Transcripts
Hello, and welcome in to another episode of Unboxing the Trends.
Speaker:I'm your host, Tim Ranagan.
Speaker:I have Lori Boyer with me again.
Speaker:She is our awesome host of the Unboxing Logistics Podcast, and today
Speaker:we've got a special episode for you.
Speaker:We are going to highlight season five of Unboxing Logistics.
Speaker:We just wrapped up our last episode just a few weeks ago, and I've got Lori on
Speaker:today to talk about some of her favorite topics, some surprises, some trends
Speaker:that we noticed, and so we're really excited to dive into all of this as well.
Speaker:Before we get started, wanted to give a shout out to all of our listeners.
Speaker:Happy holidays if you're watching this during the holiday season.
Speaker:If not, when the holidays find you again, happy holidays.
Speaker:Lori, how are you doing?
Speaker:I'm doing so great.
Speaker:This peak season, holiday season.
Speaker:It's going fast, just like season five of Unboxing Logistics went.
Speaker:I can't believe it's over.
Speaker:I'm already so excited for season six, but happy to have this time
Speaker:to review with you as well.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Lori, let's jump into it.
Speaker:What were some of the topics that really stood out to you that you
Speaker:said, you know what, I really enjoyed having these guests on, these
Speaker:topics that I really learned about.
Speaker:Give us a little rundown of what you noticed.
Speaker:Tim, I love that question.
Speaker:It was just, as I said, so fun to go back and review these again.
Speaker:One of my favorites, though, is early on in the season, one of the first
Speaker:episodes, episode one, episode two, something like that, we had Sucharita
Speaker:Kodali from Forrester come on.
Speaker:It kind of gave us a sneak peek into what the analysts were seeing and
Speaker:the anticipation they had when it came to peak season consumer intent.
Speaker:I had a lot of questions.
Speaker:People were concerned about what might happen with peak.
Speaker:She, she was spot on.
Speaker:She was really good that the data they had, the information really
Speaker:has reflected what we are seeing right now in this 2025 peak season.
Speaker:Really cool episode.
Speaker:I also loved, we had multiple cross border episodes.
Speaker:That was a topic that we had people reach out and ask about how do
Speaker:we manage shipping with all the tariffs and whatnot going on?
Speaker:So we had a couple, while we had Jonathan Witt come on formerly from Sendle
Speaker:Sendle's kind of changed since then and talked a little bit about cross border.
Speaker:We also, Ben Gordon hit on a little bit with that as, as well as AI.
Speaker:AI, of course.
Speaker:Huge topic.
Speaker:Really interesting.
Speaker:I'm a giant AI nerd, Tim.
Speaker:So, when it comes to AI, I always wanna know the latest trends.
Speaker:It was really interesting to see different analysts and different
Speaker:opinions on what's happening, but also some similarities in there.
Speaker:And so I thought all of the AI ones were really great.
Speaker:I'm curious, do you have any that you particularly liked?
Speaker:Yeah, Lori, so I'm a gamer and one of our first episodes of the season,
Speaker:we had some guests on to talk about gamification in the warehouse.
Speaker:We had Katie from Footlocker and Dylan from Summit Advisory Team.
Speaker:It's a topic that I had never really considered would see a kind of a
Speaker:crossover into a world that I touch into, that concept of gamification
Speaker:was just really interesting for me to learn out, learn about.
Speaker:So they talked about specifically, they made this point in the episode.
Speaker:They said, you can't just re reward raw speed, because
Speaker:you'll tank safety and quality.
Speaker:Their advice about tying gamification back to labor standards and measurable
Speaker:goals was something that has been referenced across multiple episodes
Speaker:that we've had all season long by other guests, which was really cool.
Speaker:But the gamification component really stood out to me as something that I
Speaker:found interesting because it tied two different worlds that I dive into.
Speaker:My professional world and then something that I enjoy in my personal time.
Speaker:Okay, love it.
Speaker:I love that episode too.
Speaker:I'm also a gamer, so shout out to all our gamers in the audience.
Speaker:Shout out to the gamers.
Speaker:I bet we have a lot of logistics gamers out there.
Speaker:Tim, favorite game.
Speaker:Tell us five seconds.
Speaker:Favorite game currently?
Speaker:Ark Raiders.
Speaker:It's brand new.
Speaker:I'm sure there's a lot of people that are playing it right
Speaker:now, but it's really good.
Speaker:It's like a third person shooter, so it's fun.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:And I'm gonna throw out a plug for Age of Empires.
Speaker:Hey, that's a classic.
Speaker:It's a classic.
Speaker:I go back to it every so often.
Speaker:I think it works also for our logistics mind.
Speaker:Planning and figuring everything out.
Speaker:But.
Speaker:And then I wanted to plug one more episode that I really
Speaker:got a lot of value out of.
Speaker:We had Dylan from Summit Advisory Team and Jarlath from Summit Advisory Team.
Speaker:They came on and they talked about a topic that honestly, we never really
Speaker:considered this aspect of supply chain, but they talked about neurodivergence.
Speaker:And they, they left a statistic in the episode, and I want you guys to
Speaker:all go out and watch this episode.
Speaker:They said that over 50% of people inside supply chain have
Speaker:some form of neurodivergence, which was a staggering number.
Speaker:I didn't know that the statistic was that high.
Speaker:And they really did an awesome job of breaking down some of the components
Speaker:within supply chain that tie so closely to somebody that may be neurodivergent.
Speaker:Really awesome episode.
Speaker:It's one of my biggest recommendations that you go watch
Speaker:if you haven't seen it already.
Speaker:I totally agree.
Speaker:I'm so glad you called that one out.
Speaker:I had probably more people reach out to me and send me, you know, private
Speaker:messages on LinkedIn and about how much it resonated with them than maybe
Speaker:any other episode because it really is personal and really touches all of us.
Speaker:Even if you are not neurodivergent, you're definitely working with
Speaker:a lot of neuro divergent people
Speaker:that's a really great high level breakdown of everything that we've
Speaker:had happen across season five.
Speaker:Lori, I'm curious.
Speaker:What were some of the themes that popped up over and over again across
Speaker:all of the episodes this season?
Speaker:So I think that if we were gonna connect some themes, we had a few different
Speaker:ones that I noticed in particular.
Speaker:There's a focus on the human element.
Speaker:I think that because we talk so much about technology, we talk about data
Speaker:and we talk about AI, all of our experts bring us back to the human element.
Speaker:And yes, while all of those things are so cool, and Lori, I
Speaker:know you're excited about them.
Speaker:It really is the human element that drives all of that.
Speaker:And importance of not forgetting that.
Speaker:I think that was really big.
Speaker:I think that as well, if there was another sort of overall theme, it was
Speaker:about the uncertainty that we're all experiencing and have been experiencing
Speaker:in the industry over the last year.
Speaker:Lots of questions around everything from, like I said, tariffs and cross
Speaker:border, AI, saving money, just costs have been rising a huge amount.
Speaker:And even returns seems to be getting a lot of attention and information.
Speaker:We had a couple of great episodes on returns and I really wanna dive
Speaker:into that more in, in our next season because that is, when we
Speaker:talk about rising costs a huge one.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But I think the human element.
Speaker:Just the importance of the human element is probably one of the
Speaker:biggest ones that I noticed.
Speaker:Supply chain's all about connecting people.
Speaker:And so I really love that human element component.
Speaker:We certainly felt that across all of these episodes.
Speaker:Okay, so we talked about what themes that you've seen over and over again.
Speaker:Were there any surprises for you?
Speaker:Things that you didn't expect?
Speaker:I think maybe there was a few.
Speaker:So I was really interested in some expert insights on how AI is actually
Speaker:working or not working in the industry.
Speaker:And so what some of our experts are saying is that AI is very
Speaker:narrow right now in logistics.
Speaker:Where it's it's not as broad as people want, but it's super effective when used.
Speaker:And so I thought that kind of narrow focus was a little bit of a surprise for me.
Speaker:I think as well.
Speaker:How many people?
Speaker:It caught me off guard a little bit.
Speaker:Probably didn't catch you all off guard, but how many people are struggling
Speaker:with money and costs that are being lost and they're not aware of it?
Speaker:So I heard that from multiple people.
Speaker:We had Virgil from WeSupply who came on and talked about
Speaker:the cost centers of returns.
Speaker:We had FAST Group come in and they talked about costs that were going on.
Speaker:We recently had an Alibaba episode where we talked about mathia and sourcing
Speaker:and all the costs that come with that.
Speaker:So I think there was a really strong, interesting theme around the fact
Speaker:that not just that costs are rising, but that people aren't always sure
Speaker:and don't have visibility into where they might be losing their money.
Speaker:And talking about holiday season, we don't wanna be the kid from the
Speaker:Polar Express whose ticket falls out the hole and it's in his robe.
Speaker:And so that's happening for a lot of people.
Speaker:And that's a big challenge.
Speaker:That was interesting for me.
Speaker:We just watched the Holiday Express just the other day.
Speaker:Love that show.
Speaker:But I really love what you said about returns and it being
Speaker:perceived as a cost center.
Speaker:Those episodes that we had about returns were really eye-opening for
Speaker:me, especially because we're right in the middle of peak season, right?
Speaker:Everybody's thinking about cost savings and we're, once we transition
Speaker:slightly out of peak season, it becomes returns peak season, right?
Speaker:And I love what Virgil mentioned about how returns can actually
Speaker:be a cost saver, right?
Speaker:You can leverage returns to the benefit of your company.
Speaker:He really lays out some awesome ways about how people in retail
Speaker:and supply chain and logistics can leverage returns to their benefit,
Speaker:which I thought was great suggestions.
Speaker:Yeah, I loved that as well.
Speaker:That's fantastic.
Speaker:What did our guests teach us this year about, or this season, I should
Speaker:say about the state of logistics?
Speaker:We had guests from Forrester on, we had guests from Alibaba.com.
Speaker:We had guests across the industry.
Speaker:We talked about cross border, we talked about returns, we talked about carriers,
Speaker:talked about AI, data, analytics.
Speaker:We had it all.
Speaker:I'm curious, Lori, if you could quickly summarize what they've taught us about the
Speaker:state of logistics at this stage in 2025.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I would say that while we're in a state of uncertainty, it's also a stage that's
Speaker:primed for opportunity and creativity.
Speaker:One of the best times, what research shows, one of the best times to
Speaker:really grow your business or to become successful is during times when things
Speaker:are a little uncertain, when there are challenges, because it makes
Speaker:us buckle up, buckle down, I guess we should say, and figure out where
Speaker:are efficiencies, where are we, and I think that's really the state we're at.
Speaker:We're a little bit uncertain, but there's also a little bit of an excitement.
Speaker:There's an excitement about how can we figure out what the gaps are?
Speaker:Where can we stop bleeding money?
Speaker:Where can we take advantage of new technology in order to accelerate
Speaker:our growth and to use the newest tools in AI to change and adapt and
Speaker:really to evolve what's going on?
Speaker:Really cool things.
Speaker:I think there's a lot of excitement in this industry that
Speaker:is tempered by that uncertainty.
Speaker:But I encourage everyone, be excited and don't let the
Speaker:uncertainties weigh you down.
Speaker:Yeah, I think you summed it up perfectly when we were
Speaker:chatting about this previously.
Speaker:There's certainly uncertainty, right?
Speaker:That exists right now in logistics, but there's a whole lot of creativity
Speaker:happening, and so it's finding that blend between uncertainty and creativity
Speaker:and like you said, buckling down and figuring out what's gonna help improve
Speaker:your logistics, improve your operations, and then just charging forward with a lot
Speaker:of confidence in what your decisions are.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Okay, Lori, season five's over.
Speaker:Special shout out to all of our guests over season five.
Speaker:You were wonderful.
Speaker:Thank you for donating your time and your thoughts.
Speaker:Season six is in the works, right?
Speaker:And we're excited about season six, just as we're excited about season five.
Speaker:Any sneak peeks into what we have coming up, Lori?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I am really excited for season six.
Speaker:I've been doing a little bit of a revamp of how we're organizing it
Speaker:'cause we were having some requests come in for some specific things.
Speaker:Expect to see we, one thing we haven't touched on, Tim,
Speaker:are EasyPost Insider episodes.
Speaker:So those episodes where we talk specifically about
Speaker:what's happening at EasyPost.
Speaker:I'll usually bring on a product manager or something is talking a little bit
Speaker:about the roadmap, maybe the latest tools.
Speaker:I get, when I talk with customers, they really love those episodes.
Speaker:Because it's easy to miss what is going.
Speaker:And we're gonna be continuing to have those.
Speaker:So if you are an EasyPost customer, please make sure that you're flagging
Speaker:those EasyPost Insider episodes.
Speaker:Those will keep you up to date with all the latest products and
Speaker:offerings and everything that you have available to you at EasyPost.
Speaker:I'm also gonna be doing a really specific carrier series, so I have a lot of
Speaker:carriers who reach out, who really want to come on and share what it's like.
Speaker:And where maybe different carriers might fit well for
Speaker:your particular business model.
Speaker:We will be having all kinds of really great carrier guests and we'll have a
Speaker:series kind of carriers so that you can learn which is the best carrier
Speaker:for different situations and different types and where you can diversify your
Speaker:carrier mix in order to really, like we talked about, save those costs and
Speaker:make sure you're hammering down.
Speaker:I'm also gonna, I just have a bunch of fun guests.
Speaker:We're gonna have a few of those kind of neat neurodivergent and
Speaker:just the human side as well, and, as always, you know me, I love data.
Speaker:You will be able to see all the latest what's going on.
Speaker:If there's a big event happening, we will be covering it.
Speaker:We'll be bringing in the people who are smart enough to tell us what
Speaker:we need to actually do about it.
Speaker:So stay tuned.
Speaker:Season six is gonna be big.
Speaker:It's gonna be so fun, and I am just really excited.
Speaker:Lori, those are all really exciting topics that we have coming up in season six.
Speaker:Thanks for laying out the scene and giving us a sneak peek
Speaker:into what we have coming up.
Speaker:Really excited about the carrier conversations.
Speaker:I think that there's a lot of, like you said, we've had a lot of guests reach out
Speaker:and been interested in learning more about the various carriers that are operating
Speaker:within our industry, both the big four as well as a bunch of the regional ones.
Speaker:So excited about that series.
Speaker:Thank you all to our listeners, we're gonna wrap up our episode here.
Speaker:We've got a lot coming up in season six of Unboxing Logistics.
Speaker:We wanna give another special shout out to all of our guests across season five.
Speaker:Thanks for making it so great and informative.
Speaker:If you would like to view any recent episodes of Unboxing
Speaker:Logistics, you can view them on our website at easypost.com/podcast.
Speaker:You can also listen to them at anywhere you listen to any of your regular
Speaker:podcasts, across any of those networks.
Speaker:Also, we would love to hear any comments, feedbacks, or insights from our guests.
Speaker:You can reach out to us on LinkedIn at EasyPost, or you
Speaker:can also connect with Lori.
Speaker:She's also really active on LinkedIn as well, so we'd love to hear
Speaker:any comments that you might have.
Speaker:Until next time, thanks for joining us on this episode of Unboxing the Trends.
Speaker:Yep, and we will see you in season six.
Speaker:See you, everybody.
