Time for a deep breath: Take the Quiz

By Michael A. Levans -- Logistics Management, 12/1/2005

We know how busy you've been in 2005—searching for capacity, staying on top of expanding import operations, improving supply chain security, and of course, justifying spikes in your freight budget to your CFO. Well, I have news for you: It's not going to get any easier in 2006.

I say that because our cover story for January, the 2006 Logistics Outlook, just landed on my desk. As usual, it's packed with charts, graphs, and forecasts from some of the top transportation, logistics, and economics minds in the business. While I don't want to give away the key findings of our best-read feature of the year, I will say…you should take a breather now, while you can.

I have a suggestion: Put 30 minutes aside—maybe just before this year's office party—and take the second annual Logistics Management Quiz on Page 10. The quiz comprises 25 questions pulled from our January 2005 through November 2005 issues. Completing the quiz will help you better understand not just how those issues and events altered the transportation and logistics markets this year, but also how they will impact your business in 2006. In short, consider the completion of the quiz as a way to construct your own personal Year-in-Review—and you can do it at your own pace.

If you plan to take part, I strongly suggest you conduct your research at www.logisticsmgmt.com using the "Search" box at the top, right-hand corner of our home page. Next, answer the questions online by going to www.logisticsmgmt.com/quiz, filling out the answer sheet, and clicking "Submit." Get your staff involved, create teams, have a little fun with it.

Now, here's the best part: If you score 100 percent, you'll be entered in a drawing to win an Apple iPod nano. The reigning Quiz Champion is Daniel Weiss, senior logistics manager for Gap Inc. Daniel told us last year that it took him just 20 minutes to complete the quiz and that he rattled the answers off the top of his head. This year we made the questions a little tougher, so we'll see if Daniel has what it takes to repeat his victory. Good luck, and remember to breathe!

A couple of notes heading into 2006: I would like to welcome our new Senior Editor, Jeff Berman, to the LM editorial team. Jeff brings to LM solid daily news experience and an excellent track record of putting industry news into perspective for readers in niche markets. Jeff will be running our news department, so you'll be seeing his byline in print and online—and, I'm sure, hearing his voice on the other end of the line.

Also, beginning in January, we'll run our new Web-exclusive Table of Contents (TOC) opposite our print TOC. This new feature will guide readers to some of the online-only departments we'll be launching in the first quarter of 2005, including "Logistics and the Law," an update on the latest legal and regulatory issues, and "Way to the Top," a department geared toward helping shippers develop their careers.

Michael A. Levans, Chief Editor