Always Moving Forward

The rate of outsourcing to third-party transportation suppliers tends to grow at two to four times the rate of growth in the economy, Armstrong says: “So if the economy grows at 2 percent, the rate of growth in outsourcing to third party transportation providers is somewhere around 4 to 6 percent.” Yet when economies contract, growth in outsourcing to companies like Robinson does not necessarily turn negative. The money-saving efficiencies of using a third-party freight specialist can become even more crucial. Either way, Armstrong asserts, third-party transportation and logistics should remain a growth industry, at least in the long term.

“Many people don’t think about the fact that nearly everything we consume and use in our daily lives—from apples to soft drinks, to the clothing we wear, to computers and televisions—arrived at our businesses or our homes following a complicated, time-sensitive, often global trek through a supply chain,” Wiehoff says. It’s a smaller world—and also a more complicated one. It’s only going to get smaller and more complex. You could say that C. H. Robinson Worldwide has thrived in it by keeping those chains from imprisoning its customers.