Results of an exclusive survey of Logistics Management readers confirm that changes in security regulations are pushing transportation prices higher. Just over 82 percent of the 260 respondents said they believed rates are rising in response to security demands.

Nearly three-quarters of the respondents said that carriers and government officials in certain parts of the country are more sensitive to security concerns than others. Survey takers often cited Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as being the most security-conscious.

Only about one-third of the respondents reported that security issues have affected the scheduling of their deliveries. However, 35 percent said that deliveries have taken longer due to newly heightened levels of national security, and another 29 percent said that they are receiving more late deliveries due to security practices.

Accordingly, 84 percent of respondents said they are now allowing more time for deliveries; 28 percent are stocking up on more buffer inventories; and 27 percent said they have joined the C-TPAT program, a government initiative to work with industry to tighten security measures. (See table.)

Survey respondents also noted that transportation prices are continuing to head upwards. Some 77 percent of those surveyed said that logistics and transportation prices were higher in the fourth quarter of 2004 than they were for the same period in 2003.

The survey was co-sponsored by DHL. For the full report, go to www.logisticsmgmt.com/dhl.