Unboxing Logistics Supply Chain Trends in 2025 With Chris Caplice From MIT and DAT Freight & Analytics
Last January, Chris Caplice joined us to discuss the top supply chain trends of 2024. This year, he’s back to talk about what the world of shipping and logistics will look like in 2025.
As executive director at MIT Center for Transportation Logistics and chief scientist at DAT Freight and Analytics, Chris is deeply immersed in the supply chain industry, and he shares some great insights about trucking, tariffs, and more.
Listen to learn what you should expect from the new year—and most importantly, how your business can prepare.
Trend #1: The truckload market will enter an inflationary period
Chris explains that since the late 1990s, “the truckload market has been on a series of cycles. … Capacity is tight and prices go up. Demand exceeds supply. And then it crashes back down and the opposite happens.”
Going into 2025, Chris anticipates that the market will again enter an inflationary period—one where shippers have less leverage. He advises businesses to “fix your roof before it starts raining.”
Trend #2: Global conflicts will continue—but supply chains will remain resilient
Despite ongoing crises, Chris is optimistic about the global supply chain’s ability to adapt and continue to function. “Global supply chains are so dynamic and flexible. … It's similar when there's a natural disaster, like a hurricane. There's always a sharp shock, but it's usually bounded geographically and temporally because the system recovers. We're very good at self-healing.”
Trend #3: Businesses will try to stay ahead of tariffs
What about tariffs? Here’s what Chris has to say: “Tariffs will probably have a big impact. We'll see how that plays out because you don't know what Trump says and what Trump will do, what'll actually get through the Senate. But if tariffs really do increase dramatically I don't think it'll change demand that much—maybe slightly. It might change how things enter the country … but I don't know how dramatically it'll shift the overall shipping patterns.”
In the meantime, many businesses have already begun importing more inventory than usual in an attempt to stay ahead of tariffs. “You hear the stories of especially small shippers bringing in a lot now just to stock up for the year. So we're going to see a lot of heavy inventory costs.”
Links
- Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-caplice-1839/
- Visit the DAT Freight and Analytics website: https://www.dat.com/
- Visit the MIT Center for Transportation Logistics website: https://ctl.mit.edu/
- Roads Rarely Traveled by Woody Richardson: https://www.amazon.com/Roads-Rarely-Traveled-Truckload-Purchasing-ebook/dp/B0CW8Y5QHK/
- Transportation Adventures of a Food Shipper by Rob Haddock: https://www.amazon.com/Transportation-Adventures-Food-Shipper-Truckload-ebook/dp/B0DJ5XMLKV/