Susan Lacefield has been working for supply chain publications since 1999. Before joining DC VELOCITY, she was an associate editor for Supply Chain Management Review and wrote for Logistics Management magazine. She holds a master's degree in English.
It's good to be in logistics. Or at least that's what the results of DC Velocity's 2012 Salary Survey suggest. Of the 602 readers who participated in our survey, 86 percent said they were satisfied with their career and would recommend it to someone entering the workforce.
What's behind the high level of job satisfaction? Part of it is surely financial. According to the survey results, our reader's average salary is $106,311 and the median salary is $90,000. (For a breakdown of average salary by position, see Exhibit 1.) That's up 6 percent from the average salary reported in last year's survey. Indeed, 65 percent of respondents reported that their paychecks were fatter this year than last, with an average increase of 7 percent.
While a six-figure salary is nothing to turn up your nose at, those numbers actually sound low to Susan Rider, president of the consulting firm Rider & Associates LLC. For supervisor positions, she is seeing salaries that run $10,000 higher than the average reported in our survey, and for the more senior positions (directors, vice president, president), she generally sees salaries that are $50,000 to $75,000 higher.
How to increase your worth
If you're looking to boost your pay, our survey results indicate there may be some steps you can take to increase your earning power. They are as follows:
Move to a bigger company. As Exhibit 2 indicates, larger companies (particularly those with over 5,000 employees) tend to pay higher salaries. (To provide as accurate a comparison as possible, Exhibit 2 only looks at the average salary for managers, as nearly half of all respondents are managers.)
Take a job that reaches outside the distribution center. While 66 percent of respondents said they had direct or indirect management control or influence over warehousing/distribution center operations, this was not the path to the big bucks. Those who reported having responsibility for warehousing or distribution center operations have the lowest average salary by job responsibility (see Exhibit 3).
Develop specialized skills. On the other side of the spectrum, those who had management control or influence over import/export operations reported the highest salaries. Rider says this isn't surprising. "Government regulation, terrorism, and Homeland Security continue to compel a certain amount of knowledge and specialization. But the number of people who have that knowledge is limited," she explains.
Other specialized skills in high demand include international supply chain experience, lean management, and FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture validation expertise, Rider says. She adds that employers are also seeking people who have proficiency with warehouse management systems.
The survey also showed that those responsible for fleet operations out-earned most of their peers. Rider suspects that rising fuel prices and growing capacity concerns have made companies more willing to pay for expertise in this area.
Stick around. If you haven't achieved your target salary yet, you just might need a few more years of experience. Responses to the salary survey show that in general, the more experience you have in logistics, the higher your salary—particularly for those who have more than 20 years of experience. The one anomaly seems to be respondents who have less than five years of experience in logistics, whose average salary of $99,890 was higher than expected. (See Exhibit 4.) Similarly, Exhibit 5 shows that the older the respondent, the higher the salary (until respondents hit age 65, when many might be in a semi-retired state).
But don't wear out your welcome. While the survey does seem to indicate that companies reward loyalty, that seems to be true only to a certain point. Average salary rises along with tenure at a company until about year 15, when the average salary levels off and then drops a bit. (See Exhibit 6.)
Be male. This may sound glib, but the sobering fact remains that men in the logistics field are still out-earning women. The first DC Velocity salary survey back in 2006 noted that discrepancy, and things haven't changed much in the past six years. This year, females made up 10 percent of the survey respondents, and their average salary ($76,572) was significantly lower than the average salary of their male counterparts ($109,787).
"I have to say that the supply chain/warehousing/logistics world is a little behind the times," says Rider. "I also think it has something to do with the fact that women are still in lower-level positions as supervisors and managers. It took us a while as women to break into the industry, and we are still working our way up."
But the gap does not appear to be narrowing. In the 2007 survey, female managers on average earned 22 percent less than males ($65,774 vs. $80,225). In 2012, female managers on average earned 25 percent less than their male counterparts ($73,167 vs. $91,366). Furthermore, slicing the data by age or years of logistics experience produced no change in the results.
Go back to school. While an advanced degree comes with a high price tag these days, it also translates into a higher average salary. Respondents with a master's degree or higher reported an average salary of $141,287, compared with $104,020 for those with a bachelor's degree and $85,280 for a high school diploma. Likewise, certifications for specialized skills are carrying much more weight than they used to, says Rider.
One factor that does not seem to have much effect on salary is region of the country. It's hard to see any patterns when you look at the last three years' worth of data from the survey. (See Exhibit 7.) However, salaries may be higher in areas that are considered logistics hubs, such as Columbus, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn.; and Louisville, Ky., says Rider. She speculates that may be the reason why she sees higher salaries than those reported in DC Velocity's survey.
It's not all about the Benjamins
While money is important, it was not what the majority of readers mentioned when asked what they liked most about their job. Instead, they said they enjoyed solving the ever-changing challenges they confronted on a daily basis. As one respondent noted, "The job is the same, but it is different ever day."
Also, many mentioned that they liked the people or teams they work with and the interaction with different departments, customers, and suppliers. While it may sound trite, this underlines an important point. Logistics isn't just about shipping product; it's about managing relationships—with fellow employees as well as with other departments, suppliers, partners, and customers.
Indeed, companies highly value logistics professionals with communication and management skills, says Rider. "The soft skills of managing and motivating people are a huge priority for companies," she says. "Particularly as young millennials are proving to be challenging for older generations from a management perspective. How you work with the younger workforce is different. You can't continue to do what you've always done and be successful."
Another factor that may be contributing to job satisfaction is logistics' growing influence in many companies. Just under 70 percent of respondents reported that the number of functions they manage has risen in the past three years. Many said their favorite thing about their job was the level of autonomy that they had and the ability to make decisions that affect the company's bottom line.
But that added responsibility comes with a downside. When asked what they didn't like about their jobs, respondents cited long hours, too much travel, and increased stress. Forty-five percent of respondents said they work more than 50 hours a week, and 37 percent said the number of hours they work has increased. And while many enjoy a feeling of autonomy, others are still fighting to get the ear of C-level executives.
Keep 'em happy
The relatively high pay is indicative of the fact that people with logistics and supply chain expertise are in a unique position at the moment. Despite all the talk of a "jobless recovery," logistics and supply chain skills are still in high demand. Indeed, as business rebounds, companies may need to take a closer look at what they need to do to hold onto good employees.
Rider says that for younger workers, quality-of-life factors are more important than they've been to previous generations. While older workers may not care so much about whether there's an Xbox in the break room or whether the company has a soccer team, a fun work environment that creates a sense of camaraderie is important to younger workers. And workers of all ages are more interested in flex time and alternative working arrangements, such as the flexibility to work from home, says Rider.
The good news for employers is that what people want is not necessarily more money. "It's appreciation, challenge, and culture," says Rider. "And these are things that are easy for companies to do if they focus on it."
Most of the apparel sold in North America is manufactured in Asia, meaning the finished goods travel long distances to reach end markets, with all the associated greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, apparel manufacturing itself requires a significant amount of energy, water, and raw materials like cotton. Overall, the production of apparel is responsible for about 2% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report titled
Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zeroby the Apparel Impact Institute. Founded in 2017, the Apparel Impact Institute is an organization dedicated to identifying, funding, and then scaling solutions aimed at reducing the carbon emissions and other environmental impacts of the apparel and textile industries.
The author of this annual study is researcher and consultant Michael Sadowski. He wrote the first report in 2021 as well as the latest edition, which was released earlier this year. Sadowski, who is also executive director of the environmental nonprofit
The Circulate Initiative, recently joined DC Velocity Group Editorial Director David Maloney on an episode of the “Logistics Matters” podcast to discuss the key findings of the research, what companies are doing to reduce emissions, and the progress they’ve made since the first report was issued.
A: While companies in the apparel industry can set their own sustainability targets, we realized there was a need to give them a blueprint for actually reducing emissions. And so, we produced the first report back in 2021, where we laid out the emissions from the sector, based on the best estimates [we could make using] data from various sources. It gives companies and the sector a blueprint for what we collectively need to do to drive toward the ambitious reduction [target] of staying within a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway. That was the first report, and then we committed to refresh the analysis on an annual basis. The second report was published last year, and the third report came out in May of this year.
Q: What were some of the key findings of your research?
A: We found that about half of the emissions in the sector come from Tier Two, which is essentially textile production. That includes the knitting, weaving, dyeing, and finishing of fabric, which together account for over half of the total emissions. That was a really important finding, and it allows us to focus our attention on the interventions that can drive those emissions down.
Raw material production accounts for another quarter of emissions. That includes cotton farming, extracting gas and oil from the ground to make synthetics, and things like that. So we now have a really keen understanding of the source of our industry’s emissions.
Q: Your report mentions that the apparel industry is responsible for about 2% of global emissions. Is that an accurate statistic?
A: That’s our best estimate of the total emissions [generated by] the apparel sector. Some other reports on the industry have apparel at up to 8% of global emissions. And there is a commonly misquoted number in the media that it’s 10%. From my perspective, I think the best estimate is somewhere under 2%.
We know that globally, humankind needs to reduce emissions by roughly half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to hit international goals. [Reaching that target will require the involvement of] every facet of the global economy and every aspect of the apparel sector—transportation, material production, manufacturing, cotton farming. Through our work and that of others, I think the apparel sector understands what has to happen. We have highlighted examples of how companies are taking action to reduce emissions in the roadmap reports.
Q: What are some of those actions the industry can take to reduce emissions?
A: I think one of the positive developments since we wrote the first report is that we’re seeing companies really focus on the most impactful areas. We see companies diving deep on thermal energy, for example. With respect to Tier Two, we [focus] a lot of attention on things like ocean freight versus air. There’s a rule of thumb I’ve heard that indicates air freight is about 10 times the cost [of ocean] and also produces 10 times more greenhouse gas emissions.
There is money available to invest in sustainability efforts. It’s really exciting to see the funding that’s coming through for AI [artificial intelligence] and to see that individual companies, such as H&M and Lululemon, are investing in real solutions in their supply chains. I think a lot of concrete actions are being taken.
And yet we know that reducing emissions by half on an absolute basis by 2030 is a monumental undertaking. So I don’t want to be overly optimistic, because I think we have a lot of work to do. But I do think we’ve got some amazing progress happening.
Q: You mentioned several companies that are starting to address their emissions. Is that a result of their being more aware of the emissions they generate? Have you seen progress made since the first report came out in 2021?
A: Yes. When we published the first roadmap back in 2021, our statistics showed that only about 12 companies had met the criteria [for setting] science-based targets. In 2024, the number of apparel, textile, and footwear companies that have set targets or have commitments to set targets is close to 500. It’s an enormous increase. I think they see the urgency more than other sectors do.
We have companies that have been working at sustainability for quite a long time. I think the apparel sector has developed a keen understanding of the impacts of climate change. You can see the impacts of flooding, drought, heat, and other things happening in places like Bangladesh and Pakistan and India. If you’re a brand or a manufacturer and you have operations and supply chains in these places, I think you understand what the future will look like if we don’t significantly reduce emissions.
Q: There are different categories of emission levels, depending on the role within the supply chain. Scope 1 are “direct” emissions under the reporting company’s control. For apparel, this might be the production of raw materials or the manufacturing of the finished product. Scope 2 covers “indirect” emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity used in these processes. Scope 3 emissions are harder to track, as they include emissions from supply chain partners both upstream and downstream.
Now companies are finding there are legislative efforts around the world that could soon require them to track and report on all these emissions, including emissions produced by their partners’ supply chains. Does this mean that companies now need to be more aware of not only what greenhouse gas emissions they produce, but also what their partners produce?
A: That’s right. Just to put this into context, if you’re a brand like an Adidas or a Gap, you still have to consider the Scope 3 emissions. In particular, there are the so-called “purchased goods and services,” which refers to all of the embedded emissions in your products, from farming cotton to knitting yarn to making fabric. Those “purchased goods and services” generally account for well above 80% of the total emissions associated with a product. It’s by far the most significant portion of your emissions.
Leading companies have begun measuring and taking action on Scope 3 emissions because of regulatory developments in Europe and, to some extent now, in California. I do think this is just a further tailwind for the work that the industry is doing.
I also think it will definitely ratchet up the quality requirements of Scope 3 data, which is not yet where we’d all like it to be. Companies are working to improve that data, but I think the regulatory push will make the quality side increasingly important.
Q: Overall, do you think the work being done by the Apparel Impact Institute will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the industry?
A: When we started this back in 2020, we were at a place where companies were setting targets and knew their intended destination, but what they needed was a blueprint for how to get there. And so, the roadmap [provided] this blueprint and identified six key things that the sector needed to do—from using more sustainable materials to deploying renewable electricity in the supply chain.
Decarbonizing any sector, whether it’s transportation, chemicals, or automotive, requires investment. The Apparel Impact Institute is bringing collective investment, which is so critical. I’m really optimistic about what they’re doing. They have taken a data-driven, evidence-based approach, so they know where the emissions are and they know what the needed interventions are. And they’ve got the industry behind them in doing that.
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.”
That result showed that driver wages across the industry continue to increase post-pandemic, despite a challenging freight market for motor carriers. The data comes from ATA’s “Driver Compensation Study,” which asked 120 fleets, more than 150,000 employee drivers, and 14,000 independent contractors about their wage and benefit information.
Drilling into specific categories, linehaul less-than-truckload (LTL) drivers earned a median annual amount of $94,525 in 2023, while local LTL drivers earned a median of $80,680. The median annual compensation for drivers at private carriers has risen 12% since 2021, reaching $95,114 in 2023. And leased-on independent contractors for truckload carriers were paid an annual median amount of $186,016 in 2023.
The results also showed how the demographics of the industry are changing, as carriers offered smaller referral and fewer sign-on bonuses for new drivers in 2023 compared to 2021 but more frequently offered tenure bonuses to their current drivers and with a greater median value.
"While our last study, conducted in 2021, illustrated how drivers benefitted from the strongest freight environment in a generation, this latest report shows professional drivers' earnings are still rising—even in a weaker freight economy," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a release. "By offering greater tenure bonuses to their current driver force, many fleets appear to be shifting their workforce priorities from recruitment to retention."