normalization remains the goal of the global movement of goods, and the desire for normalization has become the mantra of carriers and shippers. After three years of intense global supply chain disruptions, 2023 is likely to be the year of the much-sought-after "new normal.
Jeff Tucker, CEO of third-party logistics provider (3PL) and brokerage Tucker Company Worldwide, said that although global and domestic U.S. supply chains have not yet "normalized," pricing for most models, especially trading spot market pricing, is undergoing adjustments that usually precede the normalization of operations.
Michael Pettit, CFO of trailer maker Wabash National, expects Wabash production to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and the industry as a whole to its pre-pandemic long-term trend line at levels that would erase the "bulge" of 2020-22, as seen in almost every chart of industrial activity, from inventories to production to pricing.
the economic outlook for the next two years is fairly flat, with little growth or contraction, according to S & P Global data. In that case, "normal" would feel much softer than in 2021, but inflation could fall to the Federal Reserve's 2.8 percent target for 2023 and to 2.3 percent in 2024.
Lars Jensen, chief executive of consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said eastbound trans-Pacific trade would face a "hard landing" in the coming months, characterized by falling freight volumes and spot rates, with a recovery in the peak season of 2023 at the earliest.
the US spot vehicle transportation rate plummeted throughout 2022, it appears to be stabilizing above the pre-pandemic "normal" level. LTL rates are more flexible, mainly because the LTL market is much smaller than the vehicle transport market.
shipping prices will continue to slide this year from historic highs in 2021, shippers are unlikely to recover all of the pandemic-era price increases. First, outside of some retail sectors, freight demand hasn't fallen much.
Shipping is to return to some degree of seasonality in 2022, suggesting that the freight market is beginning to behave more normally on land. Expectations have repeatedly been thwarted in 2021 by U.S. importers and shippers, hampered by massive import waves and congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2021 seaborne capacity shortage translates into a 2022 shortage of U.S. storage space near ports and inland. Consumers demand more products and developers build industrial storage space, and importers are expected to accept higher base stock levels.
Normalization of can mean many things, but shippers and their transportation suppliers must continue to innovate, even in relatively normal times, and establishing a resilient supply chain is also a key part.