As we reported last week, the annual State of Logistics Report for 2008 was just released by CSCMP and Rosalyn Wilson, and it painted in great detail the challenges companies face with their logistics operations. (For a complete SCDigest analysis, go here: State of the Logistics Union 2008.)

As shown in the graphic below, logistics costs as a percent of the economy have risen for the past five years, and at 10.1% of Gross Domestic Product have reached double-digit levels for the first time since 2000. This isn't just academic statistics - it reflects huge increases in transportation and inventory costs for most companies.

Perhaps most amazingly, transportation costs of a percent of GDP are back where they were 20 years ago, when deregulation of the trucking industry was ushering in years of transportation cost declines.

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