THOUGHT Leaders CONTENT PARTNERS
Rethinking Supply Chain Strategy In an Era of Persistent Volatility
Q What’s different about what shippers are facing in 2026 versus prior years of disruption? A Over the past five or six years, supply chains have been challenged like almost never before. A first round of tariffs, then COVID, then more tariffs, various conflicts, and now renewed trade policy volatility. As I’ve described it, it’s been one after the other. What’s different now is the nature of the response required. Most companies reported supply chain losses in the past 12 months. That’s no longer a spike. It’s a baseline. Shippers can’t afford to overanalyze. They need partners who can immediately assess the impact and pivot quickly because what made sense last month may not be true today. Nobody likes to deliver bad news, but bad news is always 100% better than no news at all. Q How should shippers be rethinking their logistics partnerships in this environment? A The best partners aren’t simply moving products from A to B. They’re integrated into their clients’ businesses at a strategic level, helping model entire supply chains, providing real-time inventory visibility, and advising on decisions from sourcing to distribution. That can mean getting involved at the purchase order level, providing importer of record services, managing warehousing and distribution at destination, or even supporting assembly.
The goal is to be that single solution that eliminates the need to engage multiple parties. We think of it as being like a Sherpa. Everybody remembers who the first person to scale Mount Everest was, but not many people know who the Sherpa who got him there was. That’s the role the right logistics partner should play. That’s the role Logistics Plus plays with its clients. Q What are the most important practical steps shippers should take right now? A Three things. First, eliminate single points of failure. Dual or triple supply options are no longer a hedge; they’re a requirement. Second, close the visibility gap. Many companies do not have real-time supply chain visibility today, and you cannot manage risk you cannot see. Third, raise the analytical bar on major decisions. When evaluating whether to nearshore or where to locate a facility, transportation parameters alone aren’t enough. It becomes much more analytical and important, and many times decisions are made based on just a few parameters. That’s not good enough. The key is also speed. Being able to go to your customers and say, “Here is what this means for you, and here is what we think happens next,” and then being ready to pivot again when circumstances shift, is what separates the best supply chain partners from everyone else.
Yuriy Ostapyak Chief Executive Officer
Logistics Plus, Inc. logisticsplus.com 866-564-7587
To learn more about Logistics Plus, visit logisticsplus.com
Listen to Yuriy’s recent interview on the Inbound Logistics Podcast at inboundlogistics.com/podcast
44 Inbound Logistics • July 2026
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