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Tariffs and carrier capacity continue to be the two top issues increasing the length of transportation executives’ worry lines, according to attendees of the CSCMP Edge 2025 conference.

Supply chain companies need to develop risk mitigation plans that leverage insights and technologies, according to a panel of experts.

“Tariffs, I think, have taken most of the air out of the room this year,” said Andrei Quinn-Barabanov, supply chain and risk management leader at Moody’s.

CSCMP’s 2025 State of Logistics Report found that annual expenditures associated with moving freight grew 5.4% year over year to $2.58 trillion in 2024 compared with 2023.

Some 14% of shippers serviced by 3PLs are extremely confident in their ability to adapt to the shifting sands of U.S. trade policy and myriad tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

To take full advantage, 3PLs must forge better relationships with less-than-truckload and last-mile carriers among other tweaks to their business activities, CSCMP's report said.

Tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, and the consequent aversion to risk, are a major reason why there is no clear trajectory for recovery, the study’s authors warned.

Over-the-road carriers waiting for an upturn in the freight cycle must make the most efficient use of their trucks’ space to best ride out ongoing market weakness, according to CSCMP.

The outlook for transportation and logistics in the fourth quarter focuses on the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the impending shopping season.

The logistics sector continues to demonstrate the perseverance that carried it through the toughest days of the economic downturn that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals said in a recent report.