Guest: Kathy Fulton of ALAN on disaster response; The market heats up for humanoid robots; Containers lost at sea

Logistics Matters with DC VELOCITY

Logistics Matters with DC VELOCITY
Guest: Kathy Fulton of ALAN on disaster response; The market heats up for humanoid robots; Containers lost at sea
Jun 26, 2026 Season 7 Episode 25
AGiLE Business Media

Our guest on this week's episode is Kathy Fulton, executive director at the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). It is officially the beginning of hurricane season – a period where these storms, as well as tornados and other natural disasters, such as this week’s earthquakes in Venezuela, leave behind considerable damage to towns in their wakes. It is during these times that the logistics industry snaps into action to help those in affected areas, as today’s guest discusses with our DC Velocity senior editor, Victoria Kickham. 

Those of us who grew up in the Jetsons and Star Wars eras have been imagining for a long time the advantages that humanoid robots could bring to everyday tasks. Senior News Editor Ben Ames has been tracking just how rapidly humanoid robotic technologies are now advancing.

Hundreds of millions of containers ship worldwide every year and almost all of them make it safely to their destinations. However, there are some containers that do not - as Victoria Kickham reported this week. The number of shipping containers lost at sea more than doubled in 2025, driven by some major maritime accidents as well as severe weather.


Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:


This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner

Episode Artwork Guest: Kathy Fulton of ALAN on disaster response; The market heats up for humanoid robots; Containers lost at sea 22:04 Episode Artwork Guest: Eric Fullerton of project44 on plastic shortages due to oil restrictions; The logistics behind the World Cup; Getting the most from robots and their humans 19:00 Episode Artwork Guest: Andrei Quinn-Barabanov of Moody’s on inflation risks; Growth drives new demands for cobots; A shift in robotic final mile delivery 19:12 Episode Artwork Guest: Jim Mozer of Crown and ITA on forklift safety; Venture capital invests in warehouses; Strengthening global disaster response 18:55 Episode Artwork Guest: Matt Lekstutis of Efficio on China and world trade; The upbeat forklift market; Automation comes to the high seas 22:04 Episode Artwork Guest Hannah Hurckes of Boss Lady Logistics on fallout from the Supreme Court’s broker decision; Gaining “Momentum” with Agentic AI; A robotics acquisition 19:15 Episode Artwork Guest: Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney on the 2026 Reshoring Index; Will AI take away jobs? Safety in trucking fleets 21:55 Episode Artwork Guest: Omar Qari of Logicbroker on how retailers and brands respond to shifting geopolitical uncertainty; Carton diversity drives sortation designs; China doubles down on robotics 19:59 Episode Artwork Guest: Lisa Dyer of the GPS Innovation Alliance on vulnerabilities of GPS systems; Growing technology gaps; The clever ways thieves steal cargo 25:50 Episode Artwork Guest: Helaine Rich of ePost Global on rising fuel costs; Truck stops work to accommodate women drivers; Changing shopping patterns 16:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Disney Petit on a better way for customer returns; Managing a variety of robots successfully; Autonomous fulfillment advances 21:18 Episode Artwork Guest: Christelle Keefer of A3 on gaps in automation skills; Robot density is growing; Fleets flex in AI 16:19 Episode Artwork Guest: Stefan Heck of Nauto on distracted driving; Coping with surging diesel prices; Cold storage goes high tech 24:13 Episode Artwork Guest: Ian Massey of S-RM on the ongoing supply chain impacts from the war against Iran; What is “port proximate” and why is it changing?; Work remains to optimize pharmaceutical supply chains. 21:21 Episode Artwork Guest: Mark Becker of G10 Fulfillment on safe handling and shipping of lithium-ion batteries; Workers experience AI anxiety; The logistics behind hyperscaling data centers. 19:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Mike Van Bree of the American Ladder Institute on safety when working at heights; A cybersecurity collaboration; Sensing your way to a smoother supply chain 20:47 Episode Artwork Guest: Jackson Wood of Descartes on what war in the Middle East means for supply chains; Most warehouses lack needed agility; Is trucking ready for a recovery? 23:00 Episode Artwork Guest: Per Hong of Kearney on tariffs, Iran, and more; The "pandemic echo” affecting parcel fleets; How Agentic AI impacts hiring 23:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Fab Brasca of Kinaxis on who is leading in AI adoption; The top five freight bottlenecks; A new data threat is lurking 20:05 Episode Artwork Guest: Lisa DeNight of Newmark on the industrial real estate market on the rise; Thoughts on improving infrastructure; Striving for fast, dynamic execution 20:22 Episode Artwork Guest: Jake Heldenberg of Vanderlande on automation trends and predictions; Gamification comes to DCs; What’s up with retail? 20:51 Episode Artwork Guest: Suketu Gandhi of Kearney on supply chain takeaways from last week in Davos, Combating missed LTL pickups, Trends in the trucking space 24:40 Episode Artwork Guest: Ronak Amin of HERE Technologies on preventing bridge strikes by trucks; More maritime freight fright; Are humanoid robots ready for prime time? 18:46 Episode Artwork Guest: Tony Bradley of Arizona Trucking Association on freight fraud and non-domiciled drivers; Robots become more human; Hesitancy adopting Agentic AI 18:50 Episode Artwork Guest: Amy Dean of SC Codeworks on tariffs and Foreign Trade Zones; Mixed job reports; Safety standards for humanoid robots 18:30