Tips for Reducing Transportation Costs
he logistics industry is shaping up for some radical changes in 2014 and logistics service providers (LSPs) today are faced with several challenges, including spiraling fuel prices, labor shortages and reduced inventories. All of these factors lead to increased transportation costs, which can create a huge issue for LSPs that operate on very small margins.
In order to be successful in today’s climate, LSPs need to protect their margins by leveraging economies of scale through partnerships and networks, and can benefit from taking a bigger share of supply chain profits through expanding the reach of their operations and offering value-added services. This article explores several ways that LSPs can reduce costs and protect their margins.
Fuel Prices
Fuel prices continue to rise and, according to industry reports, by 2020, the average price per barrel of oil will cost about $150, with much higher peaks possible. Energy savings willbe a major focus for LSPs worldwide, with activities that maximize haulage efficiency, such as groupage/consolidation and participation in logistics networks, becoming more important than ever before.
This will prompt LSPs to continue to experiment with green fuels and vehicle innovations, such as longer length trailers and better aerodynamics, with the overall aim of making vehicles more fuel efficient and driving down fuel consumption. Solar panels on the roofs of truck cabs and containers will become a relatively common sight in coming years. Many regions will begin to see road freight shift to rail over long cross-country routes to minimize fuel costs with the added benefit of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Labor Costs
Despite the after-effects of the global economic downturn still being felt, LSPs throughout Europe, and in many parts of Asia and the U.S., are struggling to find skilled workers for their warehouses. This is a growing problem as birth rates fall in the West, and participation in further education, and cost of living and aspirations grow in developing countries. This leaves LSPs struggling to staff distribution centers with experienced, permanent workers and creates an issue for the supply chain as a whole.
The shortage of drivers and warehouse workers will also present a very real challenge to the logistics industry and may be a factor in driving up costs. Of greatest concern is the forecast increase in share of cost of labor for road transport, which is set to rise by up to 50 percent by 2025, according to various studies.