LOGISTICS SITES OPTIMIZE SUPPLY CHAIN SPEED
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ECOMMERCE FULFILLMENT TIPS PLUS
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BITE SIZED SUPPLY CHAIN/LOGISTICS INFORMATION Info SNACKS
$100 is about what a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 is expected to cost in 2026. Grocery prices are running 2.7% higher than last year, taking the average per-person cost from $5.52 to somewhere in the range of $8 to $10. Sides are driving much of the increase, with bread and pie ingredients up 7%, produce up 5.1%, and beverages up 4.1%. –Bureau of Labor Statistics American Farm Bureau Federation
ON THE ROCKS
He Built This City Queens-born truck driver Joe Macken spent 21 years building a scale model of New York City from hand-carved balsa wood. The finished model is 50 by 27 feet and contains nearly 800,000 individual structures, including both the Twin Towers and One World Trade Center. The model is now on display at the Museum of the City of New York.
A long-running Scotch whisky boom has left Scotland’s distilleries with a serious oversupply issue as demand drops. Alcohol consumption has fallen across the affluent markets that drive most sales, and tariffs pushed U.S. exports down 15% last year. Dozens of Scotland’s 156 active distilleries are now rumored to be for sale.
Fool’s Gold Two trailers bearing Nvidia and PlusAI logos were recently stolen from a Fremont, California warehouse. The thieves likely assumed the branding signaled valuable AI hardware inside. Instead, each trailer held about 20,000 pounds of sand, which PlusAI uses to simulate real freight loads during autonomous truck testing. Police recovered both trailers, sand intact, about half a mile away.
PRICE CHECK
GOING WITH THE FLOW The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has achieved a new sustainability milestone. Over the past three years, barges carrying construction materials for JFK Airport’s $19 billion redevelopment have eliminated 7.5 million miles of road travel in surrounding Queens neighborhoods. The barge system has replaced 250,000 truck trips, with each barge carrying the equivalent of 200 truckloads. The on-site facility also includes a concrete plant and crushing operation to recycle debris on location.
Target cut prices on nearly 2,000 home and apparel items ahead of peak season, building on more than 10,000 reductions over the past year. Clothing and footwear are now priced 20% below last year, and bedding is down 15% on average. The reductions keep products moving despite the rising economic pressures impacting shoppers. Target raised its annual forecast in August.
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 1
CONTENTS OCTOBER 2026 | VOL. 46 | NO.10
FEATURES
30 CHARTING THE COURSE: HOW TO NAVIGATE MARITIME SHIPPING Between shifting trade policies, geopolitical hot spots, port congestion, and rising regulations, ocean shipping is anything but smooth sailing. By leveraging carrier alliances and technology innovations, shippers can stay on course.
CONTENT PARTNERS REPORT 36 STAND-OUT SITES: BUILD FOR SPEED The most logistics-friendly locations build the infrastructure to handle complex projects and cultivate a favorable economic environment, enabling supply chain speed to follow.
2 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
1
48
INSIGHT 4 CHECKING IN Growing pains 6 GOOD QUESTION What oft-used selling point has become meaningless? What’s a better term? 8 10 TIPS Fulfillment that works 26 RESILIENCE How to simplify to achieve resilience 27 VISIBILITY Supply chains go dark at the dock door 28 RETAIL RETHINK Avoiding the seasonal overstock trap
INFO 46 CALENDAR 47 RESOURCE CENTER
GOOD QUESTION What oft-used selling point has become meaningless? What’s a better term? 6
INFOCUS 1 INFO SNACKS 12 NOTED 14 TAKEAWAYS 44 IN BRIEF 48 LAST MILE
CONTENT PARTNERS
18 The Rising Cost of Fuel: Why Intermodal Transportation Just Makes “Cents” Offered by Hub Group 20 How to Build a Safety- Driven Culture Offered by NFI 22 Don’t Live and Die on One Load Board Offered by 123Loadboard
INPRACTICE 10 SUPPLY CHAIN P.O.V.
COACH AND CHEERLEADER: VAN VOSSEN TACKLES SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMATION Transformation is the constant work of building something better than what came before. Steve Van Vossen focuses on ensuring Lindsay Corporation’s operating model matches the complexity and reach of the business.
24 Why Carrier Costing Is Becoming Core Logistics
Infrastructure Offered by SMC 3
Inbound Logistics (ISSN 0888-8493, USPS 703990) is mailed monthly to approximately 60,000 business professionals who buy, specify, or recommend logistics technology, transportation, and related services, by Thomas, a Xometry company, 6116 Executive Blvd, Suite 800, North Bethesda, MD 20852. Periodicals postage paid at North Bethesda, MD, and additional mailing offices. All rights reserved. The publisher accepts no responsibility for the validity of claims of any products or services described. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic means, or stored in any information retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Postmaster send address changes to: Inbound Logistics, P.O. Box 1167, Lowell, MA 01853-9900
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 3
CHECKINGIN
Vol. 46, No. 10
October 2026
THE MAGAZINE FOR DEMAND-DRIVEN ENTERPRISES www.inboundlogistics.com
Growing Pains
STAFF
PUBLISHER Keith G. Biondo
I t’s good news, bad news time. The good news is that purchasing managers see economic growth for the foreseeable future, according to the Institute of Supply Management, which surveys purchasing managers monthly. These Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys produce a key economic indicator that measures the health of both the manufacturing and service sectors. The latest PMI index shows economic growth across the board—5% projected GDP growth. Except for the post-pandemic surge, that hasn’t happened since 2014. The Manufacturing PMI jumped to 57 (up from a high of 53.9 in August 2026), and the Services Sector PMI reached 58.7 (up from another high of 56.5 in August), showing robust consumer and corporate spending. An Index reading above 50 indicates economic expansion ahead, while those below 50 indicate economic contraction. In the face of that welcome news, some will want to focus on the bad, such as high fuel prices. By comparison, under the two previous administrations (308 days Obama, 83 days Biden, 24 days Trump) $100+ a barrel crude was a continuing business (and consumer) impediment created by U.S. energy policy or lack thereof. The current energy challenge is not enough to produce what the wonks call “negative growth” in consumer spend and manufacturing growth, according to the PMI Index. What gives? Could other government initiatives offset the temporary energy challenge? When you consider the level of investment in manufacturing and the about-face in anti-energy policy, it appears so. But there must be more bad news, right? I have some: • Supplier delivery delays reached their highest levels, finds the purchasing managers report. Some cite operating capacity bottlenecks as they struggle to keep up with a surge in orders and existing plant capacity limits. • Labor availability and LTL and TL tone. • Price increases. As operating capacity tightens and fuel costs rise, carriers and 3PLs gain pricing power, reversing previous downward freight rate trends. • Five-year business growth highs will stress spot market truckload rates, intermodal capacity, and warehousing fulfillment centers entering Q4. • Don’t forget about the availability of qualified drivers. Logistics and supply chain managers are working those problems by re-examining network optimization, load consolidation, and route efficiency. Using AI overlays for real-time inventory visibility and dynamic lead-time monitoring, shippers marshal the ability to offset the longest supplier delays in more than four years. Fine tuning your inbound logistics practices will go a long way to help you turn good economic news into even better news for you.
publisher@inboundlogistics.com
EDITOR Felecia J. Stratton
editor@inboundlogistics.com
SENIOR EDITOR Katrina C. Arabe
karabe@inboundlogistics.com
DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC CONTENT
Amy Roach amy.roach@thomasnet.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ashley Prince
ashley.prince@thomasnet.com
Keith Biondo, Publisher
June Allan Corrigan Tom Gresham Karen M. Kroll Rich Osborne Gary Wollenhaupt
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jeof Vita
jvita@inboundlogistics.com
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DIGITAL DESIGN MANAGER PUBLICATION MANAGER
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Inbound Logistics supports sustainable best practices. Our mission is rooted in helping companies match demand to supply, eliminating waste from the supply chain. This magazine is printed on paper sourced from fast growth renewable timber.
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4 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
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GOODQUESTION Readers Weigh In
What Oft-Used Selling Point Has Become Meaningless? What’s a Better Term?
“AUTONOMOUS” is almost meaningless. A robot that can travel from point A to point B does not necessarily improve operations. A better term is “orchestrated automation,” meaning robots, people, and systems are continuously coordinated to improve the workflow. –Cody Upp Chief Commercial Officer, Vecna Robotics “DO MORE WITH LESS” has become shorthand for asking people to absorb more pressure. A better term is “remove friction from work.” –Robert O’Dwyer Senior Industry Principal, UKG “PLUG AND PLAY.” No technology is frictionless in a live operation. A better term is “deployment-ready,” supported by specifics: required infrastructure, integration work, training, time to value, and how performance will be measured after launch. –Joe Mirabile Vice President of Operations, Gather AI “WE HAVE EXPERIENCE.” Experience should show up as verifiable actions: spotting packing that will not fit a container, checking package counts and dimensions, deciding whether late cargo should wait or split, and defining unloading before delivery. A better claim is: “We show what we checked, changed, and recorded—and what remains outside our scope.” –Ethan Chen
Time to Peel Off The AI Label?
AI has become a catchall phrase that often means everything and nothing at the same time. Rather than searching for a better term, companies should focus on explaining the problem being solved, the outcome being achieved, and the value being delivered. They need to move beyond buzzwords and articulate what differentiates their approach in the marketplace. Simply saying “AI” doesn’t cut it anymore. –Caroline Price Account Executive, Arketi Group Technology should not be judged by whether AI is involved, but by whether it improves productivity, service levels, quality, or cost performance. So a better term would be “performance-enabling technology.” –Andreas Podwojewski Managing Director, North America & Brazil, Arvato
accountability”—one party owning execution from order through delivery. This is a more precise way to convey fewer handoffs, clearer responsibility, and a true logistics partner. –Zack Houghton Director and Lead, Transportation & Logistics, Alexander Group “END-TO-END VISIBILITY” has always been an interesting phrase. No shipper wants partial visibility. What shippers need is order-impact awareness: the ability to sense and respond based on real business impact. Visibility alone, even “end- to-end,” isn’t enough. Understanding what a shipment delay means to an open order, and acting to preserve the business, gives visibility its real value. Doug DeLuca Product Marketing Manager, SAP Business Network
“End-to-End” Endlessly
“END-TO-END VISIBILITY” has sat on every transportation pitch for a decade and now means little. A map pin isn’t visibility when an excavator sits waiting on a second-state oversize permit, or an escort no-shows. Shippers need status updates they can act on: permit issued, escort confirmed, hours left, and a revised window. Call it “exception-ready status.”
–Benjamin C. Hall CEO, Logi Transports LLC
“END-TO-END SOLUTIONS.” The phrase rarely defines a distinct operating model. What customers actually value is called “single-point
Founder and Building Materials and Furniture Logistics Lead, Buildcargo Logistics
6 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
GOODQUESTION
“Digital transformation” THIS OFTEN IMPLIES A NEW TECHNOLOGY is being implemented. I’d rather talk about operational transformation: Start with a goal around the business problem, process, and outcomes, then use tech to enable that goal. –Steve Shebuski Vice President, Pre-Sales Solutions, MCA Connect IT DOESN’T MEAN MUCH now that most businesses have transitioned to a digital-first business model. A better approach is to focus on how your service improves the digital experience. For example: a unified, real-time TMS platform that connects digital work ecosystems. –Mike Trudeau EVP Business Development, Montway Auto Transport “Supply Chain Resilience” IT HAS BECOME A MARKETING LABEL for everything from technology to operating models. Perhaps “robustness” better captures what supply chains need—the strategic depth to withstand shocks. –Joe Adamski Managing Director, ProcureAbility
“Future-Proof” Doesn’t Hold Up “Future-proof” is an empty promise. There’s no guarantee that solutions, such as warehouse automation, will remain immune
to change. A better term is “future-readiness.” This requires partners who evolve the solution with you: modernize your tech stack and equipment to grow and adapt as your business changes, instead of declaring the project future-proof at go-live. –Garrett Freeman Sales Director, Swisslog No technology can truly predict what’s ahead. A better term is “adaptable.” Business conditions, operational challenges, and customer needs will always evolve. What matters is how quickly organizations can adjust their systems to change, maximize workforce productivity, leverage automation, and continue exceeding customer expectations. –Steve Pullo EVP Professional Services, Made4net
statement of autonomy: Does a human approve every action or does it run unsupervised? And who is accountable? –Vlad Kadurin Chief Product and Operations Officer, Ship.Cars EVERYONE SLAPS IT ON A PRESS RELEASE whether there’s a real model behind it or not. Better phrasing would be “AI outcomes.” Show me the positive outcome to which an AI model or agent contributed, the data it used, and who’s responsible if it goes wrong.
“Real-time Visibility”
EVERY VENDOR CLAIMS IT. Most deliver a dashboard showing you what already happened. The better term is “operational awareness”: knowing not just what the data says, but what it means and what to do next. Visibility without action is just a prettier spreadsheet. –Michelle Jones Director Solutions Consulting, Logistics Reply DATA IS CALLED REAL TIME even when carrier APIs, scans, and telematics update on different schedules. I’d call it “action-window visibility”: Does the information arrive early and reliably enough for an operator to change the outcome before the window to act closes? –Syed Faisal Logistics Tech Lead, TechnBrains “AI-Powered” THIS COVERS EVERYTHING from autocomplete to software
I WOULD RATHER SEE companies define supply chain resilience with specific metrics:
–Scott Frederick CMO & LTL Carrier Relations, Logistics Plus, Inc.
“dual-sourced for our top 20 SKUs,” “45 days of safety stock on critical components,” or “alternate routing through three independent ports.” –Paul Brinkman President, Trans-Solutions Consulting
A MORE USEFUL TERM IS “supply chain certainty”: understanding risk, planning
Answer upcoming Good Questions at: www.inboundlogistics.com/ good-question
contingencies, maintaining visibility of critical shipments, and having the expertise and options to act quickly. –Andrew Austin
that acts entirely on its own. A more accurate replacement is a
Chief Quality Officer, Priority Freight USA
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 7
10 TIPS
Effective ecommerce fulfillment requires balancing customer expectations with cost and operational complexity. Here’s how to make smarter fulfillment decisions that improve service while protecting margins. Fulfillment That Works
1 OPTIMIZE ORDERS ACROSS THE NETWORK, NOT ONE AT A TIME
review. AI cannot optimize a fulfillment decision the organization itself has not clearly defined. 8 TURN CUSTOMER DATA INTO DECISIONS Bring customer history and order patterns into the fulfillment process rather than limiting decisions to logistics data. Evaluate where those insights could improve the experience, such as anticipating a preferred pickup time or suggesting a substitute when an item is unavailable. This can improve service while reducing cancellations. 9 GET AHEAD OF RETURNS Analyze order contents and past return patterns to identify likely returns before shipment. Factor whether additional product information or a different fulfillment option could prevent the return altogether. When it can’t, use analytics to find opportunities to recover value through resale or other channels rather than treating the product as a loss.
When routing orders, consider demand and inventory alongside available capacity and fulfillment costs across the entire network, rather than optimizing each transaction independently. Use scenario planning to anticipate demand spikes so you can reposition inventory or adjust routing rules before bottlenecks emerge. This helps avoid managing one order efficiently while creating problems elsewhere in the network.
2 PREDICT INVENTORY AVAILABILITY Don’t rely solely on current inventory to determine what can be promised to customers. Factor in predicted sales velocity and upcoming replenishment, as well as how reliably orders can be filled. More accurate inventory availability can help reduce cancellations and create more reliable delivery promises. 3 PUT EVERY FULFILLMENT ASSET TO WORK Think beyond the distribution center when deciding how to fulfill an order. Predictive analytics can help determine when a store or another location is the better option based on available inventory and expected demand. Making better use of the full network can improve speed without losing sight of fulfillment costs. 4 USE AI TO MAKE BETTER FULFILLMENT DECISIONS Apply AI where it can improve important fulfillment decisions, from
6 CONNECT FULFILLMENT DATA AND SYSTEMS Create real-time or near- real-time data flows across critical fulfillment systems. Give employees and AI access to a consistent view of orders, inventory positions, and carrier status. Without it, outdated or disconnected information can create false exceptions that drive unnecessary manual work. 7 SET THE RULES BEFORE AUTOMATING DECISIONS Clearly define how orders should be allocated and when substitutions or service recovery make sense. Include margin considerations in those rules before handing decisions to AI and establish clear escalation points for human
order routing and inventory allocation to predicting delivery times. Start with narrowly scoped use cases and expand as capabilities mature. AI can amplify what is already there, so applying it to weak processes can increase inefficiencies instead of eliminating them. 5 PREDICT DELIVERY PROBLEMS Use historical order and
shipment information together with current logistics data to predict
delivery times and spot likely delays. Reach out before the customer has to ask, whether that means providing an updated delivery status or offering store pickup instead. Proactive intervention can reduce customer escalations and service costs.
10 USE FULFILLMENT DATA IN DISCOVERY TO DRIVE PROFITABLE FULFILLMENT OUTCOMES Bring stock availability and location into digital product discovery so customers are guided toward items fulfilled efficiently. Predictive analytics and AI-supported search can connect customer intent to where inventory is actually available, making fulfillment part of the purchase decision rather than something that begins after checkout.
SOURCE: CHAP ACHEN, SENIOR DIRECTOR ANALYST, GARTNER SUPPLY CHAIN
8 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
SUPPLYCHAINP.O.V. Coach and Cheerleader: Van Vossen Tackles Supply Chain Transformation as told to Karen Kroll
T ransformation is one word that defines my leadership; it’s the constant work of building something better than what came before. My focus is on ensuring our operating model matches the complexity and reach of the business: a strategic supply chain function that owns supplier relationships, a tactical team that executes day-to- day orders, and an enterprise planning group that aligns closely with sales, inventory, and operations planning. Rather than operate the transportation function ourselves, we made a deliberate choice to partner with a company capable of bringing technology and capabilities we could not efficiently build in house. That decision let us redirect our energy toward managing the partnership strategically. The result has been clarity for our teams: a clearer view of how the pieces fit together, and a path for their own development. In 2023, a little more than one year into my tenure, that broader effort was delivering measurable results. LEADING CHANGE DELIBERATELY Transformation of this scale doesn’t happen through announcement, but through persistence. I spend a significant amount of my time communicating: up to leadership, down through the organization, and across functions that don’t always see the world the same way. Staying anchored to a shared goal, even when the path to it isn’t linear, has been essential.
WHAT I DO I serve as vice president of global operations excellence at Lindsay Corporation, a provider of agricultural irrigation and road infrastructure products and services. My responsibilities span global supply chain, transportation, trade compliance, global quality, and lean manufacturing— functions that together determine how reliably we deliver for our customers around the world.
“Transformation of this scale doesn’t happen through announcement, but through persistence.” STEVE VAN VOSSEN Vice President, Global Operations Excellence, Lindsay Corporation
Early on, a colleague introduced me to a structured change management approach built around a few core stages: building awareness of why change matters, creating the desire to pursue it, developing the knowledge and ability to execute, and reinforcing it to make it durable. It is not a fast process. It is, however, one that brings people with you rather than leaving them behind, and we are already seeing that discipline translate into measurable results. This approach isn’t new to me. Earlier in my career, I was asked to fix a distribution center where on-time delivery hovered around 80%. Working with strong mentors, I learned how lean manufacturing principles translate
10 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
SUPPLYCHAINP.O.V.
How Football Drives My Leadership Philosophy I’m a lifelong football fan, and the sport shapes how I describe leadership to my team. I tell them my job is to be part coach, part cheerleader, and part fullback. The coach sets strategy and builds capability. The cheerleader keeps people motivated so momentum doesn’t stall. And the fullback clears the obstacles in front of the team, so everyone else has room to move the ball forward. That, ultimately, is what transformation means to me: building the right structure, staying close to the people doing the work, and clearing the way so they can succeed.
We recognized her contribution with a gift card, a small gesture that visibly moved her. These investments compound. We consolidated several warehouses into one and lifted on-time delivery to roughly 98%. Plant employees now lead facility tours for our leadership team themselves, a level of ownership that reflects genuine pride in what they’ve built. HOW I FOUND SUPPLY CHAIN My path here wasn’t planned. After graduating from Iowa State, I took a job at a startup, where my manager asked me to negotiate with vendors as we sourced equipment. I discovered I had an aptitude for it. Negotiation is competitive by nature, and competition has always motivated me. That experience led me into a commodity management program, and from there, a career in supply chain took shape.
directly into warehouse operations through disciplined use of space, tighter inventory flow, and structured picking and packing processes. We paired those changes with clear performance metrics, on the principle that what gets measured gets improved. INVESTING IN PEOPLE None of this works without the people executing it. On plant visits, I make it a point to sit down and listen to employees
directly, asking what’s working, what isn’t, and what would make their jobs easier. Acting on what I hear, even on small things, sends a clear signal that plant employees deserve the same standard of attention as everyone else in the company. We’ve also built structured channels for employee ideas. One team member proposed a change that improved both ergonomics and packaging efficiency. asi_halfpgIL_1026_final_• 9/24/26 10:50 AM Page 1
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October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 11
NOTED [ IN FOCUS ]
The Supply Chain in Brief
> GOOD WORKS
> GREEN SEEDS
• DHL Express, Kalitta Air, and Kalitta Motorsports relaunched the Race to End Hunger campaign across
six NHRA drag racing
events. Each Team Kalitta win generated 40,000 meal donations to Feeding America. The program has provided 3.75 million meals over four years.
Hyster delivered a hydrogen fuel cell-powered ReachStacker to Rotterdam Short Sea Terminals as part of a five-year innovation project. The machine is paired with a modular on-site hydrogen refueling station, demonstrating hydrogen integration independent of electricity grid. Sagepoint Logistics added 60 renewable natural gas trucks, powered by the Cummins X15N engine, to its line-up. The move doubled its low-carbon dedicated truckload fleet. The company sources RNG directly from parent company Sagepoint Energy, which produces the fuel from waste feedstocks. CEVA Logistics earned an EcoVadis Platinum Medal, reaching the top 1% of companies assessed worldwide. Its overall score rose 7 points from 2025 to 88 out of 100, with a near-perfect 95 in the Environment category.
> SEALED DEALS
• Veterinary products wholesaler Covetrus deployed RELEX ’s AI-driven forecasting and replenishment platform across 28 distribution centers and 10,000-plus SKUs. The implementation, done with partner Demandtex , improved channel-level forecast accuracy and reduced oversupply while maintaining service levels. • Cycling apparel brand MAAP adopted Bamboo Rose ’s TotalPLM platform to replace an outdated manual workflow. The platform consolidates planning, design, product development, sourcing, and order management in one place.
> IN MEMORIAM
• Klaus-Michael Kuehne, controlling shareholder of Kuehne+Nagel and grandson of company co-founder August Kuehne, died August 24, 2026 at 89. He also held major stakes in Lufthansa, Hapag-Lloyd, Brenntag, and Flix. • Tung Chee-hwa, former chairman of OOIL and OOCL’s second chairman, died September 8, 2026 at 89. He guided OOCL through a major restructuring and helped expand its global container liner network before serving as the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
12 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
NOTED
> M&A
> INVESTMENTS
Jungheinrich-
backed Uplift Ventures launched a $112 million venture capital fund targeting early-stage startups in physical AI, energy, enterprise AI, and logistics across Europe, the United States, and Asia.
Lufthansa Cargo signed an agreement to acquire LUG aircargo handling GmbH from the Dettmer Group, adding approximately 50,000 square meters of covered warehouse space in Germany. LUG has 60-plus years of air cargo handling experience. Descartes acquired warehouse management and fulfillment platform Extensiv for approximately $120 million. The deal adds 3PL inventory management, omnichannel fulfillment, and billing capabilities to the Descartes Global Logistics Network. Freeman Wood Products and Fabrication Specialties merged to form FreeFab Pallet, a custom wood pallet manufacturer based in Tennessee. The combined company serves manufacturers with custom pallet design and production. Enstructure completed its acquisition of LOGISTEC ’s marine services division, creating a network of 106 terminals across 30 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. The network handles about 70 million tons of cargo annually across 3,000-plus waterfront acres and 12.5 million square feet of industrial warehousing. Trackonomy acquired Identiv ’s IoT label business, combining Identiv’s smart label manufacturing with Trackonomy’s semiconductor and end-to-end Physical AI solutions. The combined businesses orchestrate nearly 20 million shipments each day. CargoSense acquired Adapt-IP, a wireless tracking technology developer, to add real-time 3D asset location monitoring to its exception management platform for data center supply chains. Adapt-IP’s system provides location accuracy within one meter and covers up to 20 million square feet from a single access point.
Quickcode raised $3 million, led by Buckhorn Capital Group, to expand its AI-powered global trade compliance platform into international markets. The company automates product classification, duty exposure analysis, and tariff monitoring. PSA International and Granite Asia launched the G&P Strategic Innovation Fund, a $50 million vehicle that will co-invest in technology companies developing solutions for global supply chains. Parallel Systems closed a $100 million Series C round, led by AVP, to scale production of its autonomous battery-electric rail vehicle and expand into international markets. The company’s platform lets railroads compete on short-haul routes. Red Sea Gateway Terminal and CMA CGM signed agreements to jointly develop Terminal 4 at Jeddah Islamic Port with an initial investment of $434 million, adding up to 2.6 million TEUs of annual container handling capacity. The project includes new deep-water berths and 10 ship-to- shore cranes.
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 13
TAKEAWAYS Shaping the Future of the Global Supply Chain
GLOBALIZATION ACCELERATES: AI Boom Outweighs Higher Tariffs and Geopolitics
only be provided efficiently when specialized producers work together across countries,” says Prof. Steven A. Altman, director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU. “It also shows how companies continually adapt to keep trade moving through disruptions and policy shifts.” TO DO’s: Prepare for disruptions without giving up the advantages of international engagement. Balance supply chain resilience with the benefits of global reach and market
Globalization reached a record high at 25.8%, according to the most recent DHL Globalization Tracker . Using a scale from 0% (no cross-border flows) to 100% (borders and distance have no impact), the number measures four flow categories: trade, capital, information, and people. All four flows contribute to the new record, reaching higher levels of internationalization. Information flows remain the most globalized, followed by capital and trade flows. People flows remain the least globalized.
25.8% The level of globalization measured by the DHL Globalization Tracker, released in October 2026 by DHL and New York University’s Stern School of Business.
WHAT IT MEANS: AI, not tariffs or the ramifications of the Iran war, impacts global trade the most. “The AI trade boom highlights the demand for goods and services that can access when considering decisions such as relocating production. Companies that pull back from international markets while competitors remain globally active may risk weakening their competitive position, the report notes. Robots Take On Reverse Logistics
having been trained on the product beforehand. The software also recognizes items it has never seen before. Why It’s Noteworthy: Ecommerce returns handling has been out of grasp for robots because of the unpredictable product flow: Items come back in different conditions. This deployment tests the solution under real-world conditions. While the robots take over the repetitive grasping, employees can shift to supervision, exception handling, and quality control. Where It Can Help: U.S. retailers face growing pressure to balance customer expectations with the rising cost and complexity of returns. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of U.S. shoppers have either stopped shopping with a retailer or abandoned a purchase because of its return policy, according to recent findings by ecommerce operations platform, Loop, which surveyed 1,000 consumers and 200 retail decision-makers in the United States.
Crumpled shirts, sneakers without a box, dresses that are somehow stuffed back into their bags—robots can now handle these returned items. In live operations for ecommerce company Zalando, dual- arm robots remove such disparate items from bins and identify and sort them. The systems from Sereact sort
Zalando returns at CEVA’s sites in Greven (Germany) and Swiebodzin (Poland). This Robotics-as-a- Service deployment marks the first operational step after Zalando joined Sereact’s Series B ($116M) as a strategic investor in July 2026. The dual-arm robots can grasp and sort items without
14 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
TAKEAWAYS
TIGHTER TRACEABILITY FOR PRODUCE RECALLS By LIZ SERTL , Senior Director, Supply Chain Visibility, GS1 US
“Transportation decisions carry more weight than ever before. Conditions can change quickly, and the cost of reacting too late is often higher than expected. The companies navigating this best don’t wait for disruption to show up in the numbers. They pay attention to what’s changing around them, make decisions early, and stay flexible as the market evolves.” REBECCA TINUCCI , CEO, Uber Freight OVERHEARD
Fresh produce can be difficult to trace because of how many points along the supply chain it can pass through before reaching the consumer. A single shipment may include produce harvested from multiple fields and/or growers, then moved between packers, processors, distributors, and retailers, getting repacked or combined with other lots along the way.
Every one of those handoffs is a chance for critical information such as lot numbers, harvest dates, or source locations to go unrecorded or never make it to the next trading partner.
67% Share of consumers who avoid an entire food category following a recall, up from 60% in 2025, according a 2026 GS1 U.S. consumer survey
When product information gets separated from the physical item, companies have a harder time identifying and isolating what’s affected during a recall and may end up removing more product than necessary. The consequences extend beyond the recall itself. Delays in identifying affected products can mean greater disruption and more damage to consumer trust.
Closing that gap requires maintaining a unique product identity from farm to fork. Companies get there with standardized product identifiers, which capture traceability data consistently at each critical tracking event and ensure it stays with the product as it moves between trading partners. Tools such as 2D barcodes can carry and share more trusted information as long as it is provided by the brand owner, including batch, lot, or harvest data, helping companies pinpoint affected products faster. That speed and precision can help limit how far the impact of a recall spreads, both across the supply chain and with consumers.
Freight Factors: Three market forces currently shape the freight sector: Capacity is not recovering as quickly as expected in a tight market; diesel prices are at a 2026 high; and tariff policies changed three times within the quarter, finds Uber Freight’s Q3 Market Update Report .
PAIN AT THE PUMP Diesel recently hit a record $6.53 per gallon. In response, The White House signed an order deferring the federal diesel tax and allowing red diesel on highways, but costs are still climbing for anyone in freight and supply chain. We asked the Inbound Logistics LinkedIn audience what the impact has been on their business— and it’s clear that shippers feel the sting from soaring prices, with 55% reporting their margins getting squeezed.
55% Major margin hit
How do record diesel prices impact your freight or supply chain costs?
32%
10%
Manageable so far
Passing cost to customers
3%
Not affected
Source: Inbound Logistics LinkedIn poll
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 15
TAKEAWAYS
MANUFACTURING 2027: NEW WAYS TO GROW For most of industrial history, manufacturing growth had a simple recipe: buy more machines, build a bigger floor, hire more people. The winners of the next manufacturing era, however, will be the companies that can reach capacity, whether or not they own it, suggests Xometry’s 2027 Manufacturing Outlook . The report, which surveyed 150 U.S. manufacturing executives in August 2026, posits the central argument that access is overtaking acquisition as the path to growth, and that digital infrastructure is what makes the difference. Four trends show how: 1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PAYS OFF UPSTREAM. Manufacturers expect AI to matter most in manufacturability and costing (51%), well ahead of the factory floor (32%). Fifty-seven percent report significant ROI from AI, up from 44% one year ago, and 94% plan to spend more than $100,000 on the technology in 2027. 2. SMALL SHOPS HOLD UNTAPPED PRODUCTION CAPACITY. About 44% of manufacturers under $50 million in revenue run below 70% capacity, compared with 16% of those over $100 million. Certifications are the gateway to filling capacity: certified work generates roughly 3.4 times the annual job value of uncertified work on Xometry’s platform. 3. SUPPLIER OPTIONALITY IS THE NEW SOURCING ADVANTAGE. Ninety-four percent of manufacturers expect to raise prices in 2027, and two-thirds say costs are harder to forecast than a year ago, thanks to constant fluctuations in raw materials, labor, and tariffs. With price out of buyers’ control, the best defense is a wider pool of qualified suppliers, along with Design for Manufacturing (DFM) support, for which 48% of manufacturers now charge a premium, the report notes. 4. MANUFACTURING NEEDS SKILLS, NOT JUST HEADCOUNT. AI and automation operators are now the hardest roles to fill (see chart, below). Seventy-seven percent of manufacturers report bigger backlogs than last year, yet only 59% plan to hire. Higher pay helps larger firms far more than smaller ones (81% versus 46%), so companies are building pipelines with schools and deciding which skills to own, develop, or borrow. Manufacturing’s Hardest-to-Fill Roles AI and automation operators Quality engineers Maintenance technicians Machinists Computer numerical control programmers 34% 31% 29% 23% 20%
El Niño’s Impact Hits Before the Storm
Scientists are predicting this El Niño to be the “strongest in living memory,” but for supply chains, its impact is already being felt. For example, the Panama Canal is taking proactive measures to conserve water, showing how anticipated weather risk can translate into operational changes before the disruption itself peaks. “The biggest impact of El Niño hits before the storm does,” says Eric Fullerton, vice president of data insights at project44. “Once companies expect disruption, they change behavior: pulling inventory forward, shifting bookings, rerouting, building buffers. That alone can create real pressure across the network, before the event peaks.” Here are three things to prioritize over predictions, according to Fullerton: 1. Insight into how the disruption is hitting your in-transit shipments and inventory 2. Real-time awareness of the exceptions and delays already surfacing 3. The team, tools, and technology to act, reroute, rebook, hold, or absorb, while the disruption is unfolding.
Here’s how shippers can respond:
Source: Xometry
16 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
TAKEAWAYS
AI Says: STOP THIEF! As cargo thieves become increasingly more sophisticated, detecting theft has become a more difficult task. Identity fraud,
theft within four hours, compared with 44%.
fictitious pickups, and manipulated credentials can make an illegitimate pickup look legitimate at first, putting more weight on what happens once a shipment is in transit. AI is also moving deeper into cargo-security operations, raising new questions about how threats are detected, how teams respond, and how much authority the technology should have over a live shipment. This environment makes findings from Tive’s new market survey, Cargo Theft Prevention in the Age of AI , particularly relevant. The report—which surveyed 442 supply chain, transportation, operations, security, and executive leaders across North America, Europe, and Latin America—shows that companies are responding to these new threats with new strategies. Some 78% of survey respondents changed or adjusted their cargo-security approach in late 2025 or early 2026. Also 83% now use AI in their cargo security efforts while 84% say they would trust AI with at least one autonomous function in cargo security. The report also examines which cargo-security practices are associated with stronger response, theft-confirmation, and recovery outcomes, finding that 72% of organizations using active monitoring typically respond to an alert or theft indicator within 60 minutes compared with 55% relying on passive monitoring. Fifty-nine percent confirmed their latest
Additional data highlights include: • 45% of organizations using active monitoring recover
more than half of stolen cargo, compared with 30% who rely on passive monitoring. • Among organizations using AI-assisted cargo- security tools, 37% see clear, measurable improvement while 44% predict promising results that are not yet fully measurable. • Leading AI applications in cargo security include: Real-time route deviation detection (34%), pickup / driver identity verification (33%), and in-transit monitoring and automated alerts (28%). • 67% of organizations have formally trained or briefed employees on identifying AI-driven fraud in the past six months. Source: Tive
Return to Suez Routing Reduces Transit Time
As some shipping lines begin testing the Suez Canal routing, cargo from India is reaching the Port of Savannah 10 to 14 days faster, say port officials. Improved supply chain velocity means faster inventory fulfillment and lower inventory carrying costs for cargo owners. Maersk has shifted its MECL service from routing around the Cape of Good Hope back to the Suez Canal, cutting to 28 days the transit time from Nhava Sheva, India, to Savannah. The Maersk Denver made the ocean carrier’s first new westbound sailing via the Suez, calling Savannah on August 9, 2026. With the return to the Red Sea, Maersk also added an eastbound call to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to the MECL service. Ocean carrier CMA CGM is also in the process of returning its INDAMEX service via the Suez Canal. The move will reduce transit time from Nhava Sheva to Savannah by five days and require two fewer vessels to maintain weekly frequency. MSC has announced plans to restore some Suez Canal routings in both directions on four major Asia-Europe and Mediterranean services: Tiger, Albatross, Himalaya Express, and Jade. By eliminating the Cape of Good Hope detour, MSC expects to operate each service with two fewer vessels, increasing available global container ship capacity.
Some ocean carriers are resuming Suez Canal
routings. This results in a 10- to 14-day reduction in transit times, benefiting supply chain speed and inventory carrying costs.
October 2026 • Inbound Logistics 17
KNOWLEDGE Base CONTENT PARTNERS
As diesel prices climb and supply chain uncertainty deepens, shippers are rethinking their transportation strategies—and the math is increasingly pointing in one direction. The Rising Cost of Fuel: Why Intermodal Transportation Just Makes “Cents”
fuel surcharges increase quickly and dramatically. For shippers moving freight over-the-road, every tick upward at the pump translates almost immediately into a higher freight bill. Intermodal transportation combines rail and truck service, operating on a fundamentally
By Jessica Pokrajac Executive Vice President, Managed Transportation and Customer Solutions Hub Group info@hubgroup.com
hubgroup.com 800-377-5833
I f you’ve been watching your freight bills climb, you’re not imagining it. Global fuel markets are in a period of significant volatility, driven by a combination of macroeconomic pressure and geopolitical instability. The disruption in energy supply chains has added risk premiums to oil and diesel markets worldwide, reaching the dock doors of shippers and receivers across all shipping modes in North America. For supply chain managers, this isn’t just an abstract economic headline. Fuel is one of the largest variable components of freight costs, particularly for over- the-road truckload shipping. As diesel prices rise, fuel surcharges climb in lockstep with total transportation spend. The question facing shippers today isn’t whether fuel costs are going up. It’s what they’re going to do about it.
different fuel equation. Rail is significantly more fuel-efficient than highway trucking, which means intermodal’s exposure to diesel price swings is structurally lower. Fuel surcharge increases are more gradual, and base rates are less sensitive to short-term price spikes. The result: As fuel prices rise, the cost gap between truckload and intermodal widens—sometimes substantially. The Widening Gap The impact of this dynamic becomes clearest when you look at long-haul lanes. The cost spread between truckload and intermodal grows significantly as the price per gallon rises. Fuel efficiency compounds over distance. The longer the haul, the more miles rail is doing the heavy lifting and the greater the savings. For shippers with significant freight volume moving across the country, the fuel cost advantage of intermodal isn’t just real; it scales in their favor. The Strategic Case for Intermodal Goes Beyond Fuel Savings Cost is the most immediate argument for intermodal in a high-fuel environment, but it’s not the only one. Shippers who evaluate intermodal seriously find a range of benefits that hold value even when diesel prices moderate:
• Reduced exposure to fuel price volatility • More predictable fuel surcharge behavior • Lower cost per mile on longer haul lanes • Improved sustainability through reduced fuel consumption • Greater cost stability during periods of economic uncertainty A Smarter Way Forward A lane-by-lane evaluation can pinpoint exactly where intermodal offers the best combination of cost efficiency and service performance, while factoring transit time requirements, origin and destination proximity to intermodal ramps, and freight characteristics into the modal conversion decision. But for shippers who haven’t recently revisited their lane mix through an intermodal lens, the current fuel environment makes that analysis more urgent—and potentially more rewarding—than it has been in recent years. By working with an award-winning, experienced transportation and logistics solutions provider like Hub Group, shippers will receive the guidance to make an informed decision specific to their supply chain to help mitigate costs without sacrificing service and reliability.
Not All Transportation Modes Feel the Pain Equally
Here’s the critical distinction that many shippers overlook when fuel prices spike: Truckload and intermodal transportation don’t respond to diesel price increases in the same way. Truckload transportation is heavily diesel dependent. Fuel costs represent a significant share of total linehaul expense, and when diesel prices jump,
18 Inbound Logistics • October 2026
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