Viewpoint

This year was fairly apparent. The labor shortage across all logistics job titles along with the fact that very few shippers are even remotely aware of the IMO-2020 fuel regulation changes taking effect this January were the common denominators.

For me, September is the time to make a fresh start. It’s the beginning of new school year for the kids; a new college and professional football season ramps up; and, of course, conference season for nearly all professions is about to get into full swing.

The staff of Logistics Management (LM) is honored to present the logistics and transportation community with the results of our 36th Annual Quest for Quality Survey

The official release of the report—which took place on June 18th at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.—sets our editorial staff on a quest to put context around the report and what it’s findings mean to freight transportation management in terms of service, capacity and rates.

Over the years, we’ve tried to steer clear of too many themed issues because we’re proud to offer our readers a wide breadth of industry information. The logistics and transportation market is so diverse, and shippers are looking to solve a multitude of challenges across a number of modes and services areas—never just one.

May is our Technology Issue, and we’ve devoted the majority of our pages this month to the evolution of the technology toolbox that’s now within our grasp.

This month we roll out the findings of Logistics Management’s 35th Annual Salary Survey, a research project conducted by Peerless Research Group (PRG) that serves as the foundation of our best-read editorial feature of our publishing year. And it’s no surprise that the full study is also the most downloaded PRG report.

It’s a phenomenon that has not only fundamentally altered retail logistics operations, but has ushered in similar demands between suppliers and trading partners across manufacturing and B2B industries.

The editorial staff of Logistics Management has focused much of this issue on helping global shippers better manage what they can control. And, we shed some light on the technology and partnership options that savvy shippers are putting to work to help mitigate risk and dull some of the headaches.

Indeed, it’s rare that we find a year when global trade has such an unsettling effect on domestic inventory levels, port volumes and capacity demands to handle the influx at those gateways.

If I were to share a single observation from this year’s CSCMP conference, it would be this: Nearly every conversation I had in Nashville touched on the motor carrier capacity crisis.

The growing driver shortage, capacity imbalances, federal government regulations, meteoric e-commerce growth and overall robust economic conditions are all wreaking havoc on ground transportation costs and causing multiple pain points for nearly everyone moving freight domestically or internationally.

Over the past 10 years, we have heralded the virtues of collaboration—the art of leveraging the strengths of various partners to achieve solutions you never thought possible in your logistics operation.

The staff of Logistics Management (LM) is honored to present the logistics and transportation community with the results of our “35th Annual Quest for Quality Survey”

One challenge that every logistics professional and organization will need to face—and soon—is attracting, developing and retaining new talent