Inbound Logistics | September 2025

SHIPPERS: What are your greatest challenges? For shippers, financial worries continue to matter the most. In particular, transportation costs at 74% register as their biggest challenge, which has been the case each of the previous two years. A major takeaway from the shippers’ insights is that cargo theft and security concerns have risen dramatically from just 12% in 2023 to 48% in 2025, making it shippers’ second most-cited challenge. Some other prominent challenges for shippers include price pressure from competition/customers (42%, down 7 points from 2024), customer service (40%, sharply down 10 points), increasing insurance costs and liabilities (39%, up 2 points), and matching supply to demand eˆciently (35%, up 2 points).

Transportation costs

74%

Cargo theft and security

48%

Price pressure from customers/competition

42%

Customer service

40%

Increasing insurance costs and liabilities

39%

Matching supply to demand eˆciently

35%

Maintaining accurate inventory levels

30%

Shipment visibility

28%

Ecommerce fulfillment expectations

27%

Finding capacity

23%

14% Environmental, regulatory, and security compliance Migrating to intermodal and/or rail solutions 11%

Yes 83%

No 17%

TRUCKERS: Do you have a freight brokerage or logistics services division/subsidiary? Eighty-three percent of truckers say that they have a freight brokerage or logistics services division or subsidiary, up 7 points from 2024.

September 2025 • Inbound Logistics 39

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