Bradley Jacobs, CEO of XPO Logistics, one of the world’s largest logistics companies, talked to Bloomberg about the impact of e-commerce on today’s logistics and current and future trends. According to the XPO’s CEO, there is a need to increase transport efficiency, which appears to be only possible through platformisation, i.e. the creation of a platform allowing for the general exchange of resource information between all market players.
In the interview for Bloomberg TV Jacobs mentioned, among others, current trends shaping the logistics industry. According to him, its dynamic development for years has been greatly affected by the e-commerce market and the needs of ever more demanding customers such as quick processing of returns or home delivery within a few hours or the next day.
Jacobs diagnosed what could be the biggest obstacle to meeting the growing demands of customers
Today, there are approximately 3 million Class 8 trucks (the largest HGVs in the US – editorial note) driving on motorways in the United States and all of them are in the wrong place. They are unused in about 20-25%, which means that about a quarter of the cargo space they have is empty. It’s not efficient, actually, it’s completely inefficient. The reason for this is that there is no central place (platform – editorial note) where you can log in and see where all these trucks are. If such datasets are unlocked, (transport – editorial note) productivity will increase,” explains Jacobs.
As XPO’s CEO added, “a solution is needed that will gather a wide source of offers and information in one place”.
Some open digital platforms such as ShipWell in the US or the new Trans.eu Platform in Europe already offer this possibility today. The use of such tools not only gives a picture of the whole market, crucial for resources management, instead of getting only fragmented information but also allows, by means of automation and algorithms, to minimize the risk of errors and speed up the work of shippers and, most importantly, give them access to much larger resources (carriers) than before.
You can see the full interview by clicking on the video below:
Photo: XPO Logistics