WINTER 2025

34THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

34THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINKChris DonnellChris Donnell is the National Sales Director for Scanwell Logistics International (CHI)Inc., specializing in Supply Chain Management, Inventory Control, Logistics Sales andManagement. Chris excels at selling the “Solution” to advanced program analysis andimplementation. A highly ambitious and effective team leader who thrives on the challengesof this industry, Chris currently oversees a National Sales and Partnership Program consistingof more than 100 Sales executives who focus primarily on SCM and Logistics development inmost vertical markets. Contact Chris at 847-228-6789 or email: chrisdonnell@scanwell.com.2024 IS IN THE BOOKS! WHAT LIES AHEAD?2024 saw its fair share of disruptions, but whentrying to compare previous years, I had to go back almost10 years before I found a market that saw less turmoiltake place. Truth be told, most issues we saw appearedto be short lived, such as the East and Gulf Coast strikesand what’s current happening in Canada with the laborissues. Let’s also not forget the struggles we saw withboth the Suez and Panama Canals.One reason these issues were short lived could bedue to the fact that they were never really resolved. Theywere simply pushed aside to be handled at a later date.While that might be the case, I generally believe supplychains have become more efficient and dynamic, allowingthem to adapt quicker to whatever the industry can throwat it. Today, I will highlight just some of those issues,some of which are hanging around like a bad penny. I willalso be providing some insight into what we all can expectcoming into 2025.For those that know me, I specialize in global supplychain and logistics for the Fasteners Industry. With thatbeing said, I want to start off with the air freight industry.While the vast majority of fasteners move by way ofocean, much like the supply chain is evolving, air freightis becoming more and more of an option for importers/exporters - especially with stock-outs, quick buys andmill product. The air freight industry has also becomevital when the other transportation industry falters. Whilesmall in comparison to ocean industry tonnage, theCONTRIBUTOR ARTICLEfastener and tool tonnage moved by air is staggering. Theair freight industry is also one of the more stable at themoment.While air rates and flight schedules fluctuate quitefrequently, the service itself is very stable. 2024 sawrates drop to pre-covid levels then reach their highest levelduring peak shipping period (August – October. Rateshave started to drop again and should continue in thatdirection until late December where we will see importsquickly increase due to the timing of the Chinese LunarNew Year. Some of the many changes we saw within theair industry centered around routings when the airlinesstarted to eliminate direct flights from some of the world’sleading airports to the United States. The airlines optedto switch direct flights to longer multi-stop routes whichhelped reduce costs but also maximized the load abilityof each aircraft. This change was due in large part to thesudden drop off in overall tonnage since the pandemic.The airlines also started using more and morepassenger planes than in years past when only cargoaircraft was used. This saved the global air freight carriersbillions in additional costs and allowed the industry toremain profitable during a down year and half.For 2024, we saw issues with union contract pilotsand maintenance crews; however, these issues wereresolved quickly with minimal impact to the industry. Infact, the vast majority of issues stemmed from weatherrelated issues.CONTINUED ON PAGE 104