CSCMP State of Logistics Report: Logistics Industry Still Navigating Through the Fog

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) has released its 36th annual State of Logistics (SoL) report. This influential report indicates that businesses continue to navigate through a fog of supply chain and economic uncertainty.

“What is true today may not be true tomorrow in this rapidly changing landscape,” the report created annually for CSCMP by global consulting firm Kearney and presented by Penske Logistics, concludes. Yet it offers the industry a close-up of the American economy through the lens of the logistics sector. The report was released Tuesday in New York City.

The report hardly suggests the worst is over. Ongoing fragile business optimism driven by fluctuating demand, emerging technological disruptions and a renewed need for resilience and agility, continues to make day-to-day decision-making difficult if not impossible for even the best logistician.

Notable trends and statistics from the SoL report are:

• U.S. business logistics costs are $2.6 trillion. That amounts to 8.7% of the national GDP. The previous year, the numbers were $2.3 trillion and 8.7%, respectively;

  
  

• The logistics industry in 2024 saw a return to pre-pandemic patterns in some areas. But it was also marked by flat business volumes, excess truck capacity and rising operational costs;

  
  

• E-commerce continues to move along at a brisk pace. Global online retail sales neared $6.3 trillion. That resulted in more efficient last-mile delivery, increasingly agile warehousing and a stronger demand for air freight;

• Geopolitical tensions, combined with proposed and enacted tariffs, and ever-changing trade regulations around the world, have combined to increase transit times, capacity constraints, rate volatility in ocean freight (leading to longer home package delivery times and delays). In turn, that led to a greater reliance from third-party logistics (3PL) providers to deliver end-to-end support;

• Mexico overtook China as the United States’ largest trading partner in 2024. Transactions between the U.S. and Mexico topped at a record $840 billion, a 6% year-over-year improvement; and

• Technology investment continues to be an essential component of the modern supply chain. Data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), as well as robotics and automation are among the headliners supply chain leaders are working on

“Today’s logistics leaders are operating in a world of rapid shifts and persistent uncertainty—a true fog of global commerce,” - Mark Baxa, CSCMP president and CEO

The latest State of Logistics report helps supply chain professionals cut through that fog with insight, data and direction. It highlights not only the challenges of disrupted trade flows, evolving customer expectations and constrained capacity, as well as the resilience and innovation reshaping the logistics landscape.

“At CSCMP, we’re proud to provide this essential industry benchmark, empowering leaders to navigate complexity and chart a confident course forward,” Baxa added.

Korhan Acar, Kearney partner and lead author for the SoL report said as the fog thickens, the logistics industry must move beyond short-term fixes and fundamentally rethink resilience—not as a luxury, but as a strategic imperative embedded in networks, technology and decision-making.

“In a world defined by disruption, resilience is what ensures continuity, enabling agility and long-term durability,” Acar said. And as AI and automation drive down the cost of building resilient supply chains, the greater risk now lies in standing still.”

Andy Moses, senior vice president of solutions and sales strategy for Penske Logistics, remarked: “There is a great deal of quality content in this year’s State of Logistics Report. Each day, we are helping our customers find resiliency in their supply chains, as we leverage best-in-class technology and amass capacity on a flexible basis as needed.”

Source: Logistics Management