Guest: Kathy Fulton of ALAN on disaster response; The market heats up for humanoid robots; Containers lost at sea

Speaker A: Logistics responds to disasters. The market heats up for humanoid robots and containers lost at sea. Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories as well as news and supply chain trends on this week's Logistics Matters podcast. Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome. Logistics Matters is sponsored by Werner. Unlock the power of a Seamless connection. Werner Intermodal combines a massive nationwide rail network and cross border solutions into Mexico with an expanding private fleet and total digital visibility. Secure your capacity today at, uh. Choose werner.com as usual, our DC Velocity senior editors, Ben Ames and Victoria Kickham will be along to provide their insights into the top stories of this week. But to begin today, it's officially the beginning of hurricane season. A period where these storms, as well as tornadoes and other natural disasters, such as this week's earthquakes in Venezuela, they all leave behind considerable damage to towns in their wakes, while also complicating supply chains. It is during these times that the logistics industry snaps into action to help those in affected areas, as today's guest discusses with our senior editor, Victoria Kickham. Victoria?

Speaker B: Thank you, Dave. Today's guest is Kathy Fulton. She is executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network, and she's here to give us an update on the logistics industry's disaster recovery efforts and also talk about the group's humanitarian logistics survey and how it kind of helps shape Alan's work. Welcome, uh, Kathy.

Speaker C: Thanks, Victoria. It's great to be back with you.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's great to have you, uh, here again. You're a regular guest. We're grateful for your time. Um, I wanted to open by asking if you can just tell us what you know about this week's earthquakes in Venezuela, sort of what's happening there and what role, if any, Alan may have in responding to that.

Speaker C: Yeah, this week's earthquakes in Venezuela, I mean, just like every, every disaster we see, it's just heartbreaking news coming out of the country. Right. You know, there's two back to back seven point plus, uh, magnitude earthquakes, um, just really have wreaked havoc on, on the country. Um, you know, we're seeing, I think, you know, the death toll is somewhere around 600 officially right now and 3,000 people been hurt or injured. And um, it's just going to take a lot to, to help those communities who, who've just been affected. Um, we are seeing a lot of our partners who do both domestic and international support respond. You know, we're paying attention to all of the, you know, all of the channels, uh, the humanitarian community has all of these, uh, you know, ways in which we coordinate and communicate and, you know, paying attention to that. People are mobilizing medical supplies and, you know, all of the things that, you know, are going to be needed, just the search and rescue gear, food, uh, hydration, um, medical supplies, all of those things are, you know, moving, uh, around the country and into the country, um, from external. Alan's role is really, uh, going to be providing first mile support for those partners as they, you know, as they need to move things from the, the continental United States will help them get those, those resources to ports and airports and, and help provide that expertise, that, that logistics and supply chain expertise for them.

Speaker B: Thank you. Um, yeah, I can't imagine just the level of disaster. Alan recently completed its fourth annual humanitarian logistics survey. I think it just closed actually. I wonder if you can give us a brief history of the survey and its purpose.

Speaker C: Yeah, I'll definitely start with the purpose because like everything Allen does, it's about making sure that, uh, people who've just had their worst day, those disaster survivors get what they need, when and where they need that. And that's a logistics and supply chain challenge in and of itself. Right. We were created, um, because of those gaps in coordination that happened after Hurricane Katrina. Um, our country has these incredible logistics systems, but they aren't always effectively applied during disaster. Um, so we started this survey, uh, a few years ago because we had so many stories about brain, both the good and bad that was happening around logistics, uh, activities for disaster. But we needed data to back it up. And we really wanted to look at that data and say, how can Alan evolve to provide that support to help survivors? Um, so we did it not just to look at nonprofit logistics needs and how nonprofits are accessing logistics, um, to do their work. But, but how the people on the other side, on the supply side, how are businesses, how are industry associations, how are public sector agencies and even how are individuals thinking about logistics related to disaster relief?

Speaker B: Um, I don't know if you can describe some of what you've learned over the years from the survey and maybe talk about how it influences the work that you do.

Speaker C: Yeah, um, what's really interesting is, uh, the survey has solidified. It's put the data behind all of those stories. Um, so if you look at, uh, our most recent results from last year, and we're expecting to see more of the same this year, um, over 50% of nonprofit said that they had challenges accessing logistics services, whether it was because of cost, availability, or even just the speed of getting access to those services. Couple that with the fact that a lot of these organizations wait until a disaster occurs before they, uh, you know, reach out and try to try to acquire those services. So that tells us like, hey, we're waiting, we're using spot market services. And then when we do all of these other factors because businesses themselves may be disrupted cause, uh, it causes nonprofits to, to have challenges getting what they need. Uh, you know, as we look at 2020, the transportation market and where we are with warehouse, you know, availability, uh, unfortunately, I expect, I expect to see uh, similar or results this year. Um, on the, on the flip side of that, Victoria, um, 87% of businesses we talked to said that, hey, we're doing stuff, we're providing assistance to nonprofits and you know, they talk about warehouse support and transportation and you know, supply chain expertise. So we're trying to figure out like, what is that disconnect? Why are businesses helping? But why is that help not necessarily getting beyond a, uh, few organizations that those logistics services providers have relationships with. And that's really kind of the fourth big finding that we, um, that we've seen over the years is relationships are critical. We know that nonprofits can't maintain that reactionary position, uh, to acquire, uh, logistics services. So they have to be, um, they need to have their plans in place, they need to be prepared, they need to be ready, they need to have relationships in place ahead of time. And I can talk a little about how, um, Allan's helping them do that.

Speaker B: Yeah, I was going to ask. So it sounds like there's a lot of, um, you know, coordination and communication on your end. Can you talk a little bit about that, how you help?

Speaker C: Yeah. So our nonprofit partners, um, always talk about the four Cs communication, ah, coordination, cooperation and collaboration. Um, and I, I'm going to throw a fifth one in there, which is community. Um, and so when we think about this, how do we have logist ready communities? And to us, logistics ready means like you're, you're ready to receive product, you're ready to distribute product, you're ready to get those resources where they need to go. Um, and we do that in a few different ways. First, we want to make sure that the problem is visible. And um, that includes things like our survey. Uh, but it's also work like our capacity mapping. Uh, we're, we're, we with the help of some great funders, um, over the past two years we have gone and done logistics capacity assessments related to non profit and humanitarian work, um, in three different communities around the country. We're, we're doing, um, two more, maybe a third this year, um, just to give, uh, the nonprofits who are operating in that area visibility on what are their challenges, but also what are the capabilities available to them. So that's first tied to that is, uh, you know, leveraging what we learn from those studies and looking at collaborative solutions. How do we help nonprofits get access to those services? How do we help businesses be smarter about their support? Um, one of the things that, that we've been hearing really over the past year as, uh, you know, as policies have changed, as funding has changed, is that organizations need more help in the field. So we're actually revamping our volunteer programs, um, and I hope to have some exciting news to share about that soon. It's not quite ready for publication, um, but it's a way in which we're using the survey to really be responsive to those needs. Um, and then the last thing I'll say is we don't want to just give people the resources. We really want to build their capacity. And that looks like, uh, you know, for our work, it's about holding these cohort calls, uh, where we bring all of our nonprofits together every month. And sometimes we just talk about, hey, what's happening in your, in your world. But often we're bringing educational resources to them. These nonprofits don't have the benefit of industry associations focused on logistics. And there's, you know, dozens and dozens of those for us who are, who do this for commercial purposes. But there's no one organization that provides it for the nonprofit world. So we're bringing those educational resources, um, to our nonprofit, uh, partners to help again, make logistics ready communities.

Speaker B: In relation to all of that, we started by talking about the earthquakes. I wanted to ask about hurricane season, which began just a few weeks ago. Um, this is a crystal ball type of question. I apologize. But what are you expecting this year and what is Alan doing to prepare, um, for this specific season?

Speaker C: Sure. Um, I am not a meteorologist, nor do I play one tv. Um, so we do rely heavily on, uh, groups like noaa, ah, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Like the data that they come out with, Colorado State, and then our friends at Everstream analytics who really help us look at what's happening with uh, with weather and climate. Um, so what I've been told, again, not a meteorologist, is, you know, we're moving towards this El Nino, which hopefully that uh, the Atlantic Hurricane Season may be a little, uh, suppressed this year, but it only takes one. And we have already seen Tropical Storm Arthur and uh, the flooding that it brought along, uh, the Gulf Coast. Um, our preparations, talked about some of the work we're doing with our nonprofits. That's a lot of the preparedness actions we're taking. But we're also, you know, doing this outreach to businesses and saying, hey, we want to know how you can help. How are you interested in helping? And so we do these conversations both with our nonprofit partners to understand what they need, but also with our business partners to say, what are the challenges that may prevent you from providing support this season? And there's, you know, a huge number of market conditions that you all talk about, you know, on a weekly basis. But it's really synthesizing that information, bringing together the different sides, the nonprofit needs and the business needs, and looking at that at this particular moment in time, saying, how can we help people be more ready?

Speaker B: Well, along those lines, I'll close by asking you, uh, how can our listeners help, um, both Allen and other efforts to address the disasters we've been talking to, uh, talking about both here and around the world?

Speaker C: Yeah, three ways. Um, anybody who's ever heard me say anything before knows what I'm going to say. Put the oxygen mask on yourself first. Make sure that your business is ready and prepared because it's that rapid restoration of the pre existing supply chains that helps communities the most after a disaster. Um, the second is do no harm, which means be smart about how you're providing support. Um, in the, in US Domestic disaster supply side issues are really rare. So it's not that we need more products. You don't need to load up your truck and send it to a community. We need to understand where products are needed and how we get them there. Which is, brings me to my third thing, which is be a good community steward. Offer your logistics services, uh, provide funding, uh, because funding is fungible and it means that whatever nonprofits need, Alan included, we can go out and uh, and procure their services. And then third, offer your, your staff to volunteer, provide their expertise. Um, so many times we have nonprofits who are, who are just overwhelmed and logistics is way down their list. So they end up spending too much money or they end up, you know, um, you know, doing things in a different way in, in maybe not the most efficient way. So I, um, think those are my, my three pieces of advice and how we can all collectively be more ready for this hurricane season and really any disaster that Comes all good advice.

Speaker B: Uh, Kathy, thanks for joining us today. We're always grateful for an update on Alan's work.

Speaker C: Thanks so much, Victoria.

Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. We have been talking with Kathy Fulton of the American Logistics Aid Network. Back to you, Dave.

Speaker A: Thank you, Kathy and Victoria. Now let's take a look at some of the other supply chain news from the week. Those of us who grew up in the Jetsons and Star wars eras have been imagining for a long time the advantages that humanoid robots could bring to everyday tasks. And Ben, you've been tracking just how rapidly humanoid robotic technologies are now advancing.

Speaker D: Yeah, the market for these, uh, has advanced from, uh, really the drawing board to the point where you can see demos of humanoid robots at trade shows. Um, and we sometimes hear about small pilot projects where companies are testing them out in distribution centers. Um, I gotta say, I've been skeptical so far that they're gonna start getting really useful anytime soon. Um, but this week we saw a couple stories which indicate, uh, that the technology is, uh, really getting some traction. The first was, uh, about a company called Agility Robotics. They announced that they're gonna go public, uh, start selling their stock, uh, on the markets. Um, they didn't specify, probably the NASDAQ stock market. Agility expects to raise about $620 million and plans to use that funding to advance their model of humanoid robot, which is called Digit. Agility says that Digit is currently being used, uh, in actually various applications, uh, by companies where it's operating in manufacturing, distribution and logistics environments. Uh, and the company says mainly it's to fill chronic physical labor shortages.

Speaker A: So, Ben, what does this digit robot look like? Is it what we usually think of with humanoids, uh, two arms and two legs?

Speaker D: Yeah, you've got it described just right. Uh, and I guess we should say here that some humanoid robots have sort of a head and two arms, um, and then they're attached maybe to a moving base. But the digit one, uh, has two legs in this case. Um, but the question really leads into the other story I saw this week. There was a market report from the firm Interact Analysis, and they're tracking the impact of this growing market on the companies that provide the components which make up these humanoid robots. Specifically, they said that robotic arm manufacturers, uh, they make those stationary picking arms that we've seen for years. Uh, a lot of them are in factories, uh, lately, also in warehouses, uh, typically bolted to a table or work cell. So the guys who make those could see an increase of up to 30% of their revenues by 2030. Just from increased demand, uh, by the humanoid robot makers. Uh, what's happening is that a lot of the humanoid vendors are skipping a lot of the research and development required to make those physical parts because they can just buy collaborative robot cobot grade arm parts for the upper bodies and they can buy materials like um, AGVs or uh, autonomous mobile robot, AMR mobile bases, uh, and use those parts for the lower bodies. Uh, it's also in part because apparently a lot of the new humanoid robot startup firms are being founded by experts in artificial intelligence. So they're very good at building the AI software that operates these humanoid robots, but they're not so experienced at making the hardware like the arms and the legs.

Speaker A: Well, that does make sense as I imagine the arms and the legs would do most of the work. So I assume those would be the most difficult parts to design, build and eventually program their movements.

Speaker D: Yeah, I mean it's funny, it's uh, we were chatting but before this show about Lego and uh, you know, it sounds uh, a little bit like putting a LEGO piece together and you can make a humanoid robot.

Speaker A: You're right. Thank you, Ben. And we also know that hundreds of millions of containers ship worldwide each year and almost all of them make it safely to their destinations. But Victoria, there are some containers that do not, as you reported this week.

Speaker B: That's right, Dave. Uh, there are mishaps that sometimes prevent smooth sailing as all those containers make their way around the world. Uh, the number of shipping containers lost at sea more than doubled in 2025 and that was driven by some major maritime accidents as well as sever weather. Now this is according to the World Shipping Council, which released its 2026 containers lost at sea report this week. They found that an estimated 1,478 containers were lost at sea last year. And that's up from 576 in 2024. And it's above the recent three year average. Now that's a big increase. But if you take a step back and look at the broader picture, it turns out that container loss at sea is actually pretty rare. The nearly 1,500 lost were out of approx. 280 million containers transported globally last year, which is the equivalent of five ten thousandths of a percent or 0.0005%. So pretty small amount.

Speaker A: Yeah, that is a small amount. But there was a big increase though from the previous year. Did the report provide any details about that?

Speaker B: Yes, um, it turns out that one vessel loss in particular accounted for 43% of all containers lost during the year. Um, and you may remember, our listeners may remember this too. It happened in May of 20 when the, uh, Liberia flagged MSC Elsa 3 sank off the coast of southern India and it lost 640 containers. And that's more than all the containers lost in 2024. So all in one fell swoop. So that was a big contributor to the increase. I mentioned weather as well. The report also found that severe weather and ocean conditions, particularly in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, were major contributors to container losses too. There's, uh, a lot more information in the report which is available for download. And there's a link in our story, um, and it includes information about the industry's ongoing work to improve container and cargo safety.

Speaker A: That sounds very interesting. And our listeners can find that story now@dcvelocity.com yes, that's right. Thank you, Victoria.

Speaker B: You're welcome.

Speaker A: And we do encourage listeners to go to dcvelocity.com for more on these and other support supply chain stories. Also check out the Podcast Notes section for some direct links to read more about the topics that we discussed today. And again, we'd like to thank Kathy Fulton of the American Logistics Aid Network, better known as Allen, for being our guest. We welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us@podcastgilebme m.com we also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform, platform. Our new episodes are uploaded on Fridays. And a reminder, Logistics Matters is sponsored by Werner. Unlock the Power of a Seamless Connection. Werner Intermodal combines a massive nationwide rail network and cross border solutions into Mexico with an expanding private fleet and total digital visibility. Secure your capacity today at, uh. Choose werner.com with the independence Holiday celebrations coming up at the end of next week, we'll be taking the week off from our podcast. Join us again in two weeks for the next edition of Logistics Matters. Until then, enjoy the celebrations and be careful not to eat too many hot dogs.