Logistics Analysts Warn Conference of Escalating Distribution Costs

HILADELPHIA — Constraints on freight-hauling capacity, combined with rising fuel and labor costs and the trend by manufacturers to outsource work to China and other less-expensive areas, are making it increasingly difficult to control distribution costs, said officials and industry analysts at the Council of Logistics Management conference here last week.

“We’re going to see logistics costs rise next year and the year after,” said Rosalyn Wilson, a transportation consultant and researcher who publishes an annual report on logistics expenditures.

U.S. businesses spent an estimated $936 billion to transport and store goods in 2003, with the value of inventories climbing to a record $1.493 trillion, Wilson said.

12024