Dive Brief:
- Warehouse construction and U.S. freight are skyrocketing but U.S. exports are declining, pointing to a growing, stronger U.S. economy, according to a new logistics industry report from Statista.
- The U.S. logistics industry is currently valued at almost $200 billion, and in terms of growth is catching up to the Asia Pacific logistics industry, which is valued at $305 billion.
- Also of note is the decline of the United States Post Office's total mail volume, which has steadily decreased since 2008.
Dive Insight:
The logistics report from Statista compellingly illustrates a strong U.S. economy that's only getting stronger — but also shows there's still room for the U.S. to grow.
Take exports, for example. More exports typically mean the U.S. economy is flourishing and is a stronger competitor in the global market for a variety of goods. While exports have slightly declined over the past two years (after a strong surge between 2010 and 2014), it's not necessarily a warning sign, especially giving the freight explosion.
XPO Logistics clocked in as the top American logistics provider by revenue, followed by J.B. Hunt, UPS, DHL and C.H. Robinson, respectively.
But Germany was still the top logistics market based on performance in 2016, and the U.S. is at the bottom of a top 10 list of international air freight.
That said, U.S. warehouse construction shot up by 36% YoY in 2017 after several years of growth, and U.S. light truck retail sales continue to climb, and U.S. ports continue to swell with higher volumes of freight.
The report suggests that while the U.S. is growing, it's still not the top dog in every aspect of the logistics industry, but as prominent American logistics providers — like XPO, UPS, FedEx, J.B. Hunt and C.H. Robinson — seek to become top worldwide 3PLs, and as e-commerce continues to drive the trucking surge, that could easily change.
