2010 ended on a much higher note than originally expected for most container ports worldwide.
The two changes we see for this year are a result of the recovering economy and the residue of the dramatic drop in container volumes in 2008 and 2009.
The first change will be a greater focus on the global logistics industry’s carbon footprint. Although we started to see that focus in 2007 and early 2008, attention was quickly subsumed by the ensuing economic chaos. Major participants in the global logistics industry introduced a few initiatives in 2010, but most concentrated on the developing recovery in global trade and how they could maintain and grow their business.
Barring any major economic upheavals, the engineering of the global logistics network to reduce carbon footprint will resurface this year.
The second change we see is a growing intolerance by the global logistics industry for inefficiencies and unproductive practices throughout the supply chain. Cost has always been a key driver, but growing volume hid inefficiencies in the system. As those volumes dwindled in 2009, the financial consequences of unproductive practices were displayed prominently. With service providers negotiating new contracts at lower prices in a down market, the industry can no longer afford to ignore, nor will it tolerate, the added costs of unproductive work practices and inefficient facilities.