摘要: |
WHEN LOOKING AT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ECONOMY, specifically with a freight transportation and logistics focus, it seems as if there may be cause for optimism- as well as concern. For one thing, while it remains at a high level, inflation is heading down, which is good news. For the month of November, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the annual inflation rate headed down for the fifth straight month, coming in at 7.1%, lower than October's 7.7%. While that's still much higher than preferred, it does represent its lowest level going back to Decem- ber 2021-and it also beat an earlier estimate of 7.3%. So, while this tally is not necessarily cause for a major celebration, it does deserve to be acknowledged because of all of the attention inflation has received for some time. Take the results of a 2022 LM reader survey for example. In short, the survey, based on feedback from a little more than 100 freight transportation, supply chain, and logistics stakeholders, reinforced how inflation has continued to affect things from both an opera tional and business perspective. As for how, or in which ways, some of the key themes focused on things like capacity constraints across multiple modes; rate and price increases; rising fuel prices; supply chain unreliability; surcharge and accessorial increases; raw material price increases; delayed orders and longer lead times; and a shipping container imbalance, among others. |