Ti’s newest addition to its Logistics Monitor collection,
North America Logistics Monitor, covers these questions and more. The North American economy has indeed
remained resilient. Manufacturing was good across the region as demand for
automobiles increased which resulted in increases in export and cross-border
activity. However, declines in November manufacturing activity were noted in
Canada and the US. Although Canada’s activity remained above the 50-mark which
denotes expansion, US activity actually contracted. This may be attributed to
the uncertainty of the “fiscal cliff” outcome. Mexico, however, bucked the
trend as manufacturing increased due to demand in automobiles, televisions and
other high tech goods.
Labor concerns at US ports are of great concern. Strikes
were recently settled at Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland. Portland narrowly
averted a strike. These disruptions resulted in freight diversion to other US
West Coast posts as well as to Canadian and Mexican ports. East and Gulf coast
ports may face a similar fate in January as talks continue. Shippers, along
with their logistics and transportation partners, are certainly making
alternate plans just in case a strike is to occur in January.
Finally, the uncertainty in the economy has increased as
business investment slows and consumer spending remains cautious. The US
government continues to work on solutions to avoid the estimated $600bn in tax
increases and spending cuts set to begin in January if not resolved by the end
of this year. Not only has the uncertainty spread throughout the US economy but
also has added to the global economic uncertainty. In fact, the International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that the U.S. has a duty
“to try to remove uncertainty and doubt as quickly as possible” regarding the
fiscal cliff. “The U.S. has an economic leadership in the world. To protect
that, to make sure that leadership endures, this uncertainty has to be removed,
because uncertainty fuels doubt as to that leadership.”
Despite the concerning economy, logistics and transportation
providers that operate in North America are benefiting from cross-border
activity, intermodal growth and the growing demand for ecommerce logistics. Mergers
and acquisitions are strong particularly within the trucking segment as truck
brokerage and expansion into new domestic tradelanes seem to be of special
interest.
The new North America Logistics Monitor is a monthly analysis
of the trends affecting the logistics and transportation market in Canada,
Mexico and the US. Along with a regional
overview and country-specific analysis, the report also includes charts from
Ti’s Dashboard service. The report serves as a quick and easy reference for
decision makers to monitor this important region.
Other Logistics Monitors include the Global Logistics Monitor and coming in January, 2013, the Asia Pacific Logistics Monitor.
