Disruption is one of the biggest trends that senior logistics professionals believe will present both major challenges and opportunities in their industry, according to a new report from Transport Intelligence (Ti).
Ti’s “Logistics Surveys 2017” identifies the key trends affecting the industry, split into five surveys investigating the freight forwarding, road freight, express, and warehousing sectors as well as the increasingly important topic of environment and ethics in logistics.
Disruption is one of the most important trends identified across all the five segments, said the report. In each segment, innovation and disruption is regarded as a “double-edged” sword.
In the forwarding sector, there is overwhelming feeling in the industry that conventional air freight forwarders will lose volume share to third parties, said Ti, one of the world’s leading providers of research and analysis on the global logistics industry.
A large proportion of respondents in this sector believe that traditional freight forwarders will lose out to new entrants, but at the same time, see certain technological innovations as a way of mitigating the impact of increasing costs.
In the road freight survey, driver shortage is seen as the main threat to road freight operators. Surprisingly, among the technologies respondents say have the greatest potential to transform their business, autonomous vehicles are not the runaway winner (they rank third). This is perhaps because many respondents take the “believe it when they see it” view, assessing fully driverless trucks as something of a pipe dream.
The road freight survey also suggests that the road freight market will witness significant fluctuations in road freight rates in the coming year as well changes in the FTL (full truck load) and LTL (less than truckload) split.
For the express industry, e-retail has instigated “seismic shifts” and continues to transform the sector with Amazon and Alibaba leading the charge. Despite many years of internet shopping, respondents still believe e-commerce offers their businesses the best prospects, with strategies still focused on meeting evolving needs.
e-commerce is having an equally important impact on warehousing property, said Ti. “Not only has this trend led to vast investment in new facilities but, according to the survey, smaller locations aimed at distributing e-retail shipments to local consumers are growing in importance.
Meanwhile, the environment and ethics in logistics survey reveals that sustainability has increased in importance as a corporate priority, largely due to companies’ requirements to comply with government regulations and customer demands. However, according to the survey, other benefits accrue to organizations willing to embrace sustainable strategies. For the respondents, sustainability not only enhances the brand but also improves profitability.
Photo: Stephanie martinez
