Freight Transportation Companies Slashed Payrolls in January
By
Chainalytics
Couriers and other cargo-handling businesses slashed payrolls by 13,000 jobs in January, ending several months of gains during which the logistics sector ramped up for the holiday season.
Employers in the logistics and transportation sector cut 4,000 jobs overall last month, as cutbacks across most shipping industries offset the addition of 9,400 jobs in warehousing and storage, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Warehouse operators have added more than 70,000 jobs in the last 12 months as companies have built up operations to handle the big retail-world shift toward e-commerce.
But couriers—including the parcel carriers that handle final delivery of consumer online sales orders—cut 7,400 jobs following the busy late-year period. Trucking companies cut 1,400 jobs from December to January and rail operators cut another 600, a sign of tepid demand in industrial sectors. [Full Story]
Chris concurrently serves as Chief Scientist for Chainalytics and the Executive Director of MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics. At Chainalytics, Chris pioneered the Freight Market Intelligence Consortium which he presently co-leads.
In his role as Executive Director of the Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is responsible for the planning and management of the research, education, and corporate outreach programs for the center to include the Supply Chain Exchange and the Master of Engineering in Logistics (MLOG) graduate program. He is also the founder of the MIT FreightLab – a research initiative that focuses on improving the way freight transportation is designed, procured, and managed. Prior to joining MIT, Chris held senior management positions in supply chain consulting, product development, and professional services at several companies, including Logistics.com, SABRE, and PTCG.
Chris holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Transportation and Logistics Systems, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
Inam leads the global Freight Market Intelligence Consortium (FMIC) at Chainalytics. In this role, he develops intelligence solutions for the transportation market using machine learning and data visualization techniques. FMIC offers unparalleled visibility to transportation rates and market data across the globe, making it the most powerful and trusted source of freight market intelligence.
Prior to joining Chainalytics, Inam led the engineering team at Transplace, a third party logistics provider, where he developed and innovated such service offerings as network optimization, site selection, procurement, and transportation optimization. These services helped many shippers balance the cost and service trade-offs across their large, complex networks.
Inam holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in Applied Operations Research, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State University.
