Fed, split by inflation, should forge on with rate hikes: Mester

Fed, split by inflation, should forge on with rate hikes: Mester

Fed, split by inflation, should forge on with rate hikes: Mester

A Federal Reserve policymaker on Wednesday staked out the hawkish argument for carrying on with U.S. interest rate hikes even while weak recent inflation readings have split opinions among her colleagues at the U.S. central bank. In an interview, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said that while some price readings have fallen this year, expectations are more stable, adding that monetary policy must anticipate changes in the data and not react to temporary aberrations. Risks to the Fed's current median forecast of one more rate hike this year and three next year "are balanced," she added, as businesses weigh an improving global economy against uncertainty over the policies of President Donald Trump's administration.


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TMW Expands Engage Series Bid Management Platform Functionality

TMW Systems announced new functionality for users of the company's Engage Series bid management platform that allows for tracking and analysis of shipper commitments.

Orders can now be processed through a user's transportation management system (TMS) or other solution to be matched with the corresponding bid award, helping Engage users ensure that shippers are meeting or exceeding their agreements. The application can be used with any TMS or other business management solution.

The Engage.Bid application allows transportation providers to streamline the freight bidding process by simplifying the analysis and storage of shipper requests for proposal (RFPs), providing easy access to rates and volume commitments, and providing a streamlined workflow for responding to RFPs. The application lets users process more bids, in less time, with fewer resources, while offering insight to lane rate, revenue potential, and other key metrics, according to TMW. The newly released Engage Series functionality allows users to join this bid intelligence with data for the actual freight delivered.

“Carriers, brokers, and 3PLs invest a great deal of time and energy in researching and competing for new business, yet too often lose sight of the actual outcome of many of those contracts,” said David Wangler, president of TMW Systems. “Engage helps make them more efficient and competitive on the front end of this process, while this new integration functionality helps ensure they realize the negotiated volume and revenue from each contract.”

Related: TMW Updates Billing, Planning, Business Tools

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GM’s Maven assembling building blocks for ride, delivery services

GM's Maven assembling building blocks for ride, delivery services

The trick will be not to alienate the two ride services startups, whose drivers are leasing thousands of GM vehicles. Maven already has begun to pull away from Lyft, in which GM holds a 9 percent stake, with its own Gig leasing business, officials said. Through Gig, Maven can provide GM vehicles directly to ride-sharing drivers who previously leased them through Lyft Express Drive and Uber Vehicle Solutions.


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