IF THE LOGISTICS FIELD HAS A “DATA
queen,” it would be Roz Wilson. From her
days analyzing costs and prices for the post-deregulation railroad industry in the 1980s
to her current role as a senior business analyst for the Delcan Corp. and author of the
influential annual “State of Logistics
Report” (SOL), Wilson has parlayed her
interest in data into a successful research
and consulting career and has proved a worthy successor to the report’s founder, the late
Robert V. Delaney.
Wilson recently donned another research hat as the editor and author of a monthly shipping index published by
freight-bill auditing and payment firm Cass Information
Systems.
QWhat got you interested in transportation research and consulting?
AI fell into transportation early in my career working as the transportation analyst for the Producer Price
Indexes. This started my career-long fascination with the
data and trends. Decades of measuring and analyzing
the trends led me into consulting to share that knowledge
and perspective. I helped create the Rail Cost Adjustment
Factor for the railroads after the industry was deregulated,
and worked through the new era of pricing and contracts.
QBob Delaney had put his imprimatur on the SOL report, and you are now doing the same. Is there any
difference between the way Bob approached the data and
how you go about it?
AThe biggest difference between the way Bob and I approach the data is technology. Bob did not use
computers. In fact, Bob did very little of the number
crunching. Instead, he brought an overall perspective based
on his many years in the industry. I once thought I would
never fill Bob’s shoes but have come to real-
ize that I have the tools and skills to bring
perspective to today’s logistics industry,
which is much broader, more complex, and
visible than the one Bob analyzed.
Richard Murphy Jr.
RICHARD MURPHY JR. IS PRESIDENT
and CEO of Murphy Warehouse Co., a
Minnesota-based logistics firm. He represents the fourth generation of his family to
run the company, which is noted for its environmentally sustainable business practices.
Among other eco-initiatives, it has installed
solar panels on four of its warehouses,
designed an award-winning stormwater
management system at its Minneapolis-area
headquarters campus, and used landscaping to reduce the
urban “heat island” effect of its facilities. It
has also earned LEED Gold certifications at
most of its facilities and has been honored
for redeveloping a Superfund site.
Murphy, who worked as a landscape architect before joining the family business in
1983, is past board chair of the Council of
Supply Chain Management Professionals, a
past board member of the International
Warehouse Logistics Association, and immediate past president of the American Society of Landscape
