Leasing

Washington is considering a measure that would crack down on unsavory leasing practices in the trucking industry that backers say trap truck drivers into long-term debt and prevent them from becoming profitable owner-operators.

A report issued this week by Dallas-based industrial real estate firm CBRE found that third-party logistics (3PL) services providers saw gains in the number of the largest industrial leases signed over the first half of 2025, with the firm citing large occupiers outsourcing more of their warehousing and supply chain operations as a key driver the growth.

Occupiers signed leases for 49 mega distribution leases in 2024, topping the 43 signed in 2023 (2023 was the first year in which there was a decline in the number of mega distribution center leases—that saw sharp gains during the pandemic, topping out at 61 in 2022)

In this podcast, Logistics Management and Peerless Media Supply Chain Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviews Ben Dean, Director of Logistics Strategy and Warehouse Solutions, for Seattle-based Flexe.

In its “U.S. Industrial Q3 2023” report, CBRE found that third quarter construction starts saw a 37% decline, from the second quarter to the third quarter, and a 64% annual decline, to 40 million square-feet (MSF), which CBRE said lowered the under-construction total, for the third consecutive quarter, to 479 MSF.

There was a 36% annual decline in 1 million square-foot-plus leasing activity, which drove an 18% decrease in total industrial space leased, in the first half of the year, at 373 million square-feet. And CBRE said that the number of 1 million square-feet deals dropped from 36, in the first half of 2022, to 23, for the same period in 2023, amid economic uncertainty and waning occupier urgency to hold additional inventory.

Leasing critical equipment like lift trucks can offer flexibility, but some lease terms can be complex and costly if you’re not careful.

Discover how you can avoid expensive surprises and save time and money.

Data recently issued by Los Angeles-based industrial real estate developer CBRE indicated that leasing volume for the United States industrial market is on track for a new annual record in 2021, with total activity through July, at 587 million square-feet (SF), a 52% annual gain.

While not cheap, top-flight customer service is driving more companies toward private fleets in a tight trucking capacity market, while shrewd operators learn to adapt and improvise on the fly to create value for their organizations.

In its “Q1 Industrial Outlook,” JLL Director of U.S. Industrial Research Mehtab Randhawa wrote that e-commerce continues to be a trending topic of discussion, with demand from this industry driving the bulk of industrial leasing, with the caveat that leasing volumes are starting to normalize following an anomaly year.

An ongoing state of heightened demand for e-commerce distribution space continues to serve as a driver for several of the largest United States Industrial & Logistics (I&L) leases the were completed in the first half of 2018, according to research recently published by Los Angeles-based industrial real estate firm CBRE. The research, entitled “Dealmakers: Largest Warehouse Leases in H1 2018,” analyzed the 100 largest leases for the I&L space by square footage.