Volatility

2025 delivered a near repeat of 2024's volatility, with tariffs, uneven demand, political uncertainty, and shifting trade dynamics leaving logistics managers stuck in a constant state of reaction. Across every mode—trucking, intermodal, rail, ocean, parcel, and shipper operations—experts point to the same themes: excess capacity, fragile confidence, tariff-driven distortion, and a growing reliance on technology as the industry waits for clarity that never quite arrives.

The most recent edition of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) State of Logistics (SoL) report observed that the cost of United States business logistics accounted for 9.1% of United States GDP in 2022. That indicates that as GDP headed down, logistics costs saw gains, and it served as a key theme of a session at last week’s CSCMP EDGE conference in Orlando.