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.
The global e-commerce unit of transport and logistics titan Deutsche Post DHL is piloting a program designed to facilitate the returns process for international e-commerce, a segment that is expected to grow as international e-commerce expands.
Charles Brewer, CEO of DHL eCommerce, said today that the program, which began about a month ago, is being tested in both directions on the U.S.-United Kingdom and U.S.-Australia trade lanes. The plan is for the unit to cover all aspects of cross-border returns, including a straight return to the product seller, consolidation of return shipments at the warehouse and distribution center level, disposal of low-value returned items, and the recovery, repair and repurposing of returns deemed to have a shelf life, Brewer said in an interview at DHL eCommerce's offices in Norcross, Ga., an Atlanta suburb.
The program aims to leverage all parts of the DHL enterprise, Brewer said. For example, DHL Supply Chain, one of the world's largest operators of contract warehouse and DC space, will be involved in the consolidation process, according to Brewer. DHL Express, the unit's express operations, will be involved in the transportation. DHL Global Forwarding, the company's freight forwarding, will be brought in to provide forwarding services, if necessary, Brewer said.
It is unclear whether the program will go live in time for the post-holiday returns period, which in many countries typically occurs during the first 10 days of January.
Brewer said that while other providers offer cross-border returns of products from the buyer to the seller, no one to date has come to market with a cross-border returns program to match the scope of development underway in domestic markets. Among the challenges is determining how customs authorities will process e-commerce returns when many countries are already swamped with what World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya earlier this year described as a "tsunami of small packages" that customs administrations, structured to clear business-to-business commerce between established trading partners, were not set up to process.
Brewer said his unit has not experienced problems getting its customers' shipments cleared through Customs in a timely manner. However, he said it is an issue that must be addressed, especially as cross-border e-commerce activity increases.
Brewer said there is merit to the concept of free-trade zones dedicated to e-commerce patterned to some extent after the "Foreign Trade Zone" model long in place for manufacturing. Brewer also endorsed an idea advanced by Jack Ma, co-founder and executive chairman of the Chinese e-marketplace Alibaba Group, of a "World Commerce Organization" that could be structured along the lines of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Brewer said DHL has an inherent advantage in global e-commerce because it serves 220 countries, is the leading express delivery company in many markets, and has deep relationships with the many different customs authorities. DHL, based in Bonn, is a unit of Deutsche Post, which for decades functioned as the German postal system but which over the last 20 years has aggressively expanded into logistics and transportation. DHL marks its 50thyear in business in 2019.
According to DHL data, the value of all worldwide e-commerce is about US$3.7 trillion. Of that, $2.7 trillion moves entirely within countries, while the rest is cross-border in nature. The cross-border segment grew by 27 percent last year, while the larger "domestic" trades grew by 9 percent, according to the data.
Brewer said that the dominant markets like China, the U.S., France, and Germany will continue to see expanded e-commerce activity but that the pace of growth in those countries will level off due to the law of large numbers. E-commerce accounts for about 13 percent of U.S. retail sales, but when factoring out industries like gasoline where product is not ordered online, e-commerce's percentage is closer to 18 percent, Brewer said. In China, the latter figure is about 24 percent, he added.
Emerging markets offer huge potential, according to DHL. For example, in Indonesia, a nation of more than 276 million, e-commerce accounts for just 0.5 percent of retail sales. In Africa, that figure is about 1 percent, DHL estimates. Brewer reckons that there are only 10 to 12 shopping malls in all of Africa north of Johannesburg. This means millions of Africans will have little, if any, choice but to shop on line; as Internet connectivity improves and disposable income increases, they will, Brewer said.
Ironically, one country that DHL e-Commerce does not serve domestically is China, which is the king of intracountry e-commerce activity. Brewer said the company believes that it would take too much time and cost too much money to serve such a massive country, either through an acquisition or organic growth. DHL provides services supporting the international e-commerce market to and from China.
Brewer said his customers so far have been unperturbed by threats of a U.S-China trade war, which escalated today as each side implemented 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of the other's goods. The National Retail Federation (NRF) has warned that the latest round of tariffs would directly hit U.S. consumers because they would be aimed at everyday consumer goods rather than industrial products and technology, which has mostly been the case up to now. For example, a 25 percent tariff on Chinese furniture imports would cost Americans $4.6 billion more for furniture even if retailers switched their sourcing to other foreign countries, many of whom already charge more than their Chinese counterparts, NRF said.
For DHL, which along with many of its customers has withstood many geopolitical threats through the years, it is business as usual, according to Brewer. "Whatever is going on, most companies tend to find a way to do business," he said.
Overall disruptions to global supply chains in 2024 increased 38% from the previous year, thanks largely to the top five drivers of supply chain disruptions for the year: factory fires, labor disruption, business sale, leadership transition, and mergers & acquisitions, according to a study from Resilinc.
Factory fires maintained their position as the number one disruption for the sixth consecutive year, with 2,299 disruption alerts issued. Fortunately, this number is down 20% from the previous year and has declined 36% from the record high in 2022, according to California-based Resilinc, a provider of supply chain resiliency solutions.
Labor disruptions made it into the top five list for the second year in a row, jumping up to the second spot with a 47% year-over-year increase following a number of company and site-level strikes, national strikes, labor protests, and layoffs. From the ILA U.S. port strike, impacting over 47,000 workers, and the Canadian rail strike to major layoffs at tech giants Intel, Dell, and Amazon, labor disruptions continued its streak as a key risk area for 2024.
And financial risk areas, including business sales, leadership transitions, and mergers and acquisitions, rounded out the top five disruptions for 2024. While business sales climbed a steady 17% YoY, leadership transitions surged 95% last year. Several notable transitions included leadership changes at Boeing, Nestlé, Pfizer Limited, and Intel. While mergers and acquisitions saw a slight decline of 5%, they remained a top disruption for 2024.
Other noteworthy trends highlighted in the data include a 146% rise in labor violations such as forced labor, poor working conditions, and health and safety violations, among others. Geopolitical risk alerts climbed 123% after a brief dip in 2023, and protests/riots saw an astounding 285% YoY increase, marking the largest growth increase of all risk events tracked by Resilinc. Regulatory change alerts, which include tariffs, changes in laws, environmental regulations, and bans, continued their upward trend with a 128% YoY increase.
The five most disrupted industries included: life sciences, healthcare, general manufacturing, high tech, and automotive, marking the fourth year in a row that those particular industries have been the most impacted.
Resilinc gathers its data through its 24/7 global event monitoring Artificial Intelligence, EventWatch AI, which collects information and monitors news on 400 different types of disruptions across 104 million sources including traditional news sources, social media platforms, wire services, videos, and government reports. Annually, the AI contextualizes and analyzes nearly 5 billion data feeds across 100 languages in 200 countries.
Cargo theft activity across the United States and Canada reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with 3,625 reported incidents representing a stark 27% increase from 2023, according to an annual analysis from CargoNet.
The estimated average value per theft also rose, reaching $202,364, up from $187,895 in 2023. And the increase was persistent, as each quarter of 2024 surpassed previous records set in 2023.
According to Cargonet, the data suggests an evolving and increasingly sophisticated threat landscape in cargo theft, with criminal enterprises demonstrating tactical adaptability in both their methods and target selection.
For example, notable shifts occurred in targeted commodities during 2024. While 2023 saw frequent theft of engine oils, fluids, solar energy products, and energy drinks, 2024 marked a strategic pivot by criminal enterprises. New targets included raw and finished copper products, consumer electronics (particularly audio equipment and high-end servers), and cryptocurrency mining hardware. The analysis also revealed increased targeting of specific consumable goods, including produce like avocados and nuts, along with personal care products ranging from cosmetics to vitamins and supplements, especially protein powder.
Geographic trends show California and Texas experiencing the most significant increases in theft activity. California reported a 33% rise in incidents, while Texas saw an even more dramatic 39% surge. The five most impacted counties all reported substantial increases, led by Dallas County, Texas, with a 78% spike in reported incidents. Los Angeles County, California, traditionally a high-activity area, saw a 50% increase while neighboring San Bernardino County experienced a 47% rise.
Container traffic is finally back to typical levels at the port of Montreal, two months after dockworkers returned to work following a strike, port officials said Thursday.
Today that arbitration continues as the two sides work to forge a new contract. And port leaders with the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) are reminding workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that the CIRB decision “rules out any pressure tactics affecting operations until the next collective agreement expires.”
The Port of Montreal alone said it had to manage a backlog of about 13,350 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on the ground, as well as 28,000 feet of freight cars headed for export.
Port leaders this week said they had now completed that task. “Two months after operations fully resumed at the Port of Montreal, as directed by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the Montreal Port Authority (MPA) is pleased to announce that all port activities are now completely back to normal. Both the impact of the labour dispute and the subsequent resumption of activities required concerted efforts on the part of all port partners to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, even over the holiday season,” the port said in a release.
The “2024 Year in Review” report lists the various transportation delays, freight volume restrictions, and infrastructure repair costs of a long string of events. Those disruptions include labor strikes at Canadian ports and postal sites, the U.S. East and Gulf coast port strike; hurricanes Helene, Francine, and Milton; the Francis Scott key Bridge collapse in Baltimore Harbor; the CrowdStrike cyber attack; and Red Sea missile attacks on passing cargo ships.
“While 2024 was characterized by frequent and overlapping disruptions that exposed many supply chain vulnerabilities, it was also a year of resilience,” the Project44 report said. “From labor strikes and natural disasters to geopolitical tensions, each event served as a critical learning opportunity, underscoring the necessity for robust contingency planning, effective labor relations, and durable infrastructure. As supply chains continue to evolve, the lessons learned this past year highlight the increased importance of proactive measures and collaborative efforts. These strategies are essential to fostering stability and adaptability in a world where unpredictability is becoming the norm.”
In addition to tallying the supply chain impact of those events, the report also made four broad predictions for trends in 2025 that may affect logistics operations. In Project44’s analysis, they include:
More technology and automation will be introduced into supply chains, particularly ports. This will help make operations more efficient but also increase the risk of cybersecurity attacks and service interruptions due to glitches and bugs. This could also add tensions among the labor pool and unions, who do not want jobs to be replaced with automation.
The new administration in the United States introduces a lot of uncertainty, with talks of major tariffs for numerous countries as well as talks of US freight getting preferential treatment through the Panama Canal. If these things do come to fruition, expect to see shifts in global trade patterns and sourcing.
Natural disasters will continue to become more frequent and more severe, as exhibited by the wildfires in Los Angeles and the winter storms throughout the southern states in the U.S. As a result, expect companies to invest more heavily in sustainability to mitigate climate change.
The peace treaty announced on Wednesday between Isael and Hamas in the Middle East could support increased freight volumes returning to the Suez Canal as political crisis in the area are resolved.
The French transportation visibility provider Shippeo today said it has raised $30 million in financial backing, saying the money will support its accelerated expansion across North America and APAC, while driving enhancements to its “Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platform” product.
The funding round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, with participation from existing investors: Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good and Yamaha Motor Ventures. With this round, Shippeo’s total funding exceeds $140 million.
Shippeo says it offers real-time shipment tracking across all transport modes, helping companies create sustainable, resilient supply chains. Its platform enables users to reduce logistics-related carbon emissions by making informed trade-offs between modes and carriers based on carbon footprint data.
"Global supply chains are facing unprecedented complexity, and real-time transport visibility is essential for building resilience” Prashant Bothra, Principal at Woven Capital, who is joining the Shippeo board, said in a release. “Shippeo’s platform empowers businesses to proactively address disruptions by transforming fragmented operations into streamlined, data-driven processes across all transport modes, offering precise tracking and predictive ETAs at scale—capabilities that would be resource-intensive to develop in-house. We are excited to support Shippeo’s journey to accelerate digitization while enhancing cost efficiency, planning accuracy, and customer experience across the supply chain.”