Consumer prices posted a year-on-year increase of 6.3% in July compared to 6.8% in June, according to the Commerce Department's personal consumption expenditures price index, the gauge most favored by the Federal Reserve. "We're heading in the right direction --inflation is coming down," said BNP Paribas economist Andrew Schneider. "But we're a long way off target and we think it's going to be a while -- multiple years --before we're back to target."

Parcel consolidation in last-mile delivery saves carriers money, reduces carbon emissions and optimizes the use of available capacity and drivers, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business and Tata Consultancy Services. Researchers also found that customers benefit from fewer missed and failed deliveries and can better plan when they'll be home to receive packages.

Amid the ongoing challenges facing the trucking industry, the federal government can help smaller carriers in the short term by giving them contracts and low-cost loans, as well as covering their fuel tax costs, according to Guillermo Garcia, co-founder and CEO of SmartHop. Separately, a new industry initiative aims to create more truck driver training programs at US high schools.

Sales managers can lead by example by enlarging their network to include idea exchanges with sales professionals in other industries, blogger David Brock writes. For example, sellers of medical devices can learn something from those who sell financial services, often tweaking the other industry's methods to use in their own work, Brock writes.

Emailing a marketing pitch to customers you already have often pays off more than marketing to find new customers. For best reach, consider the best time for your email to arrive, send the email from a specific person rather than from the company, focus on what you can do for the customer and don't forget to ask for the sale.

Leaders can use a "clear-the-air" meeting to uncover hidden conflicts and ensure everyone is on the same page, writes Karin Hurt. Hurt recommends giving people time to prepare beforehand, establishing norms for the meeting and setting out tasks to complete afterward.

Creating a sense of ownership and shared responsibility for success is the key to making accountability an integral part of an organization and not something leaders have to enforce in a punitive way, writes Jim Haudan. "The wise conductor doesn't hold people accountable; instead, they help people realize the importance of accountability and delivering on the promises they made to others," Haudan writes.

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