For the 22nd consecutive year, Dr. John Langley of Penn State University has led the annual Third Party Logistics Study, released again this year at the CSCMP conference in Atlanta last week, a collaboration between Langley, again this year Penske Logistics, and new sponsors recruiting firm Korn Ferry and consultant Infosys, basically replacing Capgemini, which was a sponsor for many years.
Early on in the report, the authors present data on the growth of 3PL revenues - obviously, a direct proxy for spending on outsourcing by shippers - both globally and by different regions, based on data provided by Amrstrong & Associates, as shown below:

From 2010-16 - notably after the Great Recession - global 3PL revenues have grown a modest 2.8% annually, and SCDigest notes that is below global GDP growth over the period. But in North America, that annual growth rate is a more robust 3.8%, well above GDP growth of around 2%.
But even in North America, that growth has recently slowed, rising just 2% in 2016 versus 2015, and with basically zero growth the year before.
Has the logistics outsourcing wave peaked? It will be interesting to see next year's data.
You can read are full summary of the report here: Highlights from the 22nd Annual Third-Party Logistics Study
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