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Supply
Chain by the Numbers |
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Jan. 9, 2025
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Fork Truck Injuries are High. December PMI Shows Contraction Again. Ocean Rates Spiking. eCommerce Sales Strong for Holiday 2024
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7500 |
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That is about the number each year of workers in manufacturing plants and distribution centers that are injured in accidents involving fork trucks, with around 100 of those leading to a fatality. That according to US federal safety data, as reported this week by the Wall Street Journal, which finds many companies are looking to look for fork truck alternatives, such so-called tuggers, autonomous trucks, pallet jacks, and even manual pick carts, all for safety reasons. Mercedes-Benz and Tesla are two of the companies cited as having active efforts to reduce the use of fork trucks, though not all companies can and the process will often take years.
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| That was the level of the US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for December, as released late last week the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). That score is again below the key 50 mark that separates US manufacturing expansion from contraction, though up a little from the November score of 48.4. What’s more, the US PMI had previously been in contraction territory for 17 straight months until it poked its head into expansion in March with a score of 50.3, but that has now been followed by nine more months of contraction. One bright spot: the New Order Index was in expansion territory for the second straight months after seven months of contraction, strengthening to 52.5%, 2.1 percentage points higher than the 50.4 recorded in November. That is good news for future US manufacturing activity. Other PMI metrics were mixed, which is actually an improvement over recent months. |
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8.7% |
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| That was the growth in on-line sales for the 2024 November through December holiday season, according to data this week from Adobe Analytics. That took sales in absolute terms to about $241 billion, Adobe says. That growth rate was the highest since the 32% seen in the pandemic year of 2020, even though the growth this year was up over a much larger base than in 2021-2023. It was also the most mobile-driven retail peak season of all time, Adobe said, with smartphones used for 54.5% of purchases. Last year, mobile commerce accounted for 51.1% of holiday-season sales. |
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That was about the spot market rate to ship a 40-foot ocean container from Asia to the US West Coast here at the start of 2025. That represents a 50% jump from $4,004 a month earlier, according to data from Xeneta, a Norwegian freight platform. The rate to the East Coast was at $7,100, a 31% jump. That after a mostly strong freight environment during 2o24, as rates were bolstered by ships taking the long way around Africa to get to Euro ports from Asia to avoid the risk of rocket attacks from so called Houthi rebels when traversing the Red Sea to the Suez Canal. The longer journeys have effectively reduced capacity, putting upward pressure on container rates. The recent jump seems to be related to companies increasing imports ahead of possible East and Gulf Coast port strikes and likely hikes on import tariffs, as promised by the incoming Trump administration.
