CSCMP

The role of the final mile market and where it fits in to the overall logistics landscape were key themes at the “Final Mile Issues and Opportunities” session at the CSCMP (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals) EDGE conference last month in Nashville.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Mark Baxa, President & CEO of the Lombard, Ill.-based Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). In this wide-ranging conversation, Baxa addressed various topics, including: the 2022 CSCMP EDGE conference last month, the current state of the supply chain, and career development, among others.

Getting past headline themes of how truckload rates work and function, for non-transportation and logistics executives in shippers’ companies is key in order for them to better understand how rates are viewed and explained.

As the supply chain continues to deal with a whole host of obstacles, including various disruptions, labor challenges, and strategic misalignments, there is a need for things to get back to basics for both 3PLs and shippers.

Last year was a deeply unsettled and trying time for logistics managers, as demand for freight services in all modes surged and supply chains struggled to keep inventory on hand. To return to a more balanced, long-term growth trajectory, shippers will need to invest in the ideas and capabilities that will make the industry more resilient.

American supply chains are out of sync while adjusting to short-term changes in demands. But logisticians continue to seek long-term solutions to supply chain issues, an authoritative new report predicts. But the biggest headline from the 2022 State of Logistics (SoL) report unveiled today at the National Press Club in Washington shows that U.S. business logistics costs rose by a whopping 22.4% to $1.85 trillion last year. That represents 8% of 2021’s $23 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

U.S. business costs, buffeted by a COVID-decimated year of “chaos” worldwide in 2020, fell 4% to $1.56 trillion. That amounted to 7.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), nearly an all-time low, according to a new authoritative report on the logistics sector.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) recently announced that President & CEO Rick Blasgen is retiring from CSCMP as of March of 2021. “For the past 15 years, Rick has dedicated his life to the membership of CSCMP and its staff. Without question, he is the identity of CSCMP to thousands around the world,” the organization stated.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact supply chain operations a new study issued this week, which was commissioned by supply chain software and services provider BluJay Solutions and conducted by Adelante SCM, in partnership with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), examined how shippers have worked their way through COVID-19-driven supply chain disruption and also what they plan to do in order to have more resilient supply chains.

When asked to assess 2020 Peak Season prospects, a pair of executives at some of the nation’s leading motor carrier and logistics services providers said at this week’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) virtual conference indicated things are looking solid.

A major theme of the 2021 25th Annual Third-Party Logistics Study, which was released today at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE virtual conference today, focused on how supply chains have a clear focus on reinventing themselves, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This survey was again released and created and supported by Infosys Consulting, Penn State University, and Penske Logistics. And its findings were based on feedback from several hundred usable responses from shippers, or users...

Given the challenges and complexities that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought about in freight transportation and supply chain sectors, it goes without saying that things are different these days, to be sure.

Trucking’s competitive dynamics changed mightily on July 1 with the U.S. government’s infusion of $700 million in a badly needed financial lifeline for ailing trucking giant YRC Worldwide. YRC companies control about 10% of the $46 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) market. Rival LTL carrier executives and YRC customers were stunned by what is the largest freight financial transportation assistance from the American government for a non-airline company.

The 31st annual Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) State of Logistics report released today says the “shocked economy will shrink this year, but the adapting is already under way” as logisticians adjust to new realities of transport planning and execution.

As the supply chain continues to focus on key familiar themes, while other ones continue to emerge, there is a clear focus on things 3PLs need to provide for their shipper customers, including being expedient, cost-focused, and green. That was a clear theme in the 2020 24th Annual Third-Party Logistics Study, which was released last week at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Edge Conference in Anaheim, Calif. by Infosys Consulting, Penn State University, and Penske Logistics.