Like you, I've been to management seminars that stress the importance of grasping the "big picture" if you are to have any chance at all of being successful. As a wise logistics manager recently told me, "To know what you should be concentrating on today, you must know what's coming down the pike tomorrow."

To help you see that big picture—and get a glimpse of what's coming down the pike—this month Logistics Management offers its analysis of the 15th Annual State of Logistics Report. This invaluable coverage will help you gain a "global" view of the current logistics marketplace and will set the stage for informed logistics planning over the course of 2005 and beyond.

Beginning on page 28, Executive Editor James Cooke has keenly summarized this year's report, authored by Rosalyn Wilson, who took the helm after the report's founder, Robert V. Delaney, passed away earlier this year.

Delaney began the report to quantify the efficiencies achieved following transportation deregulation by calculating the economic value of logistics activities. The State of Logistics Report adds inventory-carrying costs, transportation costs, and administration costs together to calculate total expenditures on logistics for the year.

In 2003, total logistics spending rang up at $936 billion, or 8.5 percent of the $11 trillion U.S. economy. That's an increase of $26 billion over 2002—a jump that's primarily due to higher trucking costs, which represent 50 percent of total logistics expenses.

Even though total spending increased, 2003 marks the third consecutive year that logistics spending as a percentage of GDP has dropped. As Cooke explains, low interest rates that have kept carrying costs low have much to do with that decline.

This economic overview is followed by staff reports on the key issues driving changes in each transportation mode. In these reports we'll tell you why those changes are happening.

We'll also tell you what lies ahead. Our reports make it clear that economic conditions are going to force U.S. shippers to maintain a global perspective and prepare for more capacity pressures. The World Trade Organization expects that the annual growth rate for global trade will soon swell to 7.5 percent. When teamed with the rebounding U.S. economy, that undoubtedly will further reduce already tight capacity.

Geographic shifts in manufacturing have painted a new landscape, stretching supply chains to the breaking point and forcing shippers to rethink their transportation strategies and inventory levels. Never has the "big picture" had more of an effect on your planning, so make sure you have a clear view.