In the latest episode of GSCi News, we take a brief look at last mile KPIs, Wincanton contracts, rising road freight capacity and the impact of US export bans on China.
European road freight capacity jumps to a two-year-high
The trend of rising road freight capacity in the European market seems to have stabilised as the industry continues to be faced with a sluggish economy alongside seasonal lows. Available capacity in the European market has been on an upward path since May 2022, according to Transporeon’s capacity index. Compared to the previous month, road transport capacity increased by 6.3% in February 2023. Large capacity index increases between Q4 and Q1 are a regular pattern in the index.
However, the capacity index increased by 19.0% year-on-year, which doesn’t match historical patterns and points to an untypical scenario, mainly due to lower market volumes. While more balance in capacity is certainly good news for shippers, it is worrying that available transport capacity saw a two-digit growth in February.
Access more data like this on our GSCI platform.
Last mile transit times increase during 2022 peak season
Parcel Monitor has provided Ti Insight with data on collection point metrics for Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Spain, and France.
Transit time increased for four out of six countries during the 2022 peak season. Spain experienced the biggest jump in transit time in Q4 2022 compared with the previous quarter by 36.1%, followed by Australia (16.3%), Denmark (9.1%), and Germany (4.1%). Read more on this in our free white paper.
The humanoids have arrived
On March the 2nd, a robotics startup called Figure, based in California’s Silicon Valley, unveiled its first product. A general purpose ‘humanoid’ robot, that is designed to be deployed across a range of commercial and domestic environments alongside (or instead of) humans.
This is relevant to the logistics sector as their target market for initial deployment is the warehouse, factory, fulfilment centres and some retail distribution operations.
Read the whole article from Ken Lyon on Ti Insight.
US ban on exports to China start to bite
By Professor John Manners Bell
For advanced sectors of the technology industry, legislation passed in the US and other Western markets has led to a ban on investment in China, the export of advanced technologies and services to China as well as the use of Chinese made electronic components in Western infrastructure. The aim of the legislation is to:
• Set back the development of China’s chip design and manufacture in order to prevent the technology ‘bleeding’ from commercial to military use. The US sees companies such as Huawei as an extension of the Chinese government.
• Reduce the vulnerability of Western infrastructure to hacking by Chinese intelligence services through purposefully designed ‘backdoors’ in electronics components.
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Finally, news around Wincanton’s UK operations
Wincanton has been selected to manage all national transport operations for New Look, one of the UK’s value-fashion omnichannel retailers.
The new, three-year contract, which begins in July 2023, will see Wincanton provide national transport services from the retailer’s national distribution centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme to replenish stock at New Look’s 400 stores situated in towns and cities across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Wincanton and Waitrose & Partners have extended their partnership with a new five-year contract, which will see Wincanton continue to manage the storage and distribution of wines and spirits for Waitrose & Partners from its bonded warehouse facility in Greenford, London.
