Up until last year, members of the 3PL industry lacked a set of universal standards for assessing the sustainability of their operations. Thanks to Linda Hothem and her cohorts at IWLA, that's about to change.
Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
The idea sounded simple enough, Linda Hothem recalls. Rather than ask the market to accept 3PLs' sustainability claims on faith, why not establish a LEED-like program for logistics? What third-party warehouses and distribution centers lacked was a set of universal standards they could use to demonstrate their progress toward adopting sustainable practices. It should be relatively easy to develop something on par with the widely embraced metrics used by the construction industry.
But it didn't turn out to be quite so simple, says Hothem, CEO of logistics service provider Pacific American Group and outgoing member chair of the International Warehouse and Logistics Association's (IWLA) board of directors. Part of the problem was that several aspects of sustainability turned out to be extremely tough to measure—while it's easy enough to quantify energy use or water consumption, it's a whole different story with social responsibility or corporate citizenship.
Still, Hothem believes the effort was worth it. Once the program is up and running, IWLA members will have a way to demonstrate their progress against sustainability goals, she says. At the same time, she adds, they'll likely begin to see a payoff in the form of lower costs and improved profitability.
Hothem recently spoke with DC Velocity Group Editorial Director Mitch Mac Donald about the origins of the program, its progress to date, and what she envisions for the future.
Q: You've been a key driver in IWLA's sustainability initiative. Could you tell us a bit about how the program came about? A: The initiative arose out of a discussion we had two years ago about establishing a standard by which our members could measure their operations' sustainability. We were taking cues from programs such as [the construction industry's] LEED certification program. That program has worked well in that sector. Its metrics are well known and widely embraced. Our thought was simple, why couldn't we establish a LEED-like program for logistics?
Q: Seems simple enough, but the challenge, of course, lies in moving the concept to reality. How did you approach that? A: We decided we'd follow the LEED model and ensure that our program was similarly built on a foundation of measurable, quantitative metrics. We knew that nothing about this could be subjective. For instance, we knew if we couldn't assign some kind of numeric or percentage value to the amount of propane gas being utilized or the amount of water consumed at a given facility, it wouldn't work.
Q: So establishing the metrics is really the foundation from which everything has grown? A: Absolutely. Once we were able to identify the metrics, we submitted them to IWLA's director, Joel Anderson, and the IWLA executive committee. Our proposal met with a very good response. The consensus seemed to be that a LEED-like sustainability program was not something that would cost members seeking certification an inordinate amount of time, money, or resources. It also gives them a great step forward in satisfying their customers, who more and more are going to be asking them "How sustainable are you?"
Q: What was the next step from there in moving the initiative forward? A: We determined that the best way to go about this was to take a phased-in approach. Phase one is really to come up with the metrics and begin collecting data from members to establish a baseline. That's where we are right now. Certification will come with the next phase.
Q: What kind of response have you gotten from IWLA members so far? A: At this point, we are simply encouraging our members to begin to report, by facility, their water, propane, and electrical usage. At the same time, we are also making it clear that this isn't just about being green; it's about true sustainability, which includes factors like social responsibility, and that sustainability that will lead to lower costs and improved profitability for our members.
Q: That raises the question of how you go about measuring something like social responsibility or corporate citizenship. That's not as easily quantified as, say, water or electricity use. A: Exactly. We're still tweaking our process based on input from our member base, and I think there will be some future adjustments, particularly with the social responsibility metric. But as a way of getting started, we basically figured that social responsibility is taking care of your employees to a certain extent and ensuring their safety. All of our members are under OSHA reporting responsibility, so for that metric, we decided to ask, you know, 'What was your OSHA score?' I am assuming that represents your employees' safety.
It has also been difficult to find a way to quantify corporate good citizenship. Here, we're looking for things like community service and charitable donations—a lot of people donate time or services or a number of things. But simply asking, "What are you doing for your community in dollars?" isn't a valid measure given that one member might be operating 3 million square feet of space in a community, while another has just 50,000 square feet—our membership is that diverse. For that reason, we've also been considering a kind of dollars-per-square-foot approach.
Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.
The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.
Younger shoppers are leading the charge in that trend, with 59% of Gen Z and 48% of Millennials buying pre-owned items weekly or monthly. That rate makes Gen Z nearly twice as likely to buy second hand compared to older generations.
The primary reason that shoppers say they have increased their recommerce habits is lower prices (74%), followed by the thrill of finding unique or rare items (38%) and getting higher quality for a lower price (28%). Only 14% of Americans cite environmental concerns as a primary reason they shop second-hand.
Despite the challenge of adjusting to the new pattern, recommerce represents a strategic opportunity for businesses to capture today’s budget-minded shoppers and foster long-term loyalty, Austin, Texas-based ShipStation said.
For example, retailers don’t have to sell used goods to capitalize on the secondhand boom. Instead, they can offer trade-in programs swapping discounts or store credit for shoppers’ old items. And they can improve product discoverability to help customers—particularly older generations—find what they’re looking for.
Other ways for retailers to connect with recommerce shoppers are to improve shipping practices. According to ShipStation:
70% of shoppers won’t return to a brand if shipping is too expensive.
51% of consumers are turned off by late deliveries
40% of shoppers won’t return to a retailer again if the packaging is bad.
The “CMA CGM Startup Awards”—created in collaboration with BFM Business and La Tribune—will identify the best innovations to accelerate its transformation, the French company said.
Specifically, the company will select the best startup among the applicants, with clear industry transformation objectives focused on environmental performance, competitiveness, and quality of life at work in each of the three areas:
Shipping: Enabling safer, more efficient, and sustainable navigation through innovative technological solutions.
Logistics: Reinventing the global supply chain with smart and sustainable logistics solutions.
Media: Transform content creation, and customer engagement with innovative media technologies and strategies.
Three winners will be selected during a final event organized on November 15 at the Orange Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, during the 2nd Artificial Intelligence Marseille (AIM) forum organized by La Tribune and BFM Business. The selection will be made by a jury chaired by Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the Group, and including members of the executive committee representing the various sectors of CMA CGM.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”