January 6, 2025 | Page 16

Shippers 2025 Annual Review & Outlook
Executive Commentary
Sound good ? For an urgent , one-off shipment , it might be .
But if ocean transportation is meant to properly support a company ’ s trade , a shipper will need to review costs and services from various providers and then secure some reasonable access at a predictable cost for longer than the span of a single shipment .
Relegating businesses that are procuring essential ocean services to the same dynamic pricing habits that serve rideshare and concert ticket sales will never satisfactorily support the many businesses involved in international trade — or their customers , including consumers .
While the regulations that obligate ocean common carriers to maintain public tariffs may seem to have become antiquated , the stated purpose (§ 520.1 ( b )) to permit “ shippers … to obtain reliable and useful information concerning the rates and charges that will be assessed … for their transportation services ” has not .
We need a better solution than dynamic pricing .
Innovative Beauty Group
Audrey Ross
Trade and Compliance Manager www . innovativebeautygroup . com
At TPM24 , Lars Jensen highlighted the coming few years as a period of “ de-globalization .” With an increase in regional conflict and a web of sanctions , there will be increasing challenges in global shipping . He closed this reflection by saying “ The more complex the supply chain becomes , the more opportunity .” Companies taking an approach of agility seem to be developing a regional approach to their manufacturing , shipping and distribution . Call it nearshoring , friendshoring or sureshoring , intentionally designing your supply chain has become de rigueur in the current crisis climate .
There is no single solution to address the instability , it takes a varied approach dependent on intensely understanding your business , values and goals .
“ We need elected officials to focus on policies that are strategic and will support hardworking American families , not policies that will drive inflation and price increases again .”
Matthew Shay
“ Supply chain leaders can no longer rely solely on their traditional tools to navigate the challenges of the future . Addressing second- and thirdorder problems demands a deeper understanding of first-order issues in geopolitics , economics and customer psychology .”
Kenneth O ’ Brien
“ Overall , the essential requirement to realize opportunity in this fluctuating landscape is a high-performance team .”
Audrey Ross
These design maneuvers could include region-specific transportation RFQs , expanding multimodal shipping options , mixing and matching freight forwarders to local distributors , diligent monitoring of external disruptions to yield a more agile response , maintaining an internal freight barometer to mitigate fluctuating market pricing , and alternative Incoterms and risk-sharing .
Overall , the essential requirement to realize opportunity in this fluctuating landscape is a high-performance team . Build a diverse team and focus on the unglamorous work of implementing methodical processes and adopting the behaviors of continuous improvement . Complexity requires a prudent approach ,
Gemini Shippers Association
Kenneth O ’ Brien
President and CEO www . geminishippers . com
Writing this on the eve of the US presidential election , it is hard to predict the fortunes or challenges we will encounter in 2025 . The uncomfortable reality for supply chain leaders is that much of what impacts our business is outside our direct control . The second- and third-order effects of global events routinely impact our daily operations .
For example , was it possible to infer probabilistic causation that increases in liner pricing in 2024 would result from a conflict between Israel and Hamas , the Houthis ’ subsequent closing of the Red Sea , the rerouting of ships around Africa and the resultant reduction in global effective capacity ?
While it is unlikely that anyone could have predicted this chain of events , it is crucial to understand that adept managers should have built resilience into their supply chain to counter these impacts .
Resiliency , the ability to withstand or recover swiftly from adversities , is
not a reactive one . In 2025 , we must finally acknowledge that firefighting does not equal problem-solving .
National Retail Federation
Matthew Shay
President and CEO www . nrf . com
Supply chain issues will be front and center for the retail industry in 2025 . The biggest challenges will be a
crucial to supply chain management . Can we cultivate resilience to counter challenges that are yet to be defined or encountered ? Are our transportation partners prepared and capable of offering suitable solutions ? How can we take steps to fortify our resilience ?
American psychologist Abraham Maslow ’ s law of instruments characterized a cognitive bias involving over-reliance on familiar tools . It states , “ If all you have is a hammer , everything looks like a nail .” Supply chain leaders can no longer rely solely on their traditional tools to navigate the challenges of the future . Addressing second- and third-order problems demands a deeper understanding of first-order issues in geopolitics , economics and customer psychology . Our collective journey to combat climate challenges necessitates new tools to implement decarbonization strategies . To construct resilient supply chains , we must embrace new technology tools including prescriptive analytics and artificial intelligence to enable autonomous , real-time , data-driven decision making .
Supply chain resiliency can only be achieved by retooling for the future . This job will take more than a hammer .
14 Journal of Commerce | January 6 , 2025 www . joc . com