{"id":13502,"date":"2021-10-28T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T08:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ptvgroup.com\/?p=13502"},"modified":"2022-05-04T10:43:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T08:43:48","slug":"top-5-challenges-in-transportation-and-logistics-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ptvlogistics.com\/en\/transport-logistics\/top-5-challenges-in-transportation-and-logistics-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Challenges in Transportation and Logistics in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Supply chain resilience is more critical than ever. With the subsequent changes in technology and consumer expectations, issues like cutting transportation costs, the rise in fuel, and driver shortages during a world-wide pandemic have certainly catapulted us into a new era of logistics complexity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What risks are important to consider for logistics and transportation?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The pandemic has shaped a new future for logistics and has certainly forced many businesses to cut transportation costs. In doing so, businesses have had to either depend on fewer carriers or ask for reduced rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But this was not really a viable solution: Merging shipments negatively impact a business due to poor customer satisfaction ratings, because deliveries might be late or never even show up.<\/span><\/p>\n

To give a concrete example, when customers order from same-day delivery services through Amazon Delivery, it increases the pressure for all businesses to do the same (which might not be realistic). This again comes at the cost of customer satisfaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the first wave of Covid-19, implementing a contingency plan and learning from past mistakes is imperative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acknowledging the past and understanding the risks are key starting points to paving a way forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the new challenges faced, it\u2019s important to use them as a learning point, so we can remain adaptable and create agile logistics systems moving forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s dive deep into the top 5 challenges in transportation and logistics, as well as our suggestions on how to make improvements going forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Key challenges in transportation and logistics<\/span><\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13517″ img_size=”500×500″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]To overcome today’s logistics challenges, the primary focus for the industry as a collective, should be working towards ensuring more sustainable transportation is utilized, higher customer satisfaction, and nourishing the economy<\/span><\/p>\n

#1 The Difficulty to Cut Transport Costs<\/span><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not going to sugar coat it: Shipping and transportation are by far the most expensive cost in logistics. Businesses in the United States alone spent over <\/span>$1.45 trillion on transportation in 2018<\/span><\/a>. Because it\u2019s the largest overhead for most businesses (even remote ones), it seems this issue isn\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the bright side, we can start to chip away at this by <\/span>optimizing shipping routes through data analysis<\/span><\/a>. By easily <\/span>coordinating incoming orders, meeting dock times, and predicting traffic <\/span><\/a>conditions it is possible to cut costs – and not to mention that the brands logistics companies work with will have happy customers. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

#2 Rising Fuel Prices & Impact on the Economy<\/span><\/h3>\n

When the <\/span>price of fuel increases, the overall mood of consumers decreases<\/span><\/a>, flight prices skyrocket, and of course, it dramatically impacts the logistics industry (we know those freight fuel tanks aren’t cheap!) Because of this, serious delays among the supply chain are inevitable as decisions on which trucks to fill need to be made. Indeed, there\u2019s no doubt that this leads to a drastic impact of rising fuel cost for logistics.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it might seem like the logistics industry is facing an uphill battle, technology again is here to help us. By consolidating shipments and using data to make <\/span>informed decisions about route optimization<\/span><\/a>, it\u2019s possible to stretch a logistics budget a whole lot further. Remember; when you reduce the mileage you ultimately decrease fuel consumption. And that\u2019s even a win for the environment, too!<\/span><\/p>\n

#3 Driver Shortages Related to the Pandemic<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 2018<\/span><\/a>, there was a shortage of 50,000 drivers due to a flourishing US economy, long hours required by drivers, and extensive time away from home. This shortage has had a domino effect: When the economy is growing, there\u2019s no way to get all the goods where they need to be, so the cost of the products increase, which then gives the opposite effect of a booming economy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Think about it like this\u2026 when the hose in your backyard gets a kink in it, the water that\u2019s flowing halts and can\u2019t fully move through the nozzle. The people who orchestrate our complex logistics systems are the puzzle piece that holds the economy together – they allow the water to break free and flow to its destination. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Fast forward our history lesson to today and we\u2019ve seen that we\u2019re facing an even bigger problem: There’s more than a 300,000 driver shortage due to Brexit and the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is caused by elements like the following:<\/span><\/p>\n