LM Viewpoints: Emerging stronger, smarter, faster

I’ve always been a fan of the “theme” issues of LM, where, over the course of a single month, we focus the majority of our editorial on a particular element that enables the industry to thrive—like technology or trucking.

While there’s no designated theme in October, one can’t help but notice that our feature stories this month highlight the ongoing ripple effect of the pandemic and how the challenges that unfolded in its wake still persist at every link in the supply chain.

However, as our writers report this month, there is light at the end of this tunnel. As long as logistics management professionals continue to stay flexible and innovative they’ll realize that there are new carrier relationships to build and integrate, new services to put to work, and new technology available to help shrug off the yoke of manual processes.

And, in the end, all of our operations—shippers, carriers, third-party providers—are going to emerge stronger, smarter, faster and more efficient than ever.

Group news editor Jeff Berman has collected four of the nation’s leading analysts for his 11th Annual Rail/Intermodal Roundtable, one of the most comprehensive and in-depth examinations available of the current state of freight movement over the nation’s rail system. And while volumes have ticked up during the past few months, he reports that nothing has snapped back to “normal” just yet.

“We need to keep in mind that, while annual volumes are up, they’re benchmarked against an incredibly uncertain and volatile period from a year ago,” says Berman. “What’s more, service levels for both modes are being affected by heavy congestion as well as the equipment- and capacity-related challenges that are prevalent across all modes.”

However, as this year’s panel is quick to point out, these persistent challenges continue to push the railroads in the direction of more technology to help build flexibility into a mode that has historically struggled with resilience.

“All of our panelists this year suggest that technology and automation are essential to the evolution of rail freight,” says Berman. “They explain how the ongoing development of precision railroading and autonomous railroading are leading to a new strategy consisting of short, fast e-commerce trains running alongside manifest trains. And as this evolves, it could open up new options for shippers.”

And while the ripples of the pandemic are ushering in new thinking on the rails, they’ve sent a supercharge through the evolving third-party logistics (3PL) sector.

Contributing editor Karen Thuermer shares an update on how the e-commerce boom has pushed 3PLs toward more evolved fulfillment services to get shippers closer to their customers through more speed, flexibility, choice, cost and overall customer satisfaction.

“The e-commerce fulfillment market for 3PLs has been pushed forward as much as five years,” says Thuermer. “Automation is driving many of the changes in distribution and e-commerce fulfillment today, and not only can automation supplement labor, it can be scalable and expand market opportunities for both shippers and 3PLs around the globe. If you think e-commerce fulfillment services greatly improved in scope and sophistication over the last decade—you haven’t seen anything yet.”