Guest: Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney on the 2026 Reshoring Index; Will AI take away jobs? Safety in trucking fleets

Logistics Matters with DC VELOCITY

Logistics Matters with DC VELOCITY
Guest: Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney on the 2026 Reshoring Index; Will AI take away jobs? Safety in trucking fleets
May 15, 2026 Season 7 Episode 19
AGiLE Business Media

Our guest on this week's episode is Patrick Van den Bossche, partner at Kearney, a global management consulting firm. There has been a huge effort in recent years to return manufacturing to the United States, as much of this production has been outsourced to overseas factories for decades. But have these attempts been successful? Van den Bossche is the lead author of new research called the 2026 Reshoring Index Report and offers his insights and findings from the report on whether the current state of reshoring initiatives.. 

Artificial intelligence has so many up sides that investors are betting big right now on the benefits of the technologies – you can just look at the stock market for evidence of that. But we do hear of the downside of the many jobs AI may eliminate. Ben Ames reports on new research that shows which types of jobs are most vulnerable and the areas of the world that might be most affected (Hint: the U.S. is high on the vulnerablity list).

There is a wealth of data in trucking today, much of it derived from the telematics and other advanced technology tools that connect what’s happening in the truck to a company’s broader IT system. Companies can use this vast array of data to improve safety and enhance operations. But while most small and mid-sized fleets claim to be “data rich,” they say they are starved for ways to best use the information they get from all of those tech tools.


Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:


This podcast episode is sponsored by: Werner

Episode Artwork Guest: Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney on the 2026 Reshoring Index; Will AI take away jobs? Safety in trucking fleets 21:55 Episode Artwork Guest: Omar Qari of Logicbroker on how retailers and brands respond to shifting geopolitical uncertainty; Carton diversity drives sortation designs; China doubles down on robotics 19:59 Episode Artwork Guest: Lisa Dyer of the GPS Innovation Alliance on vulnerabilities of GPS systems; Growing technology gaps; The clever ways thieves steal cargo 25:50 Episode Artwork Guest: Helaine Rich of ePost Global on rising fuel costs; Truck stops work to accommodate women drivers; Changing shopping patterns 16:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Disney Petit on a better way for customer returns; Managing a variety of robots successfully; Autonomous fulfillment advances 21:18 Episode Artwork Guest: Christelle Keefer of A3 on gaps in automation skills; Robot density is growing; Fleets flex in AI 16:19 Episode Artwork Guest: Stefan Heck of Nauto on distracted driving; Coping with surging diesel prices; Cold storage goes high tech 24:13 Episode Artwork Guest: Ian Massey of S-RM on the ongoing supply chain impacts from the war against Iran; What is “port proximate” and why is it changing?; Work remains to optimize pharmaceutical supply chains. 21:21 Episode Artwork Guest: Mark Becker of G10 Fulfillment on safe handling and shipping of lithium-ion batteries; Workers experience AI anxiety; The logistics behind hyperscaling data centers. 19:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Mike Van Bree of the American Ladder Institute on safety when working at heights; A cybersecurity collaboration; Sensing your way to a smoother supply chain 20:47 Episode Artwork Guest: Jackson Wood of Descartes on what war in the Middle East means for supply chains; Most warehouses lack needed agility; Is trucking ready for a recovery? 23:00 Episode Artwork Guest: Per Hong of Kearney on tariffs, Iran, and more; The "pandemic echo” affecting parcel fleets; How Agentic AI impacts hiring 23:38 Episode Artwork Guest: Fab Brasca of Kinaxis on who is leading in AI adoption; The top five freight bottlenecks; A new data threat is lurking 20:05 Episode Artwork Guest: Lisa DeNight of Newmark on the industrial real estate market on the rise; Thoughts on improving infrastructure; Striving for fast, dynamic execution 20:22 Episode Artwork Guest: Jake Heldenberg of Vanderlande on automation trends and predictions; Gamification comes to DCs; What’s up with retail? 20:51 Episode Artwork Guest: Suketu Gandhi of Kearney on supply chain takeaways from last week in Davos, Combating missed LTL pickups, Trends in the trucking space 24:40 Episode Artwork Guest: Ronak Amin of HERE Technologies on preventing bridge strikes by trucks; More maritime freight fright; Are humanoid robots ready for prime time? 18:46 Episode Artwork Guest: Tony Bradley of Arizona Trucking Association on freight fraud and non-domiciled drivers; Robots become more human; Hesitancy adopting Agentic AI 18:50 Episode Artwork Guest: Amy Dean of SC Codeworks on tariffs and Foreign Trade Zones; Mixed job reports; Safety standards for humanoid robots 18:30 Episode Artwork Guest: Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics with predictions for supply chains in 2026; Managing risks among shifting policies; Stabilizing your workforce 34:17 Episode Artwork Guest: Bill Catania of OneRail on holiday last mile delivery trends; Prospects for industrial real estate in 2026; Robots to the rescue. 14:48 Episode Artwork Guest: Marc Schaffer on the big rail merger; AI imbeds in the warehouse; The people behind the tech 23:57 Episode Artwork Guest: Kraig Foreman of DHL Supply Chain on expectations for peak season; How transportation feels about AI; The joy of robots 20:53 Episode Artwork Alex Saric from Ivalua on what is holding back tech investments; Thinking small brings agility; The AI disconnect 17:05 Episode Artwork Guest: Noel Thomas of Darkwatch on human trafficking and slave labor within supply chains; Ryder raises awareness; Cargo thieves find clever ways to steal freight 23:05