FW Desk News
FreightWatch.News
Monday, November 2, 2026
Companies holding record inventory levels are still failing to meet fill rate targets, signaling that the bottleneck lies not in procurement or demand forecasting but in supply chain decision-making infrastructure.
Carrier pricing power remains elevated amid seasonal demand swings. The DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index stands at 75 for carriers. Trailer utilization has surged to pandemic-era peaks, driven by supply-side constraints rather than demand recovery.
Procurement teams increasingly recognize that supplier contract visibility—rather than raw inventory volume—unlocks performance insights and cost savings. Industry leaders are turning to automation and distribution center infrastructure upgrades to optimize operations. Retailers and logistics providers must reassess how goods move through their networks, not just how much they stockpile, to close performance gaps.
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