DC Velocity - October 2019

newsworthy

SHIPPERS AND CARRIERS CAN EXPECT TO SEE HIGHER TRUCKLOAD rates heading into the peak holiday season, third-party logistics service provider Coyote Logistics said in its third-quarter forecast.

The Chicago-based company said its “Coyote Curve” forecasting model projects
a return to the inflationary year-over-year spot truckload market conditions seen
in 2017 and 2018, when rates reached historic highs. The firm said spot-market
rates have been falling, pointing to a nearly 25% drop in its second-quarter Spot
Market Index, but noted that “supply-and-demand indicators demonstrate that
the market is at an inflection point where demand is starting to increase again
and, in turn, will drive rising spot-market rates heading into the busy Q4 months.”
“The 2017 and 2018 market caused a lot of pain for many truckload shippers
as rates jumped to historic highs. We believe 2020 has the potential to create
very similar challenges for shippers,” Coyote Logistics’ chief strategy officer,
Chris Pickett, said in a statement. “This year, we’ve seen a complete 180 from the
market, leading to difficult times for many carriers who may have overshot their
truck orders and plans based on the previous year’s more favorable economic
conditions.”
The firm said current conditions will help temper the effect of anticipated
increases in overall spot-market rates.

“While guidance suggests that spot truckload rates are likely to begin rising, the
Coyote Curve does not expect the 2019 peak holiday season to be as impactful on
overall spot-market rates and service levels as usual, due to the current deflation-
ary market,” the firm said. “However, surge capacity challenges often exacerbate
other supply chain complexities. Those challenges will still cause retailers to look
for creative capacity solutions—such as mobile storage—to help manage their
volume spikes.”
Coyote Logistics says its Coyote Curve measures three concurrent cycles—sea-
sonal demand, annual procurement, and the more elusive market capacity—to
help supply chain professionals identify recurring patterns that can lead to bet-
ter-informed supply chain and logistics decisions.

The logistics industry is making slow progress in its efforts to address cybersecurity concerns, according to a study by industry research and event management firm eft Supply Chain and Logistics Business Intelligence.

A division of United Kingdom-based Eyefortransport Ltd., eft surveyed more than 500 industry professionals, predominantly from North America, for its State of Logistics Technology Report: 2019 and found that most are not acting quickly enough to effectively address cyberattacks and other IT (information technology) security concerns.

As a key example, the researchers pointed to a lack of chief information security officer (CISO) positions among the logistics service providers, technology solutions providers, and shippers they surveyed. Just 35% of solutions and service providers reported having a CISO compared with 43% of shippers; on top of that, just 21% overall said they believe they need a CISO, according to the survey.

Companies are making progress in some areas, however. The researchers reported that logistics firms have made positive changes in cybersecurity education for their staff over the last year, training employees on password security, common phishing attacks, and proper authentication protocols. Despite those efforts, more than half (55%) of logistics employees reported that they are “ ill-pre-pared to identify and address potential cybersecurity threats,” the researchers said.