7.03.2015


Growth in US demand is not being matched by growth in supply capacity.  In some regions just maintaining current capacity is a challenge.

A persistent shortage of truck drivers has suppressed supply capacity since at least 2012.  The national deficit is now estimated at between 35,000 and 40,000 drivers.  This is expected to worsen as a generational shift accelerates.

There are plenty of other challenges according to a new study by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Boston Consulting Group:

Today, the problems are systemic and structural. Increasingly, leaders must make uncomfortable trade-offs: pay more to fulfill service level expectations or seek cost efficiencies, often at the expense of speed and reliability. Transportation costs are eroding supply chain cost savings. Since the last BCG/GMA study in 2012, freight costs have risen by as much as 14 percent, reversing the effects of all supply chain cost-saving efforts... Aging infrastructure and its corollary, growing congestion, are also to blame. America’s deteriorating roads, bridges, and railways receive C or D ratings from the American Society of Engineers. And according to the ASE, roughly half (or less) of what is needed to fix roads and bridges is spent each year, indicating little chance of improvement.

This is despite the decline in fuel costs.  Nearly three-quarters of supply chain operators expect persistent increases in transportation-related costs (above).

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