[#293] Supply Chain in Numbers - Jul 7, 2025
Use of AI in LTL classifications, Robots to transfer 1.5k lbs, Amazon ships 3.8k packages per employee, 576 containers were lost at sea in 2024, Truck contract rates are down 7 cents from last year
Welcome to “Supply Chain in Numbers.” This newsletter tracks significant numbers from the supply chain world. Five prominent numbers are published every Monday. If you have any feedback, please send it to me.
75% of LTL classification
C.H. Robinson Will Use AI Agents to Classify LTL Freight. C.H. Robinson has launched a new AI agent to automate and streamline less-than-truckload (LTL) freight classification in anticipation of upcoming changes to the National Motor Freight Classification system. By replacing traditionally complex, manual evaluations with AI-driven analysis, the tool reduces errors and accelerates processing, thereby significantly enhancing efficiency. This innovation has already helped the company increase LTL order automation from 50% to over 75%, mainly benefiting small and mid-sized businesses. [Freightwaves]
Robots to transport up to 1,500 lbs
Amazon’s New Massachusetts Fulfillment Center Deploys Heavy Lift Mobile Robots. Amazon has launched a 2.9 million-square-foot robotic fulfillment center near Boston, equipped with its newest “Titan” robots, which can lift and transport pallets weighing up to 1,500 pounds. These mobile units work in conjunction with AI-directed pick stations to support same-day delivery across New England, while reducing the strain and risk of injury for warehouse workers. The site serves as a proving ground for Amazon’s broader ambition to build fully autonomous fulfillment systems. This development is part of a larger competitive strategy aimed at outpacing rivals in terms of logistics costs per unit and labor productivity. [Supply Chain Dive]
3,870 packagers per employee
The automation of Amazon facilities is approaching a new milestone: There will soon be as many robots as humans. The e-commerce giant, which has spent years automating tasks previously done by humans in its facilities, has deployed more than one million robots in those workplaces, and that is the most it has ever had, and nearly the count of human workers at the facilities. One of Amazon’s newer robots, called Vulcan, has a sense of touch that enables it to pick items from numerous shelves. Now some 75% of Amazon’s global deliveries are assisted in some way by robotics. The number of packages that Amazon ships itself per employee each year has also steadily increased since at least 2015, from approximately 175 to about 3,870. [WSJ]
576 containers lost at sea
The annual Containers Lost at Sea report from the World Shipping Council dropped yesterday, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. According to the yearly tally, 576 shipping containers were lost at sea in 2024, which is significantly more than the record-low 221 containers lost in 2023. But it is still less than half of the 10-year average of 1,274 lost containers. The rerouting of ships away from the Red Sea (where the water is steady but the geopolitics are in turmoil) and around the Cape of Good Hope (where the water is in chaos but the geopolitics are steady) made for some rocky seas. The converging weather systems contributed to the loss of 200 containers, accounting for approximately 35 percent of the total losses. This number is mainly related to three major incidents on the Cape, where 44, 46, and 99 containers were lost. [NumLock]
Truck contract rate of $2.36 a mile
Trucking operators who had hoped freight volumes would rebound in 2025 after three years of soft demand are again adjusting their forecasts for a recovery. Logistics experts say they expect freight demand to stay relatively flat heading into what is typically the trucking sector’s busiest season, as retailers bring in back-to-school and holiday products. DAT Freight & Analytics, a load board that matches trucks to shippers, estimated that the average contract rate in May was $2.36 per mile, including fuel surcharges. That was down 7 cents from the previous year. Average rates in the spot market have fallen more than 9% since the start of the year. [WSJ]