Brian Taylor, President and Chief Operating Officer of Horizon Logistics, LLC, today addressed the US Exports Conference at the Grand Hyatt hotel, underscoring for attendees the importance of logistics considerations when exploring new market opportunities overseas.
"The issue for many US exporters has not been finding buyers. It has been getting products from interior points in the US to the ports, on to container vessels and delivered to final destination in a timely and cost-effective manner," Taylor said. "Supply chain management has always been complex and it's becoming even more difficult."
Taylor cited last year's reduction of US intermodal services by international ocean carriers, severe shipping equipment imbalances and consolidation in the US trucking industry as important developments that will affect the competitiveness of US exporters in the global economy. He cautioned that, as the new US administration discusses programs to grow US exports, logistics constraints would not just go away.
"There are fundamental changes taking hold in US logistics," Taylor said. "We will have to manage intermodal transportation taking into account equipment shortages and fewer service alternatives at a time when US exporters need as much support as we can muster."
