The Logistics Matters podcast: Effects of Covid-19: Workforce challenges, deaths in the industry, emerging companies, cargo volumes, resources | Season 1 Episode 1
The challenges of helping employees feel safe coming to work during the coronavirus crisis; Covid-19 deaths in the logistics industry; new companies emerging to serve the at-home workforce; how the virus is affecting cargo volumes; and Covid-19 resources for supply chain professionals.
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Transcript
David Maloney: 0:03 Covid-19 continues to disrupt global supply chains. Logistic workers find that they're on the front lines fighting a new kind of war. And companies emerge to provide new capabilities for a stay-at-home work forces. Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast. Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the editorial director of DC Velocity. Welcome. Joining me to provide their insight into the top stories of this week are senior news editor Ben Ames, and senior editor Victoria Kickham. Victoria, just to start with, of course, the story that's dominated the headlines for the past several weeks not only in supply chain, but everywhere, is Covid-19. And you've reported in this past week about how logistics workers are finding themselves on the front lines of this new kind of war.
Victoria Kickham: 0:55 Yes, in my talks with logistics companies from across the spectrum, we're finding that they're facing the challenges of making their employees feel comfortable coming to work, by safety protocols and communicating the most up-to-date information on the virus--while at the same time, keeping their businesses running. This is most acute, it seems, for 3PLs, transportation companies serving customers in essential industries like food service, health care, medical, those kinds of industries.
David Maloney: 1:25 What sort of ways are they helping them to feel comfortable when they're being faced with what everybody is dealing with these days?
Victoria Kickham: 1:34 One company I talked to said they're spending 16 hours a day on this. I talked to a senior human resources representative, and she was saying, just communicating over and over again, reminding employees, why they're coming to work every day. The importance of getting is essential services--products and services--to hospitals, medical facilities, grocery stores And at the same time, reminding them what they need to do. They've put into place all kinds of deep-cleaning regimens, social distancing. In some cases, they've had to retool their work stations so workers are no longer two or three feet apart. They're six feet apart. Just really revisiting all of those things and reminding employees what they need to do and why they're doing it.
David Maloney: 2:21 Yeah. And then we've also seen sort of the first casualties that are--on the workers on the front lines. You reported on that as well [Ben].
Ben Ames: 2:30 I did. Yeah. Just today there was a story in the Wall Street Journal that the U. S. Postal Service has lost a dozen of its workers as casualties, as deaths from Covid-19, so far. And that follows news the previous week of a couple of workers in logistics jobs who had passed away from Covid-19 . One of them was at a military depot in Pennsylvania. And then there was also four additional workers who had been at grocery stores, which is a place where even those of us are sheltering at home have seen that they're workers in really visible jobs, right there among the crowds every day.
David Maloney: 3:14 And certainly I think people are even more aware of supply chain than ever before as they realize the importance supply chain plays on an everyday basis, let alone in the midst of a crisis. Ben, you also talked about some new companies that are beginning to emerge with ways to be able to serve an at-home work force. Can you tell us about that?
Ben Ames: 3:34 Yes, that's right. The Covid has really sort of upended some of the typical patterns in warehousing and delivery and transportation. We've seen the federal FMCSA regulators suspend their hours-of-service limits for truck drivers carrying certain loads, so that there's some real spikes out there in the amount of deliveries and the time the truckers are spending on the roads. And one of the impacts of that, you know, venture capital keeps on going. And there was a $30 million round, it was raised for a startup company called Bringg, which is spelled like it sounds, but with two G's on the end. What Bringg does, they have a software platform that lets users orchestrate and oversee the whole delivery chain, whether it's their own in-house fleets, whether using third party delivery providers, a combination, whatever it is. So it really helps the visibility over that complicated process.
David Maloney: 4:41 Very good. Victoria, the Logistics Manager's Index is also reflecting our new normal. Can you tell us about what that Index is all about and what it's saying right now?
Victoria Kickham: 4:52 Sure. The Logistics Manager's Index is a monthly report that comes out, it surveys professionals across the logistics and supply chain, and it had been trending down for the last couple of years. Still growing--I should say, still indicating growth in the sector, but trending down and sort of showing that the industry had settled into kind of a slow growth mode. But in March, activity really, really picked up and increased, just as you'd expect, because of the growing need for transportation and warehousing. So, really we'll know, what happens in April will tell us a lot. And at the same time, we noticed that earlier this month you know, shipments--or cargo, I should say--through some of the nation's ports were down drastically, so that paints a different picture. So the LMI folks and others a really kind of waiting to see how this plays out in April, to see what happens.
David Maloney: 5:49 Then we'll report on that at that time. Ben, we've also got on our website to some great Covid-related resources. Can you tell us about what's available there?
Ben Ames: 5:59 We have, yeah. There's companies that have been, you know, so affected by this--as Victoria was saying, throughout the logistics sector--that some of them have compiled really incredibly helpful amounts of information to help their partner companies and their clients navigate this strange new world. So, as we've come across those in our reporting and in our speaking with industry figures, we've collected them all on a single resource page, so anybody can come and see how Covid is affecting the logistics sector specifically. I can give an example of one of those.
David Maloney: 6:35 Please.
Ben Ames: 6:37 So that there's a group called MHEDA, which listeners may be familiar with. They're the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association. And MHEDA has a landing page full of Covid-19 resources and advice for anybody in the industry, and five points on that page that people can help determine who is an essential business, in terms of that classification, to keep on operating. It summarizes the various stay-at-home orders in different states. It gives guidance on how to manage the workplace during the crisis, which again, that would touch on some of Victoria's reporting. It gives members news updates on status of operations. For instance, we've seen some ports, maritime ports, revert to weekend hours, and we've seen some grocery stores have restricted hours so they could have cleaning. And then lastly, it gives a calendar of webinars. Because all of this, as soon as we've learned what's new in Covid, it seems to change the next day. So it's more important than ever to stay informed
David Maloney: 7:47 And so on that resources page at DCVelocity.com, we have links to where other people have placed resources, and those are available. We also have a very special section, too. In fact, a header as you come on to the website, where you can go directly and see the latest in the coronavirus coverage. So that's it for this week. For more information on the stories that we discussed in Logistics Matters, be sure to check out DCVelocity.com for details. Thanks, Ben and Victoria, and thank you all for listening. We'll see you next week on Logistics Matters.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.