The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all parts of the global logistics industry. From the way we source raw materials to how final deliveries are made, the industry has changed forever. With an increasingly globalized world, the demand for logistics services is at an all-time high. Each year, the logistics industry undergoes significant change. As the world continues to move forward, it is crucial to stay ahead of trends and innovations that will shape the future of logistics. Let’s look at some of the top global logistics trends to expect in 2022.
Last-Mile Delivery Services
The pandemic provided a significant spark to the already growing e-commerce industry. As consumer behavior changed and online shopping increased, parcel delivery demand surged. Customers want their orders quickly, and they want to know exactly where their order is every step of the way. Last-mile (sometimes called final-mile) delivery is a term used to describe the last leg of delivering goods from a warehouse to the end customer. Logistics companies must heavily invest in tracking and route optimization tools to increase efficiency to keep up with this trend. Even after the pandemic passes us, e-commerce will never go away.
Supply Chain Visibility
According to Forbes, more than 90% of supply chain executives said that supply chain visibility is a key to their success. Although this isn’t a new trend for 2022, it becomes more vital each year. In addition to identifying trends early to prevent issues, visibility is required to provide good customer service. Predictive analytics, custom reporting, interactive dashboards, and control tower capabilities are all ways to increase supply chain visibility.
Focus on Returns Management
With the number of online orders increasing, it only makes sense that returns are also growing. When searching for a logistics partner, e-commerce sellers want a reliable and straightforward returns process. To provide a positive customer experience, a logistics provider must handle returns in large numbers, provide inventory management, and integrate with e-commerce platforms to process returns. Many companies will adopt new technology that streamlines this process to run returns management as efficiently as possible.
Conversion to Cloud-Based Systems
Cloud-based computing provides an upper hand when it comes to total logistics management. Although there are many effective cloud-based solutions in place, 2022 is expected to bring even more. Logistics companies can facilitate scalability, improve reliability, and increase security by utilizing cloud-based systems. For global logistics companies with users worldwide, a cloud-based system can help enhance back-office operations due to the collaboration and accessibility features it offers.
Autonomous Trucking Research & Development
While self-driving trucks may not hit the road in 2022, look for transportation companies to continue to invest in autonomous vehicle research. According to PitchBook, in the first half of 2021, investors put a record $5.6 billion into companies developing autonomous driving technologies. Logistics companies view autonomous trucking as a massive opportunity to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Even though it’s hard for trucking companies to keep up with demand, autonomous trucking can help alleviate the concern over driver shortages.
Staff Recruiting & Retention
In a tight labor market, it’s become challenging to find the necessary talent required to run logistics operations smoothly. This results in a lack of resources, postponed deliveries, strained relationships with partners and suppliers, and other challenges. The labor market shortage extends well past the logistics industry. The shortage has led many retailers to discover the value of a logistics partner that can take over cumbersome responsibilities such as storing, picking, packing, and other headaches. Addressing staff recruitment and retention is one of the global logistics trends to stay for the foreseeable future.
Sustainable Logistics Practices
Another notable trend in the global logistics industry is the advancement of sustainable logistics practices. In addition to benefitting us and our planet, it’s cost-effective, promotes a good brand, and increases customer loyalty. Most reputable logistics companies join sustainability partnerships and organizations that encourage cleaner fuel, more efficient equipment, and lower emissions. As we shift to 2022, look for even more businesses to lower their carbon footprint to align with this sustainability trend.
The future of the global logistics industry is constantly evolving. Over the past two years, we’ve learned that supply chain disruptions are inevitable, and you must plan ahead. As e-commerce continues to explode and new challenges arise, 2022 will be another year of advancements and innovations shaping the logistics industry.
Covid-19 and a global shutdown left the world ready to put 2020 behind us. Little did we know, 2021 would take us for another wild ride. As the pandemic lingered and gained strength in unexpected places, it continued to interrupt supply chains worldwide. Production bottlenecks, volatile swings in pricing, and massive capacity shortages were just a few of the issues that shaped the logistics and supply chain industry landscape in 2021. In this article, we look back at some of 2021’s supply chain issues and highlight some of the industry trends to look for in 2022.
The World Learned The Importance Of Supply Chains
A few years ago, your average person might not have been able to explain what “supply chains” are. Now, it feels like every time you turn on the news, that’s one of the topics you hear. A global shortage of materials caused prices to soar and projects delayed. Ports are congested, labor shortages in trucking have caused delays, a lack of warehouse capacity, and the list goes on. So much disruption happened in 2021 that you may have forgotten about the Suez Canal disaster. For just one year, that’s a lot to process.
Port Congestion Causing Severe Delays
As dockworkers contracted Covid-19 or landed in quarantine, loading and unloading at ports are constrained. The pandemic has sidelined truck drivers, limiting the availability of vehicles that can carry products from ports to warehouses to customers. Throughout the pandemic, consumers are purchasing goods rather than services. According to Bloomberg, retail imports set a record high for the United States in 2021. To understand just how clogged the ports were, the average wait at anchor (i.e., the number of days cargo ships waited outside the port) peaked at 20.9 days for the port of Los Angeles. In late December, there were 102 cargo vessels anchored in San Pedro Bay.
A Volatile Pricing Market
International shipping rates hit all-time highs in 2021. Ocean rates increased due to non-stop demand for ocean freight from Asia to the United States and a lack of capacity. Demand and congestion are the main drivers for sustained sky-high rates. To put the situation in perspective, international freight rates in August 2021 reached $10,174/FEU, a 466% increase on the previous year. Experts predict that prices may take two years to return to normal levels based on past market cycles.
Domestic Trucking Shortage
The American Trucking Associations estimated that in 2021 the truck driver shortage would reach over 80,000 drivers. There isn’t a single cause of the driver shortage. Still, a few factors that contribute to the problem are the high average age of current drivers (increased number of retirements), women making up only 7% of all drivers (well below the workforce average), and lifestyle issues such as the time away from home. Although driver pay and earnings have gone up significantly in the past decade, the problem of recruiting new drivers to the industry remains.
The Suez Canal Blockage
Although it felt like years ago, the Suez Canal debacle happened in 2021. Since its completion in 1869, the Suez Canal has become one of the world’s most essential seaways. This human-made waterway enables a more direct route for shipping between Europe and Asia. According to Reuters, about 12% of the world’s shipping traffic moves through the canal, so the blockage disrupted an estimated $10 billion worth of goods each day.
Natural Disasters Impacting Supply Chains
As if the world needed more supply chain disruptions, 2021 presented challenges out of our control. Hurricane Ida, the Texas winter storm, California wildfires, and significant flooding in Canada are just a few of the events that rattled supply chains across the globe. Hurricane Ida caused destruction and fuel shortages. The winter storm in Texas caused power outages and shipping delays. The California wildfires caused road closures. The floods in Canada caused railway and road damages. The point is, the logistics and supply chain industry had a wild ride in 2021.
Policy Responses
In 2021, the Joe Biden administration introduced proposals to address the ongoing supply chain disruptions. In June, the administration announced a supply-chain “disruptions task force” that created an agreement to operate the Port of Los Angeles 24/7. The task force enlisted freight companies to help move goods off the docks. Furthermore, the Transportation Department provided a $5 billion loan to modernize California ports. Later in the year, the President announced the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This $550 billion federal investment for America’s roads, bridges, water infrastructure, and more is the largest federal investment in public transit ever.
What To Look For In 2022
There is no indication that supply chain disruptions will ease up in 2022. Bottlenecks, labor shortages, and capacity crunches remain widespread as we begin the year. While nobody can predict precisely when supply chains will normalize, we can predict how shippers will adapt in 2022. Given that supply chains will continue to be stressed, companies must deploy real-time visibility platforms to monitor shipments at the order level. Having end-to-end supply chain visibility and advanced information on lead-time changes can only help navigate these challenging issues.
Understanding that supply chain disruptions are inevitable means that you must plan ahead. 2022 isn’t the year to wait and see if supply chains normalize. By embracing new trends and technologies, companies can minimize these disruptions’ impact on their business.
Logistics Plus India is proud to announce that it has been awarded 4PL business with Whirlpool India. LP India will handle their FCL ocean freight logistics operations on various lanes from its Pune office.
“It’s exciting to win such a business and create value for the customer by providing them the required operational support and efficiency improvements and supporting them with different spend analytics,” said Vipul Singhal, Key Account Manager for LP India.
The Logistics Plus (LP) Saudia Arabia team successfully delivered five open-top containers worth of boiler tubes for a large power/energy client. The boiler tubes were 11.5 meters in length, and the total tonnage of the shipment was approximately 90,000 kilograms. The tubes were picked up in Germany and delivered to a power plant in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia on a door-to-door basis.
The client’s power plant was shut down due to supply chain delays and a parts shortage. Due to these delays, the client decided to air charter the boiler tubes for time-critical delivery. The LP Saudi Arabia team handled this delivery to the client’s exact specifications to help them get the plant back up and running.
Logistics Plus Saudi Arabia Managing Director Nizam Mohammad was very pleased with how smoothly the project went. “Our team understood how crucial these boiler tubes were for our client. We used a very detailed approach to complete this project while minimizing the supply chain delays for our client. I’m very thankful for everyone involved.”
Logistics Plus Named a 2022 Top 3PL by Multichannel Merchant
It’s the fifth consecutive year that Logistics Plus has been named to the list.
ERIE, PA (December 21, 2021) – Logistics Plus Inc. (LP), a leading worldwide provider of transportation, logistics, and supply chain solutions, is proud to announce it has been named a Multichannel Merchant (MCM) Top 3PL for a fifth straight year. Logistics Plus will be joining dozens of other leading third-party logistics providers selected by Multichannel Merchant in its seventh annual directory.
Choosing the right 3PL for your business can lead to lower cost per order, smoother scaling, lowered shipping costs, easier distribution of international orders, and so much more. After receiving hundreds of entries, MCM editors did the research and have unveiled the 3PLs who have come out on top for the new year ahead.
“As a top 3PL provider, Logistics Plus offers turnkey warehousing and fulfillment solutions for both new and established merchants. It’s one of our fastest-growing service segments,” said Danny Yunes, director of global operations and strategy. “With over three million square feet in the U.S. and another five million abroad, we support complete omnichannel fulfillment solutions, including Amazon, FBA and FBM, retail marketplaces, and direct-to-consumer channels.”
Multichannel Merchant reaches key decision makers responsible for e-commerce, management, marketing, and operations at companies that sell merchandise through multiple channels — including e-commerce, mobile, social, and catalog. Multichannel Merchant delivers original research, as well as in-depth analysis of trends and best practices, news, tactical/how-to, executive summaries, technology and supplier comparisons, tip sheets, and resource information to help companies sell & deliver products wherever and whenever the customer wants them – at home, work, store or other locations. Visit them online at multichannelmerchant.com.
About Logistics Plus Inc.
Logistics Plus Inc. is a 21st-century logistics company that provides freight transportation, Warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence, and supply chain management solutions through a worldwide network of talented and caring professionals. The company was founded 25 years ago in Erie, PA, by local entrepreneur Jim Berlin. Today, Logistics Plus is a highly regarded, fast-growing, and award-winning transportation and logistics company. With its trademark Passion For Excellence™, Logistics Plus employees put the “plus” in logistics by doing the big things properly, plus the countless little things that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
The Logistics Plus® network includes offices, warehouses, and agents located in Erie, PA; Aurora, CO; Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Chino, CA; Cincinnati, OH; Cleveland, OH; Dallas, TX; Dayton, NJ; Des Moines, IA; Fort Worth, TX; Haslet TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; Lexington, NC; Los Angeles, CA; Melbourne, FL; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Olean, NY; San Francisco, CA; Australia; Belgium; Canada; China; Colombia; Czech Republic; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Japan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Libya; Mexico; Netherlands; Poland; Saudi Arabia; Taiwan; Turkey; UAE; Uganda; Ukraine; and the United Kingdom; with additional agents around the world. For more information, visit www.logisticsplus.com or follow @LogisticsPlus on Twitter.
Logistics Plus Global Projects Director Bahadir Erdil was featured in a recent Project Cargo Weekly interview. Project Cargo Weekly focuses on personal interviews, a round-up of shipping news, trade intelligence, wise words, and featured photos and videos, enabling readers to get a quick, balanced, and non-biased view of the shipping world.
In this interview, Bahadir discusses his background, how he got into the industry, the current project cargo market, transportation challenges, and more. You can listen to a replay of the interview on the Logistics Plus Podcasts page or watch the YouTube video below.
Last-Mile Delivery Services
Supply Chain Visibility
Focus on Returns Management
Conversion to Cloud-Based Systems
Autonomous Trucking Research & Development
Staff Recruiting & Retention
Sustainable Logistics Practices
Covid-19 and a global shutdown left the world ready to put 2020 behind us. Little did we know, 2021 would take us for another wild ride. As the pandemic lingered and gained strength in unexpected places, it continued to interrupt supply chains worldwide. Production bottlenecks, volatile swings in pricing, and massive capacity shortages were just a few of the issues that shaped the logistics and supply chain industry landscape in 2021. In this article, we look back at some of 2021’s supply chain issues and highlight some of the industry trends to look for in 2022.
Port Congestion Causing Severe Delays
The Suez Canal Blockage
Logistics Plus Inc. is 
Logistics Plus Global Projects Director