CartonCloud Logistics Index
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“Our industry supports hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across a global industry, and I am proud of the role CartonCloud can play in taking the pulse of the market and sharing insights to help businesses grow.”
— CartonCloud Founder, Vincent Fletcher
The Q3 2023 CCLI Survey is open now!
— and all entries can go in the draw to win a $250 Amazon gift card!
CCLI Q1 2024 Mid-Year Outlook
Following years of workforce shortages, businesses are now looking to upskill their workforce and use tech to equip their team to boost output.
Technology investment is focused on reducing overheads, increasing capacity, and boosting customer service. Rising operational costs and the abililty to plan for demand are the top concerns facing businesses at this time.
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Q3 2023 Mid-Year Outlook
At the start of the year, the Q1 2023 CCLI survey recorded the lowest industry sentiment in two years. In late 2023, we gathered insights and data from hundreds of logistics professionals, to gauge industry sentiment for growth, highlight the biggest concerns, and explore how businesses planned for growth in 2024.
- Industry optimism typically increases for the end-of-year season, however as 2023 draws to a close, the overall industry sentiment for growth, hiring and the current economic climate remain lower than the previous two end-of-the year holiday periods.
- This is especially true for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), who recorded the lowest outlook for the economy, growth, and hiring potential this quarter of any business size.
CCLI Q1, April 2023
This report draws on data from over 1,800 industry members from across the globe to compare global insights and identify challenges and attitudes from peers and partners across the logistics industry.
- Industry optimism for growth falls to early-pandemic levels for the first time in two years amidst economic recession concerns.
- Digitization of the logistics industry is growing, with high intent to invest in new and emerging logistics technology and the average logistics company using 2-5 software systems within daily operations.
- Workforce hiring concerns drop as companies seek to increase capacity through partnerships and outsourcing, as well as increasing fleet and warehouse space.
CCLI Q3, September 2022
Gathering insights from over 80 members of the logistics industry from North America, Australia, and the Pacific, the Q3 report highlights a cultural shift changing how 3PLs offer support to customers, and attract/ retain new staff.
- Industry trends suggest 3PLs will start being more like 4PLs, and provide additional advice, help and support to their customers to foresee potential disruptions or bottlenecks and help them to avoid/overcome these hold- ups with ease, and without any impact to their business.
- Many logistics companies are also looking internally, to their own company culture, values and policies, as key factors in staff attraction and retention, and customer acquisition.
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CCLI Q1, March 2022
Last year's unprecedented demand pushed logistics operators to take on more business, offer new services, and find new ways to work around global disruptions and workforce shortages.
- Over the past year, logistics providers have worked to overcome global supply chain disruptions and workforce shortages — while responding to booming demand and adapting to meet expectations for faster and more flexible delivery options.
- These adaptations to meet demand and overcome workforce shortages have shaped the emerging trends we are seeing in 2022. Companies are looking to increase operational efficiencies and boost workforce capacity to drive revenue growth.
CCLI Q4, December 2021
We hear from over 120 members of the Australian logistics industry, discussing plans for 2022; from what skills they are seeking, to how they plan to meet the changing expectations of consumers in last-mile delivery and trackability.
- The logistics boom is showing no signs of slowing, and industry members are forecasting another period of growth.
- Hiring new staff was ranked as the most valuable activity undertaken last quarter across all sectors, in terms of boosting capacity and preparing for the busy season. Companies ranked the most sought after skill sets, with industry experience and specialist skills coming out on top.
CCLI Q3, August 2021
Growth optimism and hiring intention hit a record high for the year to date, with Black Friday and Holiday sales looming.
- Looking forward to the build for the busy season, the Q3 report explores the top three trends logistics companies were adopting in order to cope with the rise in demand.
- With soaring demand felt across the industry, many companies are looking to increase capacity through hiring new staff, increasing their fleet, investing in tech to optimise their operations, or outsourcing activities and services.
- While early-mid year industrial actions and global supply chain delays made industry headlines, the forecast for high demand through the busy season saw...
CCLI Q2, June 2021
In Q2, we explored the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions on the logistics industry and attitudes toward more environmentally friendly industry practices.
Q2 Snapshot: Q2 saw high industry optimism in regard to the economic climate and expected growth over the coming months — despite slightly lower optimism for hiring than the previous quarter.Businesses felt the economic shifts, government stimulus and changes to business practices resulting from COVID-19 had a neutral to positive impact on the logistics, overall seen to have offset adverse effects felt from restrictions and border closures.
When looking to adopt more environmentally friendly processes, the switch to paperless technology was seen as the most popular investment.
CCLI Q1, March 2021
Our inaugural report explored what activities businesses were planning for growth in the coming 12 months, the biggest challenges they expected to face, current business capacity, and technology adoption across operations.
The Q1 Survey also provided a benchmark to track industry sentiment in future reports, calculating sentiment based on optimism for business growth and hiring potential in the coming months, combined with current views on the economic climate.
Q1 snapshot: Despite positive attitudes towards the economy and business performance, the logistics industry is not without its challenges. Increasing operating costs were the main challenge faced by most (50%) businesses followed by driver and workforce shortages (42.5%).