Trump’s New AI Initiative, Autonomous Freight Trains, and more

The Logistics of Valentine’s Day

UPS Inc. will help millions of flowers make their way from Latin America to customers across the United States this Valentine’s Day. The Atlanta-based transportation and logistics giant said it expects to transport one million more flowers than it did last year, as air shipment demand will drive an estimated delivery of 89 million blooms. That translates to about 9 million pounds of flowers, coming mainly from Latin America through Miami International Airport, where UPS is one of the largest air cargo carriers, and then on to distributors who will deliver them to customers nationwide—all in less than two days, according to the company. READ MORE on DC Velocity.

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Government & Military News

Congress Expected to Swiftly Pass Border Deal to Prevent Shutdown
(The New York Times) Congress is expected to move quickly Thursday to pass a border security deal that deprives President Trump of what might be his last chance to build his wall, leaving the White House to decide whether to try to go around Congress to find the money. READ MORE

Europe Risks Losing Its Footing Amid Shifting World Order, Report Warns
(Defense News) The European Union must quicken its pace toward greater military prowess to ensure the bloc’s 500 million citizens can emerge from an ongoing reshuffling of global order on their own terms, according to a new think tank report. READ MORE

Will Trump’s New Artificial Intelligence Initiative Make the US the World Leader in AI?
(Forbes) The tech world got a surprise when a senior administration official for the Trump administration announced during a telephone briefing that the President would be signing an executive order that would create an American AI Initiative designed to dedicate resources and funnel investments into research on artificial intelligence (AI). READ MORE

Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Lethality
(Small Wars Journal) A more comprehensive understanding of lethality is necessary to improve US strategic performance in present and future wars. READ MORE

Infrastructure Stakeholders to Congress: Fix the Highway Trust Fund
(Transport Topics) Nearly a dozen stakeholders representing local governments and the freight and commuter sectors have urged a House transportation panel to identify a sustainable source of funding for an infrastructure bill. READ MORE

Industry News

Push the Envelope with Autonomous Freight Trains?
(Railway Age) Class I railroads are producing record-low operating ratios and posting record-setting earnings, results that strongly suggest that the current operating format of two-person train crews utilizing innovative safety and fuel conservation technologies is helping achieve these desired, value-added financial results. READ MORE

Cloud Computing, Armageddon, & How Not to Sell IT to DOD
(Breaking Defense) Just when you thought the Pentagon’s new cloud strategy was all about adopting private sector practices, it makes an offhand reference to Armageddon. This line and others in the cyber strategy should be a wake-up call for the tech sector that the military is a very different kind of customer. READ MORE

The Maritime Industry Can Unlock Growth with Africa
(Hellenic Shipping News) Africa has been the second fastest growing region in the world since 2000. Despite this, many countries in Africa remain among the poorest in the world with a large untapped potential for growth and increased trade. READ MORE

The Government Shutdown Ended After Only 10 Air Traffic Controllers Stayed Home
(CNN) On January 24, it seemed like the partial government shutdown would go on forever, leaving more than 800,000 federal workers in unpaid limbo. But on January 25—the 35th day of the longest-ever federal shutdown—something changed: 10 air traffic controllers decided to stay home. READ MORE

2019 Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks
(American Transportation Research Institute [ATRI]) Using truck GPS data from nearly 1 million trucks, ATRI develops and monitors a series of key performance measures on the nation’s freight transportation system. ATRI converts its truck GPS dataset into an ongoing analysis that is used to quantify the impact of traffic congestion on truck-borne freight at 300 specific locations. READ MORE
 

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