cutting edge of what is happening in the freight industry,” Bruce Carlton, president of NITL, told Transport Topics.
The gathering’s opening general session will focus on the supply chain and consumers, and features three speakers: Brian Hancock, president of U.S. operations at Martin Brower; Fernando Cortes, senior vice president of supply chain and logistics for Dr Pepper Snapple Group; and Rick Smith, vice president of transportation for Sears Holdings Corp. Howard Abramson, editorial director of Transport Topics Publishing Group, will serve as moderator.
“Expo has lots of moving parts, designed to provide maximum business, networking and educational opportunities,” said Joni Casey, president of IANA.
A particular emphasis in 2012 is growing the interest in logistics and transportation among students.
“We recognize the need to cultivate interest among young professionals in freight transportation in general and intermodalism specifically,” Casey said.
“This year’s Intermodal Expo in Anaheim continues an expansion of our program for university students with more facility tours and IANA’s 2nd Intermodal Case Competition,” she added.
The educational activities begin Nov. 11 with sessions that address benchmarking, contracts and customs issues.
“We put a lot of effort and energy into designing an overall program that reflects the concerns of the people who earn their living in this business,” Carlton said.
“I think we’ve ‘nailed’ our educational sessions,” he said. “They really reflect what’s going on right now that impacts carriers, shippers, intermediaries and their supporting industries.”
The subjects of NITL-sponsored sessions include interaction between commodity markets and supply chain strategy, technology and an assessment of how to best use third-party logistics services.
IANA sessions will include port diversions and Mexican near-shoring, Casey said.
The program also includes workshops to address hazardous materials awareness for shippers and potential liability for shippers resulting from the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.
