A company's transportation portfolio needs to ensure balance and agility, says Jennifer Kobus, vice president of transportation at Ulta Beauty.

In this epilogue to ProMat 2023, industry experts distill, discuss and deconstruct the latest in warehouse technology trends as seen at ProMat.

The slump in parcels is industry-wide, with rival United Parcel Service Inc. reporting on January 31 lower U.S. volumes and a forecast for declining sales in 2023.

UPS has been stressing profitability over volume but the drop in revenue was a surprise.

Freight carriers are seeing the impact, as the number of big and bulky shipments declines and retail customers continue to pare inventories and push back restocking.

UPS argues that it already pays its workers, especially drivers, much more than competitors.

Regional and other carriers still have less than 10% of the U.S. market, but the share is growing.

The goods we consume today require complex logistics processes in urban areas. If not planned adequately, they can negatively affect urban sustainability.

The situation is highly significant, as Royal Mail is deemed critical to the U.K. economy.

The move is the latest step in FedEx’s effort to reduce costs, improve efficiency and deal with a decline of package volume as people return to shopping at retail stores.