Rick Blasgen

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' (CSCMP) latest Annual State of Logistics Report estimates that the sector constitutes 7.7% of Nominal GDP in the United States.

The costs of shipping goods and services are rising, as seen by increased capacity rates, which is leading to higher supply chain costs for corporations, and the consolidation of smaller trucking and logistics companies that cannot keep pace. Challenges in this space have resulted in high-level technological innovations that have shaken the industry out of outdated stereotypes. Rising fuel costs also factor into the equation.

The continued growth of e-commerce pushed parcel shipment volume up by 7% in 2017, to nearly USD100 billion, and forecasts expect that to rise at similar levels for the next few years. This has a strong effect on the supply chain in the areas of more visibility for both the corporation and the customer, the need for more warehousing, which in many cases will be smaller and closer to large population centres, and designing more responsive and flexible logistics networks.

The report also highlights a number of technological advances reshaping the industry including 'uberisation' of freight, blockchain, fully autonomous trucks, artificial intelligence applications, truck platooning, electric vehicle fleets, autonomous mobile robots, and drone and unmanned aerial vehicle delivery systems.

"Logistics is a critical part of any supply chain," says Rick Blasgen, president and chief executive officer of CSCMP. "This highly anticipated report contains the statistics and industry insights that will not only help our members do their jobs better, but also better prepare them for the business demands ahead, in a very dynamic marketplace."

CSCMP is a leading worldwide professional association dedicated to education, research and the advancement of the supply chain management profession. It boasts more than 8,500 members in 65 countries.