Guest: Chris Jones of Descartes on labor shortages; Rail safety one year out from East Palestine derailment; Versatile AMRs

Our guest on this week's episode is Chris Jones, executive vice president of industry for Descartes. Unemployment rates in the United States continue to be under 4% - the latest report released today shows unemployment currently at 3.7%. The low unemployment further demonstrates the growing strength of the overall economy. However, one thing that may stifle additional growth is the difficulty of finding good workers with so few people looking for new jobs. Logistics technology company Descartes has just completed a study called How Bad Is the Supply Chain and Logistics Workforce Challenge?  We talk about the results of the study and what it means for finding workers to run our supply chains.It has been a year since that terrible railroad accident in East Palestine, Ohio. Since then, the railroad industry, Congress, and safety agencies have been haggling over how to make trains safer to prevent such future accidents. Railroads have proposed some voluntary measures to increase safety while at the same time stifling a bill in Congress that would mandate some safety procedures. We discuss where things stand now.From warehouses to farms, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are helping boost productivity, save labor, and continuously improve operations. We look at the cover story for the  February issue of DC Velocity that discusses how AMRs are reshaping the warehousing landscape and even influencing how work is done in other industries.CSCMP's Supply Chain Xchange  also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane.  It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.  Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:DescartesA year after East Palestine accident, rail industry regulations are largely unchangedRail unions cheer whistleblower protection deal with Norfolk SouthernThe incredible versatile AMRGet episode transcriptsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to [email protected] is sponsored by: ApteanOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts