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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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- Oct. 13, 2022
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Amazon Making Huge Investmtent in e-Trucks; Global Economy is Wobbly; Rail Workers May Reject Tentative Agreement; On-line Holidays Sales Growth to be Way Down |
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1 Billion Euros+ |
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That is how much – the equivalent of about $974 million – that Amazon said this week it is going to spend over the next five years on electric vans, trucks and low-emission package hubs across Europe, accelerating its drive to achieve net-zero carbon. Amazon said the investment was also aimed at spurring innovation across the transportation industry and encouraging more public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs). Amazon also said the investment will be used in part to more than triple the size of its electric van fleet in Europe, from 3,000 vehicles currently to more than 10,000 by 2025. The retail giant noted that those 3,000 zero-emission vans delivered over 100 million packages Europe in 2021. Amazon said it also hopes to purchase more than 1,500 heavy duty electric trucks - used for "middle-mile" shipments to its fulfillment centers - in the coming years. |
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| That is the downgraded forecast for 2022 global economic growth, according to new numbers this week from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also downgraded its projection for 2023 growth to 2.7%. The IMF also downgraded its US economic growth forecast to just 1% this year as a result of the Fed’s ongoing interest rate hikes, but noted the slowdown could be even worse in Europe. Also worrisome: the organization said it expects global inflation will peak at 9.5% later this year before falling to 4.1% by 2024 - still significantly higher than 3.4% last year. Overall, there’s a one-in-four chance that global growth could fall below the historically low level of 2%, the IMF estimates, but the chances of growth falling to near-zero - or worse - next year remain high, at about 10% to 15%. |
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2.5% |
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| That is the projected growth in on-line sales for this coming Holiday season, according to a new forecasts from Adobe Analytics. If that sounds low, it’s because it utracking the figure in 2015. Adobe even warned of a potential decline, projecting a range for sales to be between down 2% and up 5%. Adobe cited a number of factors behind the low projections, including the impact of inflation, retailers forced to discount prices to move excess inventory, and moving sales earlier in the season. Adobe says on-line sales on Black Friday are expected to increase just 1% from a year ago, while Cyber Monday revenue is expected to grow 5.1%, still a modest increase versus recent years. Should it be called “Bleak Friday,” this year Adobe asks? |
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That is the percent of members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division, a union of railroad works, who voted this week against the new contract negotiated by union leadership with the rail carriers. The thumbs down vote renews the threat that there could be a strike that shuts down part of the nation’s already struggling supply chain that appeared to have been avoided by a tentative agreement pending a vote of some dozen individual unions. “The lack of paid sick time off was the most cited and specific concern of membership. It was especially evident during the pandemic that it was a major problem,” said a statement from the union on Tuesday. “The railroads have so far not addressed it in any meaningful way.” The Brotherhood is the third largest of the major freight railroad unions. The two largest freight unions, which represent the more than 55,000 engineers and conductors who make up the two-person train crews, are conducting their own rank-and-file ratification vote by mail.
