The producer price index grew by 0.4% in September, surpassing economists' expected 0.2% increase, and rose 8.5% for the past 12 months, down slightly from August's 8.7% increase, according to the Labor Department. Higher prices for food, energy and travel contributed to the increases.

McKesson's new 475,000-square-foot distribution center in Jeffersonville, Ohio, features large windows to let in natural light, as well as automation and robotics to ease physical strain on workers. "A lot of different things that typically you might see in an office environment, we're bringing that into our distribution centers," said Ammie McAsey, senior vice president of customer distribution experience at McKesson.

Business-to-business distributors are expected to generate e-commerce sales worth $1.4 trillion this year, up 25% from $1.12 trillion last year, according to Digital Commerce 360. E-commerce will also account for a larger share of distributor sales, at 17.5%.

US truck driver mobility is being hampered by a surplus of containers and long delays at railyards and distribution centers, the result of supply chain bottlenecks and uneven shipping volumes. Chicago-area truck driver Mateo Carrera says, "The truckers have a saying here that there's bad days and there's worse days."

Customer retention and expansion is essential for business-to-business companies to weather uncertain economic times, writes Ardath Albee, who explains how to design strategies to drive growth via existing customers. "The customer retention programs you design deserve great and relevant storytelling," Albee writes, noting, "There must be an even bigger reward for customer engagement than prospect engagement."

Sales enablement content, microlearning, peer-to-peer learning and role-playing are just a few of the ways to keep a sales team up to date on product updates and features, customer pain points, best sales practices and strategies, Stephanie Middaugh, director of enablement at WorkRamp, writes. A "culture of continuous learning ... leads to super-powered sales reps" and can generate up to 50% more net sales per employee, according to Hubspot, and is more likely to help you retain staff, Middaugh says, explaining what to offer and how.

As baby boomers, Generation X, millennials and Gen Z mingle in the workplace, leaders "should work to understand the preferences of their audience, use multiple methods of communication, and unite employees across generations by crafting inclusive messaging," writes Angela Ivey of Insperity. Another suggestion from Ivey: Follow up a formal presentation with a more casual gathering at which everyone can interact.

Giving employees the resources they need, the acknowledgement they deserve and the challenges necessary for growth are among the dozen tips Lolly Daskal offers for leaders to use to create a successful team. "When you invest in people and show confidence in them, they'll show you great work," Daskal writes.

The NAW Billion Dollar Company Roundtables are an exclusive community of thought leaders from Billion Dollar distribution enterprises who congregate to network with noncompeting peers in multiple lines of trade on key issues. The companies invited into this community are from distribution firms at or above $1 billion in annual sales. Register today!