The logistics industry is having a bit of a Charlie Brown moment. After years of working to kick the football through the uprights and score big in developing fast, cost-efficient last-mile strategies, the pandemic is proving to be another game-changer. Logistics firms have benefited from a surge in e-commerce that is feeding demand for more space. At the same time, supply chains need to adapt to a huge shake-up in where people are living and working that has further complicated last-mile delivery. Amid this disruption, logistics companies are trying to solve the same fundamental issues: How do they get products in the hands of consumer or business customers more quickly? And how do they improve cost efficiencies in last-mile delivery? “We have had a number of things converging at once. It wasn’t just the pandemic, but the pandemic has shined a spotlight on several issues that were evolving,” says John Dohm, SIOR, CCIM, a partner at Infinity Commercial Real Estate in Miami Lakes, Fla. The logistics industry is dealing with advances in technology that include automation, robotics, and autonomous vehicles, as well as sensors and radio-frequency identification (RFID) codes that not only track shipping containers but track every individual item within those containers. Simultaneously, the logistics industry had to account for new and changing omnichannel delivery models, including click-and-collect and curbside pickup, not to mention the need to account for the return of goods. Click to read more at www.ccim.com.