Heavy Duty Trucking, June 2018

JUNE 2018 HDT 19 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM Hotline TRUCKINGS MOST RESPECTED BUSINESS REPORT Survey E Commerce trends and their effect on logistics A biannual survey into home delivery and final mile found that customers want their e commerce orders faster and faster and they want them free But its hardly free for the companies doing the delivering and its driving changes in the retail supply chain that may affect even carriers not in the final mile business The transportation investment analysts at Stifel held a conference call with AlixPartners to discuss the survey of about 1000 consumers about their online shopping habits The survey found that more than half now are Amazon Prime members Amazon AlixPartners pointed out is giving customers fast and free This has effectively laid down the gauntlet for other retailers and brands that sell direct to the consumer In fact AlixPartners said Amazon has initiated a supply chain arms race that many retailers and brands are struggling to compete against This is leading to changes in the retail supply chain including more emphasis on proximity to customers This means warehouse and distribution center space in densely populated consumer markets is at a premium Logistics providers are piling into the final mile sector whether through organic expansion or through mergers and acquisitions Meanwhile the American Trucking Associations reports that the average length of haul has now dropped to a historic low of 499 miles And these trends are likely to continue as consumers get ever more comfortable with ordering online even groceries and large bulky items like furniture and appliances In 2012 when AlixPartners first did this survey it asked about the maximum amount of time people were willing to wait for free shipping At that time the answer was a little over a week In 2014 it dropped by half a day and in 2016 it dropped further Today were down to four days and this is moving at a quarter of a day every year explained Marc Iampieri managing director for AlixPartners Thats pretty material because in four days a team driver can pretty much get all over the United States However pretty soon he said were going to be in an expectation of three day delivery for free In fact the survey showed that same day delivery is gaining popularity although its still a small percentage of overall deliveries You really cant defy the laws of physics If you want to be able to offer next day same day the products have to be within close proximity to the customers You cant just get away with a large regional distribution center somewhere in the Midwest and be able to pull off the transit times to meet the customers expectations Some of these challenges could spell opportunity for third party logistics providers If youre a 3PL Iampieri said you need to quickly line up meetings with your customers that are trying to compete and talk about how a multi user facility could work for them Deborah Lockridge U S RETAIL TRUCK SALES REPORT APRIL 2018 MANUFACTURER CLASS 8 33001 LBS OVER CLASS 7 26001 33000 LBS CLASS 6 19501 26000 LBS CLASS 3 4 5 10001 19500 LBS APR SALES YDT SALES YTD SHARE APR SALES YDT SALES YTD SHARE APR SALES YDT SALES YTD SHARE APR SALES YDT SALES YTD SHARE COMPLIED BY HEAVY DUTY TRUCKING MAGAZINE SOURCE WARDS COMMUNICATIONS Chevrolet 3270 14440 1172 Chevrolet LCF 4 16 006 190 708 057 Dodge Ram 10973 45788 3717 Ford 66 544 296 1453 6101 2465 12449 48309 3922 Freightliner 6400 25446 3662 2358 9588 5222 2021 8436 3408 577 1501 122 GMC 1151 4760 386 Hino 94 532 290 568 2524 1022 356 1312 107 International 2826 9372 1349 905 3834 2088 1598 6406 2588 1 9 001 Isuzu 93 323 130 2096 6093 495 Kenworth 2983 9684 1394 372 1313 715 205 829 335 2 3 000 Mack 1182 4972 716 Mitsubishi Fuso 86 234 019 Peterbilt 3115 10929 1573 564 2544 1385 29 56 023 000 Volvo 1943 7367 1060 Western Star 501 1700 245 Other 9 001 Totals 18950 69479 100 4359 18355 100 5971 24691 100 31151 123157 100 200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017Shipping costFul llment cost9 9 9 8 8 10 11 12 9 12 13 14 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 9 10 11 12 12 Amazons Shipping and Ful llment Costsas a Percentage of Net Sales COURTESY ALIX PARTNERS