Respect. Empathy. Flexibility. If you are in charge of securing and managing workers in warehouses, distribution centers, trucks and delivery vans, it might be an idea to view these three words as a mantra.

These two giants of the world economy may well be on very different economic paths. In short, the U.S. has secure access to cheap energy and Europe does not.

It’s time to admit it: self-driving trucks are hooey. We should instead turn to reviving America’s neglected rail network.

Where OEMs in the past could concentrate on securing supply of expensive components, now they have to think about everything that goes into production, including raw materials, too.

Until recently, international trade’s great big dirty secrets regarding forced labor remained mostly hidden beneath layers and layers of supply chain complexity. Now, some governments are attempting to hold companies more accountable.

Flexibility in the workforce isn't going away; it’s where the trends are headed. Warehouse managers need to pay heed.

There’s no way around it: Supply chain executives are going to have to flatten the hierarchy if they want to attract and retain the best workers.

The report is produced annually for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) by global consulting firm Kearney.

Around half of all last-mile related costs are expended in the last few hundred feet because of challenges in finding the exact delivery location and, worse, deliveries fail altogether because the person making the delivery cannot find the exact right location.

The 2023 Annual Third-Party Logistics Study, released Sept. 19, examines back-to-basics principles for supply chain professionals, the ongoing talent crisis and the rise of reverse logistics.