Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
For years, the mantra in logistics was "information about the shipment is more important than the shipment itself." That may be a stretch: You don't go to the store for a carton of data. That being said, information technology (IT) has never been more pervasive in this business than it is today. It is no longer about automating manual processes. It is about leveraging data to make everyone's business better. That is a quantum leap.
CHRIS ELLIOTT
ABTIN HAMIDI
MARIO HARIK
MONICA WOODEN
DC Velocity asked four IT leaders for their views on how their disciplines fit into today's logistics world. They are Abtin Hamidi, vice president of sales for Cargo Chief, a broker whose IT platform connects shippers and carriers; Chris Elliott, senior consultant, strategy services for consultancy Blue Horseshoe; Mario Harik, CIO of transport and logistics service provider XPO Logistics Inc.; and Monica Wooden, founder and CEO of transportation management systems (TMS) provider MercuryGate International Inc. The four addressed where the logistics industry needs to fully embrace IT, what will drive the business for the balance of the decade, and how to cope with the 800-pound gorilla: Amazon.com Inc.
Q: It's been said that transportation and logistics companies—with some exceptions—are latecomers to IT. Is there one area where the most work needs to be done to bring businesses up to competitive speed?
AH: Converting EDI (electronic data interchange) to APIs (application programming interfaces). Our industry is still primarily built on legacy systems, and although they are secure and scalable, they can't meet the new demands of the continuously changing environment. By upgrading to modern systems, we can set ourselves up for faster, more robust integrations. The result will be the improved and automated communications that many of us have come to expect.
CE: Replacing aging infrastructure and systems implementations. Many companies are operating on systems installed in the late '90s and early 2000s, when capital budgets for logistics systems were looser. Bringing systems up to date will enable increased functionality and can make data easier to access.
MH: Legacy technology can make it difficult to rapidly customize applications to meet customer needs. It's a challenge to move fast or to innovate on these aging systems. There are a few scalable packaged solutions, but they're also plagued by legacy technology. Modernizing these platforms enables automation, self-service marketplaces, and big data algorithms, and ultimately makes it easier to match capacity and demand. This is a big reason why we've chosen to develop our own systems—a cloud-based platform gives us the flexibility to deploy new software very quickly.
MW: In the past, large companies with significant transportation budgets were the primary beneficiaries of transportation and logistics IT solutions. The advent of cloud-based solutions has made it possible for companies of all sizes to access transportation management systems (TMS) and other technology tools and realize cost savings and improved efficiency. One of the most significant areas of opportunity is transportation optimization. In the past, companies may have viewed optimization solutions as too expensive, too difficult to implement, or not user-friendly. However, in today's market, there are many cloud-based solutions that are affordable and easy to use for any business.
Q: All of you work in logistics, but in your own unique subsegments. What area within IT will deliver the most profound benefits for logistics operations over the next two to three years?
AH: Developing technology to connect the world in different ways and collecting data for creating better outcomes for all concerned. Our technology, and the data that is derived from it, results in more profitable carriers, which in turn means better service for shippers.
CE: Cloud computing. In the next few years, we are going to see increased functionality from cloud-based logistics solutions and greater potential to integrate applications. This will allow people to access applications from mobile devices anywhere they have an Internet connection. The benefits are the ability to be more agile and flexible in how solutions are delivered and how data is displayed by the business.
MH: Automation is impacting everything we do. We're seeing tremendous value in using our IT to match freight with capacity—that's in both truck brokerage and intermodal. And we're using sophisticated technology in our logistics facilities, including advanced robotics. Not too far down the road, we expect automation in the form of autonomous vehicles.
MW: There are a number of trends that we are following, such as e-commerce and omnichannel fulfillment, as well as the IoT (Internet of Things) and GPS-enabled mobile devices. We view predictive analytics and big data as very promising in terms of providing information that will support more informed decision-making in real time by logistics practitioners.
Q: What feedback do you get from businesses as to why they are reluctant to make investments in IT services?
AH: Until recently, there wasn't a need for transportation companies to make huge changes. Change would come only in response to a crisis. In addition, the available solutions were too expensive and required extensive change management that was not always welcomed by the culture. All of transportation is like a legacy business—which by definition tends to be slow to adapt to change. A "tipping point" will occur within the next 18 months. Over that time, reduced IT costs will lead to increased adoption. These factors will force companies to commit to a tech approach instead of an old-school brokerage approach.
CE: Cost is the excuse that's given, but in reality, businesses have a hard time explaining the benefits to senior management. For shippers, logistics is seen as an expense, and it is challenging to justify the increased expense of IT investments versus the benefits. A lot of companies have been burned in the past by not being able to demonstrate an ROI [return on investment] on their logistics IT investments. This makes senior executives wary of new investments without a lot more due diligence.
MH: Many companies in our industry have legacy systems that are 30-plus years old. These systems are built on obsolete technology and are not upgradeable. It would be a risky, years-long process for them to replace these mainframe systems with a new platform. This technical debt is inhibiting innovation.
MW: Companies may be reluctant to invest in IT systems that they deem too costly, too cumbersome, and incompatible with existing systems. On the other hand, if companies do not evaluate and invest in an IT solution, they must often deal with disparate systems that cause inefficiencies and decisions made in silos. These become manually intensive processes and make it difficult to maximize profit, growth, and customer satisfaction.
Q: All of you, to one degree or another, touch trucking. Will we see autonomous tractor-trailers on the road by the time the decade ends? If so, what restrictions, if any, will be placed on their operation?
AH: Self-driving trucks will be on the road within the next 18 months. The physical component is developed; the only thing missing is data. Initially, about 10 to 15 percent of vehicle miles will be converted to self-driving trucks. What happens to pricing? People don't know how to price, but self-driving could stabilize it, as well as ensure that more drivers can come home every night and have a stable income. Flat rates could become prevalent on busy, stable routes like Chicago to Los Angeles.
CE: Platooning, at a minimum, should go live by decade's end. That means there will be an active driver in the lead truck, with the other trucks following. The challenge will be in regulating the operations to demonstrate trucks can operate safely on the interstates. Restrictions could vary from needing someone to take control, to not allowing operations outside of very specific routes.
MH: They will be with us sooner than later. Several truck manufacturers are piloting more advanced autonomous vehicles now. There will be regulatory and cultural hurdles to overcome, so industrywide adoption is still a number of years out. But that's where we are headed.
MW: With the rapid changes in technology, it is difficult to predict if we will see autonomous tractor-trailers on the road by the end of the decade. In our view, safety is the primary issue that will need to be addressed in regard to the operations of autonomous tractor-trailers.
Q: How has omnichannel fulfillment, and by extension the "Amazon effect," changed the way logistics services are executed? And how will it shape the future of the industry?
AH: Consumer behavior has changed everything. The shift in consumer buying habits has had the biggest effect on trucking. Before, consumers expected to receive orders in a week. Now, it's within a day. Predicting demand is the key, not working to stabilize inventory levels. Trucking must shift with retailers, becoming more agile and efficient. Obtaining and leveraging data will be critical.
CE: The biggest impact is in the changing of customer expectations. Customers now have inflated expectations about the speed of logistics services. This requires companies to provide greater access to cross-channel inventory, direct inventory to the best location in and across channels, and move shipments faster around the world. The current challenge for many companies is enabling this faster tempo. Whether you are B2B [business to business] or B2C [business to consumer], the expectation is that you are able to quickly react to customer demands. However, many companies don't have the processes and systems in place to make this change.
MH: Omnichannel, and particularly the direct-to-consumer component, has reshaped logistics and transport forever. The entire supply chain has to run like a well-oiled machine so the retailer can keep its promises and its brand is protected. Returns must be just as seamless. None of this is possible without technology. This means focusing on automation, quality, and overall increased labor productivity to service the end consumer in a cost-effective way.
MW: Companies planning to emulate the Amazon model must develop robust omnichannel fulfillment strategies. This environment is increasing the use of parcel by a wide range of companies. In the past, many transportation management systems separated parcel shipping from other modes. Today's robust TMS platforms natively support parcel along with all other modes, allowing companies to consolidate shipments across modes, customers, and business units. This results in cost savings in transportation spending and efficiencies in the holistic management of transportation processes.
Warehouse automation vendor Locus Robotics marked the grand opening of its global headquarters facility in Wilmington, Mass., this week.
The state-of-the-art, 157,000 square-foot Locus Park facility “serves as the nexus for hundreds of Locus employees driving the company's mission to revolutionize global supply chains through advanced robotics solutions,” the company said in a statement Thursday.
The new headquarters boasts an expansive research and development, testing, and engineering space, and is home base to the firm’s nearly 200 New England area employees. The facility also handles all robotics manufacturing, shipping, and administration functions.
“Locus Park represents our commitment to innovation and our confidence in the future,” company CEO Rick Faulk said in the statement. “It's a launchpad for the next generation of robotics and AI solutions that will redefine warehouse efficiency and empower workforces worldwide. As we stand at the forefront of industrial automation, we're not just leading the industry but transforming it.”
Alongside the grand opening, Locus also celebrated surpassing four billion units picked across its customer deployments around the world.
For links and show notes, mouse over the player and click the .
Transcript
About this week's guest
Dennis Moon is chief operating officer of Roadie. He has served in executive management positions in both public and privately held companies over the past 15 years, including as executive vice president for Medovex Corp., a medical device and technology company, and chief operations officer for JCS, where he assisted in the sale of the company to a private equity fund and remained COO of the JCS Division for Correctional Healthcare Companies. As COO, his responsibilities included supervising the day-to-day operations and maintenance of over 50,000 monthly clients, over 200 city, county and state contracts, 70 physical office locations, more than 400 employees and over 1.8 million financial transactions per year.
Prior to his career in executive management, Moon served in the U.S. Army as an intelligence analyst and combat engineer with TS/SCI Clearance. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 00:01
Delivering Halloween. Forecasting technology trends. And is pallet handling the next robotic frontier?
Pull up a chair and join us, as the editors of
DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast.
Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at
DC Velocity. Welcome.
Logistics Matters is sponsored by Zebra Robotics Automation. Are you tired of overpriced, underutilized autonomous mobile robot fulfillment solutions that drain your profits? It's time to switch to Zebra Robotics Automation. Their cutting-edge Zebra Symmetry fulfillment solution is engineered to reduce your cost per unit and give you that unbeatable competitive edge. Don't settle for less. Maximize your profits with Zebra. Discover the future of fulfillment at zebra.com/fulfillment.
As usual, our
DC Velocity senior editors Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be alone to provide their insights into the top stories of this week.
But to begin today, Halloween is just a few days away. The holiday has grown over the years to be the second or third most popular holiday, depending on which survey you trust. So, it's basically right up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving. Making sure that deliveries of all the decorations and treats get to their destinations on time is a big task, and to find out what's involved in all of that, here's Victoria with today's guest.
Victoria.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 01:35
Thanks, Dave. Our guest today is Dennis Moon, chiefoperating officer for crowdsourced delivery platform Roadie. Welcome Dennis.
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 01:43
Thank you.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 01:45
Yeah, thanks for joining us today. I think most of our listeners are familiar with Roadie, but can you just give us a quick overview of the company and its role in the supply chain?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 01:54
Absolutely. We've been around since 2014. Roadie is a logistics-management and crowdsource delivery platform. We're also a UPS company, and our role in the supply chain is to offer businesses fast, flexible, and asset-light logistics solutions in the last mile.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 02:10
Terrific. So, as Dave said, supply chains are gearing up for this Halloween season. Retailers are busy getting orders out to people. How does demand for all those costumes, decorations, and candy affect supply chains?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 02:24
It really kicks off the peak season for us, and as we've been doing this for a while, it gets a little bit different every year, but what we're seeing is a lot of retailers are kicking off their peak season at the same time as Halloween. So, as we can see, and you probably have noticed, more and more sales events and promotions are kicking off earlier and earlier into the season, so I think it's really good, because we're able to take the momentum that we start for Halloween, continue it on to delivering for people right into peak, and it also really helps with that last-minute Halloween rush that a lot of people have. I would just say the other thing is that, you know, consumers, and us as consumers, we're just really getting used to following the promotions more than we are following the event, so we've been seeing that over the last couple of years.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 03:08
Great. Thank you. Along with all of that, so Roadie has a partnership with Spirit Halloween, which is a retailer that's certainly at the forefront of dealing with these particular peak-season challenges that are happening right now. Can you describe the partnership and how it works?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 03:23
Yeah, I'm really excited about this one. Spirit Halloween is North America's leading Halloween retailer, and we provide same-day delivery from spirit Halloween's online stores across the United States. So same-day's available in more than 800 Spirit Halloween retail locations, allowing their customers to receive their items quickly and conveniently, just like they would with any other delivery. But Halloween fans have access to hundreds, if not thousands of SKUs in that same-day marketplace, and we're just really excited, as I said earlier, to be able to start propelling ourselves as we enter into a really big peak season.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 03:59
And I think you said — how many stores are you doing this in?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 04:02
Eight hundred Spirit Halloween retail locations, and this is the first time they've offered it. So, it's new to them and it's new to us, so we're just really excited about the opportunity.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 04:09
Yeah, I'm very familiar with the store, and that sounds new to me, so... .Is Roadie working with otherretailers on similar solutions designed to help manage this Halloween demand?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 04:19
Yeah, you know, one of our most notable specialty retailers, and one of the bigger customers during Halloween, is the Home Depots of this world. And as everybody knows, they've got a really, really good selection of Halloween decorations that I see in my neighborhood every day, and being able to deliver some of those really big yard decorations has been super cool for us, and we've been doing a lot of it this Halloween season.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 04:46
So, what trends are you seeing in same-day delivery service in general? How are technology advances, for example, things like AI, affecting the industry?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 04:56
Yeah, you know, [I've] been doing this for a while, and just, every year, more and more retailers create or have same-day as just standard expectation for online shopping. It's pretty surprising. Going back 10 years, no one did, not many people did, and they just really didn't have it on its radar. So, the adoption rate is accelerating. Everyone feels that they must have same-day delivery to compete, and retailers have really found that just the same-day model gives them that competitive edge. It increases revenue, and it's good for them, it's good for their customers. We did a survey recently where we conducted, it found 80% of companies reported an increased revenue with same-day delivery, so it really is starting to prove itself. To answer your question about AI's impact. It's helping optimize delivery routes for us. It balances delivery capacity. We're using it all over the place, from customer support all the way to helping drivers make decisions on what's the most economical route for them, what's the best route, what's the best offer that they should make — so, just giving them all the information. And making sure that we're as transparent as possible, utilizing all the AI technology that we can behind the scenes so that drivers can make a good decision. It enables our retailers to anticipate demand. So, as we think about, we've got a bit of demand going into the Halloween season, but it's going to get really, really hectic with a compressed peak as people who follow UPS know, it came out yesterday, you know, Carol Tomé talked about it: 17 business days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. So we haven't seen that compressed of a peak since 2019, which means all of the supply chain is just going to have to really, really work well together to get things to people right before the holiday. And AI is going to be a big part of it as we implement it more and more in different facets of our business.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 06:47
Looking ahead to the holiday peak — we've touched on that throughout this conversation — how large a role will this crowdsource delivery model play in helping businesses manage all those last-minute holiday deliveries? Just sort of a general perspective on that?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 07:02
Yeah, it's a great question, and every year, we become a bigger and bigger part of it. Consumers are looking for same-day, fast deliveries,crowdsource platforms like Roadie, we play a really big part, and part of that is probably because we're seeing more and more retailers, the big retailers, need to move product closer to customers. So, there's a sense of forward distribution coming out of the brick-and-mortar stores, where, in years past, everything would come out of a distribution center somewhere else. So they've got to have the product in the store, and we've got to get it to their customers fast, which is just really, really growing every single year, especially in some of the biggest retailers that everybody knows that have the best deals when it comes to Black Friday, Cyber Monday. A vast majority of that volume is coming from the stores now, where it used to come out of their distribution centers.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 07:51
Dennis, anything else on this topic you want to mention as we gear up for Halloween next week, and looking further ahead to holiday peak?
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 08:00
I would reiterate that it's going to be a short, compact, and hectic peak. As I said before, it was 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, 17 business days, which we haven't seen in quite some time, and this year, more more than ever, fast delivery is going to be critical. It's going to making sure people have it in hand, they have it wrapped, they have it ready, because we don't want to leave people wondering, will my package arrive on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? But the other thing, as I mentioned earlier, is to combat this, we're seeing a lot of retailers pull forward. We're seeing a lot of events take place prior to Black Friday, whereas it used to be Black Friday Cyber Monday, were the big Super Bowls of our year. Some things are kicking off early in November. Some things are going to have really, really good sales and events that go on all the way through the month of November and into early December, so I think the retailers are smart. They're trying to identify, they can't get everything done in that very, very condensed window, so let's go ahead and spread it out over a longer period of time. And the consumers are smart too, because they're just looking for, you know, really good deals on what they need to purchase for this peak season. So, the last thing I'll just say is that a lot of it will take place online. More and more and more of Black Friday, Cyber Monday is becoming an online event, and according to International Trade Administration, e-commerce in the U.S. is growing an annual rate of 11.22%, and the global marketplace is expected to reach 5.5 trillion by 2027, so it's just showing us the data to support that we're in the right space, and people are utilizing e-comm more and more every single year.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 09:35
That's certainly true. We see that, in, I think, in our work and in our lives here, so... . Thank you, Dennis, very much for joining us today. We appreciate your insight.
Dennis Moon, Chief Operating Officer, Roadie 09:45
Thank you guys for having me. Have a great day.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 09:47
Thank you. We've been talking with Dennis Moon of Roadie. Back to you, Dave.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 09:51
Thank you, Dennis and Victoria. Now let's take a look at some of the other supply chain news from the week, and Ben, you wrote this week about a forecast for technology trends. What can you tell us?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 10:05
That's right. You know, as we near the end of the year, many experts throughout the logistics sector take this chance to make some forecasts and predictions for 2025 that may seem like a long way away, but we're halfway through the fourth quarter already, so now's the time to plan, and one of the first ones that I saw came this week from Forrester, the technology analyst group. Forrester pointed out that 2024, to no surprise, has been a particularly challenging year for companies, especially in asset-intensive industries like manufacturing and transportation. That's because those asset-intensive industries and businesses quickly feel the pain when energy prices rise, when raw materials become harder to access, or when borrowing money for capital projects becomes more expensive. And all of those conditions arose in 2024, so that forced some of those leaders — again in manufacturing and transportation — to focus even more than usual, on managing the costs and improving efficiency, to find that balance point. All this was According to researcher Paul Miller, who's vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 11:16
Well Ben, there certainly were a lot of supply chain disruptions this past year. Did the report say whether they felt 2025 would be any easier on supply chains?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 11:27
Well, it did say, and unfortunately they are forecasting that it will not be all that much smoother. Forrester's latest forecast doesn't anticipate any dramatic improvement in the global macroeconomic situation for 2025, but it does anticipate several ways that companies will probably adapt. So, for 2025, Forrester predicts that over 25% of the big last-mile service and delivery fleets over in Europe will have become electric across the continent. So, between the different nations, they are analyzing parcel delivery firms, utility companies, even local governments that operate large fleets of small vans over relatively short distances, and so, for all those sorts of applications, electrification is an opportunity both to manage costs and to lower carbon emissions. In a second analysis of what we were likely to see, they said that probably less than 5% of the robots that we see in factories and warehouses will be walking. We might have seen a lot of recent headlines — I've written some of them myself — about some rise in two-legged robots that are now able to be designed. Forrester says that the compelling use cases for two-legged robots are less obvious than supporters suggest. Specifically, they said that those kind of robots, they might have a wow factor, but they probably don't have the best form factor for addressing the industry's dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks, which, that's a frequent way of describing the type of assignments that go to robots. And finally, that the third look forward at 2025, Forrester said that car makers, automakers are going to make significant cuts to their digital divisions, sort of admitting defeat after having invested billions of dollars industrywide to try to build the capability to design all those connected platforms and digital features that we see in modern vehicles. Instead, the future of mobility will be underpinned by sort of ecosystems of various technology providers. So, it won't — a vehicle won't necessarily be reliant on the same large automaker that made the car itself to also make the digital platforms on the inside of it.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:53
But those really do look like some interesting trends. I guess we'll see how it all plays out in the coming year.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 13:59
Yeah, absolutely I hadn't thought of the car one. I think we all touch base with that, probably daily, and it's interesting to try to figure out who's making the stuff.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 14:09
Certainly is. Thank you. Ben.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 14:11
Glad to.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 14:12
And Victoria, as robots continue to make inroads into our distribution centers, there's one area that's just now getting a little bit of love from those robots. Can you give us the details?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 14:23
Absolutely, yes. So, I recently wrote about the continuing trend toward implementing warehouse robotics and discovered that there's a bit of a shift happening in where many warehouses are applying the latest technologies. A lot of companies have been focused on applying robotics to picking tasks as a way to handle accelerating e-commerce orders.We saw this trend really gain steam leading up to 2020, and then, of course, during the pandemic years. Many of those early automation gains are bearing fruit, so some companies are shifting their automation focus behind those picking lines, so to speak, and applying robotics to bulk handling, particularly pallets. I spoke to a handful of robotics vendors recently about the reasons behind this trendand what they are seeing in terms of how warehouses are using pallet-handling robots.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 15:09
Victoria, what's driving that shift to moving towards more bulk handling?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 15:14
Well, one reason is that this is a labor-intensive process. Bulk items like pallets are moved by people with human-operated equipment, for the most part, and there are a lot of different movements of pallets throughout the warehouse. Workers are often moving them up and down, side to side, from receiving to storage, from storage to shipping, and so forth. So it's an area that's ripe for automation in many ways. But it's difficult to automate all of those pallet moves within a warehouse, so the trick is finding the processes within your facility that make the most sense to automate. Some facilities may benefit from using AGVs or AMRs to transport pallets between destinations; others could apply forklift AGVs to move pallets in and out of storage; and there are also robotic pallet shuttles, which can move pallets into and out of dense storage racking as part of a larger system. Now, all of these productshave been around for a while, but there's much research and development going on, making them better, smarter, more effective, and also in developing pallet-handling robotics that work in concert as a system. Really, what I learned is that this is very much about relieving pressure on labor and keeping goods flowing through the warehouse.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 16:24
Yeah, because of those labor needs — and I think that's going to be still a growing problem — we will see more robots plying their trade and handling those heavy loads. It just makes a lot of sense.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 16:33
It certainly does.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 16:35
Thank you, Victoria,
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 16:36
You're welcome.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 16:38
We encourage listeners to go to dcvelocity.com for more on these and other supply chain stories. Also check out the podcast Notes section for some direct links to read more about the topics that we discussed today.
And we'd like to thank our guest, Dennis Moon of Roadie, for being with us today. We welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us at
podcast@agilebme.com.
We also encourage you to subscribe to
Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform. Our new episodes are uploaded on Fridays.
Speaking of subscribing, check out our sister podcast series,
Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. We have a 10-episode series currently playing on the state of logistics. Check out Supply Chain in the Fast Lane wherever you get your podcasts.
And a reminder that
Logistics Matters is sponsored by Zebra Robotics Automation. Are you tired of overpriced, underutilized autonomous mobile robot fulfillment solutions that drain your profits? It's time to switch to Zebra Robotics Automation. Their cutting-edge Zebra Symmetry fulfillment solution is engineered to reduce your cost per unit and give you that unbeatable competitive edge. Don't settle for less. Maximize your profits with Zebra. Discover the future of fulfillment at zebra.com/fulfillment.
We'll be back again next week with another edition of
Logistics Matters. Be sure to join us. Until then, have a great week.
Business leaders in the manufacturing and transportation sectors will increasingly turn to technology in 2025 to adapt to developments in a tricky economic environment, according to a report from Forrester.
That approach is needed because companies in asset-intensive industries like manufacturing and transportation quickly feel the pain when energy prices rise, raw materials are harder to access, or borrowing money for capital projects becomes more expensive, according to researcher Paul Miller, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
And all of those conditions arose in 2024, forcing leaders to focus even more than usual on managing costs and improving efficiency. Forrester’s latest forecast doesn’t anticipate any dramatic improvement in the global macroeconomic situation in 2025, but it does anticipate several ways that companies will adapt.
For 2025, Forrester predicts that:
over 25% of big last-mile service and delivery fleets in Europe will be electric. Across the continent, parcel delivery firms, utility companies, and local governments operating large fleets of small vans over relatively short distances see electrification as an opportunity to manage costs while lowering carbon emissions.
less than 5% of the robots entering factories and warehouses will walk. While industry coverage often focuses on two-legged robots, Forrester says the compelling use cases for those legs are less common — or obvious — than supporters suggest. The report says that those robots have a wow factor, but they may not have the best form factor for addressing industry’s dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks.
carmakers will make significant cuts to their digital divisions, admitting defeat after the industry invested billions of dollars in recent years to build the capability to design the connected and digital features installed in modern vehicles. Instead, the future of mobility will be underpinned by ecosystems of various technology providers, not necessarily reliant on the same large automaker that made the car itself.
Regular online readers of DC Velocity and Supply Chain Xchange have probably noticed something new during the past few weeks. Our team has been working for months to produce shiny new websites that allow you to find the supply chain news and stories you need more easily.
It is always good for a media brand to undergo a refresh every once in a while. We certainly are not alone in retooling our websites; most of you likely go through that rather complex process every few years. But this was more than just your average refresh. We did it to take advantage of the most recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Most of the AI work will take place behind the scenes. We will not, for instance, use AI to generate our stories. Those will still be written by our award-winning editorial team (I realize I’m biased, but I believe them to be the best in the business). Instead, we will be applying AI to things like graphics, search functions, and prioritizing relevant stories to make it easier for you to find the information you need along with related content.
We have also redesigned the websites’ layouts to make it quick and easy to find articles on specific topics. For example, content on DC Velocity’s new site is divided into five categories: material handling, robotics, transportation, technology, and supply chain services. We also offer a robust video section, including case histories, webcasts, and executive interviews, plus our weekly podcasts.
Over on the Supply Chain Xchange site, we have organized articles into categories that align with the traditional five phases of supply chain management: plan, procure, produce, move, and store. Plus, we added a “tech” category just to round it off. You can also find links to our videos, newsletters, podcasts, webcasts, blogs, and much more on the site.
Our mobile-app users will also notice some enhancements. An increasing number of you are receiving your daily supply chain news on your phones and tablets, so we have revamped our sites for optimal performance on those devices. For instance, you’ll find that related stories will appear right after the article you’re reading in case you want to delve further into the topic.
However you view us, you will find snappier headlines, more graphics and illustrations, and sites that are easier to navigate.
I would personally like to thank our management, IT department, and editors for their work in making this transition a reality. In our more than 20 years as a media company, this is our largest expansion into digital yet.
We hope you enjoy the experience.
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In this chart, the red and green bars represent Trucking Conditions Index for 2024. The blue line represents the Trucking Conditions Index for 2023. The index shows that while business conditions for trucking companies improved in August of 2024 versus July of 2024, they are still overall negative.
FTR’s Trucking Conditions Index improved in August to -1.39 from the reading of -5.59 in July. The Bloomington, Indiana-based firm forecasts that its TCI readings will remain mostly negative-to-neutral through the beginning of 2025.
“Trucking is en route to more favorable conditions next year, but the road remains bumpy as both freight volume and capacity utilization are still soft, keeping rates weak. Our forecasts continue to show the truck freight market starting to favor carriers modestly before the second quarter of next year,” Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, said in a release.
The TCI tracks the changes representing five major conditions in the U.S. truck market: freight volumes, freight rates, fleet capacity, fuel prices, and financing costs. Combined into a single index, a positive score represents good, optimistic conditions, and a negative score shows the opposite.