Logistics managers are seizing the opportunity to rebalance their supply chains, realign inventories with demand and secure capacity before the next cyclical shift in transportation costs. Shippers do not want a repeat of 2021, when soaring transportation costs broke budgets and supply chains.
Truckload carriers and third-party logistics providers and brokers are hoping for a steady improvement in their markets, aided by technologies that give shipper customers more service options, greater visibility and control. Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers are building out terminal networks ahead of future growth. And the rush to automate is evident everywhere in logistics.
Warehousing and distribution networks are in flux. The shifting of cargo among US ports means distributors require even greater agility when it comes to planning routes to inland markets. The list of distribution hot spots is growing. Logistics managers are rethinking how much inventory they need, and where.
This September, the Journal of Commerce Inland Distribution Conference will bring shippers, logistics companies, brokers and forwarders, warehousing and distribution companies, LTL and truckload carriers and supply chain technology providers together in Chicago as we move toward 2025.
We’ll grapple with the challenges we all face through detailed panel discussions, collaborative think-tank workshops and informative Inland Academy classes on what comes next and what we should do to be ready for it. Disruption is a given, but failure is not. We’re expanding our program with new roundtables from brokers and small carriers as well as shippers and additional tracks, including a series of discussions on cargo crime.
Come join us and plot a path toward success in 2025. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago Sept. 30-Oct. 2 as we explore big-picture issues while drilling down into more nitty-gritty topics including:
- Outlooks for the US and North American economy
- Nearshoring and cross-border logistics between the US, Canada and Mexico
- The evolution a new LTL market post-Yellow
- Strategies to counter cargo theft and fraud
- The balance between asset-based and non-asset trucking
- How shippers are using dedicated and private fleets
- Intermodal rail’s route to revival in 2025
- Where the push for automation will have the biggest payoff
- Near-term and long-term outlooks for sustainability