Economy

Did the fear of product shortages contribute to the rapid price increases?

Ways in which industry stakeholders have adjusted to a post-pandemic market, coupled with how they are moving forward, were front and center in a Logistics Management reader survey of 156 freight transportation, logistics, and supply chain stakeholders.

The Services PMI, at 53.4 (a reading of 50 or higher signals growth), was up 2.9% in January, growing, at a faster rate, for the 13th consecutive month. This marks growth in 43 of the last 44 months, with December 2022 being the one month with a decline over that period. ISM added that the overall economy, like the January Services PMI, saw growth, at a faster rate, for the 13th consecutive month as well.

When posed the question of if there is really strong product consumption, coupled with consumers spending, why is that not being felt in the freight market, Prather explained that based on looking at data going back multiple decades, at time, freight transportation and the general economy get disconnected from one another.

It is fair to say that the topic of inventory management has always had a permanent seat at the table, so to speak, when it comes to mapping out logistics and supply chain planning and operations processes. That theme became especially heightened, as we all well know, during the height of the pandemic nearly four years ago.

The current economic climate has some similarities to the post-Cold War 1990s, and that means a boom could be on the horizon.

Economic downturns are a testing ground for innovation, and history proves that disruptive technology thrives in the face of adversity.

Inventory and freight capacity is available, and consumer spending continues to remain resilient.

There are a whole host of mixed economic messages, signals, and indicators, perhaps more so now than at any other time, especially over the past five years or so.

Many businesses expect operational expenses to continue rising amid a muddy economic future.

November services economy activity remained in growth mode, according to the new edition of the ISM Report on Business, which was issued Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

In this podcast, Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviews Matt Muenster, Chief Economist for Green Bay, Wisc.-based Breakthrough, an innovator in transportation management, dedicated to creating transparent and fair strategies for the world’s leading shippers.

In this podcast, Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman interviews Matt Muenster, Chief Economist for Green Bay, Wisc.-based Breakthrough, an innovator in transportation management, dedicated to creating transparent and fair strategies for the world’s leading shippers.

While news of the shuttering of Seattle-based digital freight network Convoy reverberated throughout industry circles last week, it raised the question of if there is another shoe to drop, in the form of another well-capitalized player, or players, potentially exit the industry, too.

The story of the economy since the onset of the pandemic has been the resilience of consumers and how consumption has powered the economy. That was the word from Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation (NRF) on a media conference call hosted by the Port of Los Angeles this week.