Businesses see biggest value in transport visibility

Out of all transportation management capabilities, transport visibility – the tracking and tracing of goods in the supply chain – will be the most valuable capability over the next two years, according to 43% of businesses. This is one of the key findings from the latest annual global transportation management benchmark survey by Descartes.

Descartes recently conducted the survey for the seventh time. In view of the high value companies place on transport visibility, it should come as no surprise that more than half of the respondents (52%) regard visibility as their biggest investment in transportation management over the next two years.

Impact of driver shortage

Over the next five years, 42% of the respondents expect the driver shortage to have the greatest impact on transportation management. This is followed by carrier capacity at 40%. Notably, also at 40%, the expected impact of higher fuel costs on operations is significantly higher than last year (25%).

Overall, companies are continuing to invest in transportation management, with as many as 65% of respondents indicating that they will increase their investments. 31% are maintaining the existing level of investment, and only 4% plan to reduce their investment in transportation management.

Investments for growth

The strongest-performing companies financially will also account for most of the investments for growth. In fact, these companies are twice as likely to increase the percentage of their investments in transportation management compared to financially underperforming companies.

Moreover, the survey shows that the financially high-performing businesses are much more likely to be able to invest in transportation management without obstacles (41%) than their weaker-performing counterparts (26%).