As a society, we devour biographies because we love to draw parallels between people we admire and our own lives. We’re curious to know what they achieved by a certain age, what influenced them, who they admired and mirrored, and ultimately, what they accomplished in their lifelong body of work.

With that in mind, it’s not surprising that so many shippers gravitate to LM’s Masters of Logistics, our annual study that identifies emerging trends in logistics management and helps us to define the transportation and distribution networking habits of some the world’s savviest shippers. For the past 16 years it’s been second only to our salary survey in readership scores, and with the launch of our Master’s webcast last year, it’s become the single most anticipated web event we produce.

Why? Because shippers love to draw parallels between their operations and the operations of the company’s they’ve grown to admire; or as we call them, the Masters of Logistics—those companies with annual revenues greater than $3 billion. Once again, Mary Holcomb, associate professor at the University of Tennessee, and Karl Manrodt, associate professor at Georgia Southern University, drove this project with the support and insight of Peter Moore and his team at Capgemini Consulting.

This year, not only did Mary and Karl put all the data into context, but they also wrote our Masters feature that begins on page 24—and their findings are sure to open the eyes of any shipper who has yet to fundamentally change tactics over the past three years.

When LM started this study back in 1996 the goal was to find out how the habits of big shippers differed from their smaller counterparts. According to the research team, “During the first few years, the differences between the two groups were noticeable, but tended to fade after 1997.” Technology and the adoption of best practices had leveled the playing field.

But 9/11 blindsided us; transportation’s “perfect storm” hit with a vengeance; globalization escalated; and logistics management was no longer a profession for the faint of heart. According to our 2007 findings, that gap between the large and small shipper that the team saw emerge just a few years ago “is quickly becoming a deep chasm.”

To feed our insatiable need to draw parallels, I asked the team to rattle off a list of key common qualities defining the savviest Masters (page 26). What types of activities do they control inside their companies? How integrated is their supply chain into overall business processes? What technology do they use? How are they handling transportation and distribution management? What are they spending?

This new granular examination of how our Masters operate, in tandem with our overall findings, will certainly push shippers to take a long look in the mirror to see where their operations stand.

The question remains: How willing are you to change?

Comments? E-mail me at michael.levans@reedbusiness.com