Dan Gilmore - While many companies use multiple logistics cost measures, the primary...

While many companies use multiple logistics cost measures, the primary metric chosen can have a significant impact on how logistics cost performance is viewed. For example, those companies using logistics costs as a percent of sales as their primary measure and who operate in industries such as chemicals and other commodities saw that cost ratio fall in 2005 due to strong upward pricing power that impacted the top line, even though logistics costs also rose. Other industries had rising logistics costs with flat or declining prices for their products, driving up logistics costs as a percent of sales.