The chemical industry is expanding. 72 percent of chemical company CEOs said they saw more growth potential for the industry in 2016 than in the previous three years, according to PwC’s 2016 Global CEO Survey. Two years out from that survey, and the changes have been drastic. Emerging technology like AI and blockchain has cemented itself as more than just emerging. Digitization has expanded the relationship between the provider and the consumer, in turn opening doors to new markets with untouched potential sales. All of this combined with a good economy, several catastrophes that have called for city-wide rebuilds, and seasonal shipments are paving the way for an increase in products sold… and products shipped in the chemical industry.
Though this feels like a positive for the manufacturers and the providers, the logistics back-end of the industry is struggling. Over-the-road and rail congestion has hit an all time high, truck drivers are aging out, and the current infrastructure is not equipped for such massive growth. Where does the chemical production industry go from here? To help make sense of the cross-industry issue are two members of The Logistix Company team: Alex Azeredo, VP of Sales & Marketing, and Josh Savory, Operations Manager. “We used to see spot quotes for intermodal dry moves that would be at least a thousand, maybe two thousand less. And now just because of capacity, you’ve got those companies offering those lanes at much higher rates; sometimes where the rate is, it doesn’t even make sense to use intermodal anymore,” Savory said. “It used to be you could save a thousand dollars by having a longer transit time, now it’s you just have a longer transit time and it’s almost the same cost.”
They break down how the increase in demand, not the shortage of supply, has caused this issue. Along with how to deal with increasing rates, tips for staying flexible on delivery dates, and how government regulations and tariffs may ease the problem in a roundabout way, Azeredo and Savory stress heavily the importance of collaboration in this time of growth and strain. “You have ELD mandates, you have driver hours, you know they can only drive so many hours a week. That’s putting a damper on a lot of these guys pay,” Azeredo said. “You’re seeing a lot of these long-haul drivers becoming more terminal to terminal, kind of like a spiderweb effect. It’s getting wild out there.”
For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Transportation Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.
Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!
Twitter – @TransportMKSL
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale
The Rothman Index, developed by Dr. Michael Rothman and his brother Steven, is a pioneering patient acuity score designed to help clinicians recognize patient deterioration earlier and more clearly. Presented as an easily understood, color-coded graph that updates in real time, the Index displays upward and downward trends in patient condition at a glance—transforming…
Hospitals collect enormous amounts of clinical data, yet preventable patient decline remains a persistent challenge. Over the past two decades, hospitals have invested heavily in early warning scores and rapid response infrastructure, but translating data into timely, meaningful action has proven difficult. As clinicians contend with alert fatigue and increasing documentation burden, a more…
Healthcare generates enormous volumes of clinical data, yet making sense of that information in real time remains a challenge. Subtle changes in vitals, labs, and nursing assessments often precede serious events, but when that information is fragmented across the medical record, emerging risks can go unnoticed. The central challenge facing hospitals today is not…
These days, ‘home’ means more than just four walls. It’s where people reset, gather, and express who they are—raising the bar for what they expect from the brands that help shape those spaces. Consumers are no longer just buying décor—they’re investing in meaning, memory, and moments that last. Research continues to show that people…
For decades, the freight industry has leaned heavily on compliance data and opaque reputation systems, leaving carriers, brokers, and shippers with little visibility into actual service quality. Reviews often sat behind paywalls, skewed negative, or lacked validation altogether, making it difficult to separate reliable partners from unreliable ones. Today, the vast majority of trucking remains…
Drayage, the short-haul transport of containers from ports to warehouses, has become a critical link in global logistics. E-commerce growth and shifting supply chain strategies have pushed this step into sharper focus. U.S. containerized imports totaled 28,196,462 TEUs in 2024, a 13 percent increase from the previous year, underscoring the rising demand for port-to-warehouse…
