Chain Reaction Ep. 16: Transform Logistics or Be Left Behind

Malcolm Pope, Founder of Loguro, identifies a waste that logistics has tolerated for decades: up to 30 per cent of UK lorries run empty. Trucks return from deliveries with no load. Deliveries require specialist vehicles when general cargo would work. Shipper routes don't connect with other shipper routes. The waste is enormous - environmental, financial, operational. Malcolm's argument cuts deeper than the waste itself. The technology to coordinate logistics across operators exists. What's missing is the willingness to collaborate. Sharing capacity means sharing data. Sharing data requires trust. Building trust requires operators to move past transaction thinking toward partnership thinking. Logistics remains stubbornly fragmented - lots of small operators protecting turf rather than coordinating for mutual advantage. For supply chain leaders thinking about sustainability and efficiency, Malcolm's perspective on collaboration as the gating factor matters. You can optimise your own operations to a ceiling. Genuine transformation requires working with other operators to reduce systemic waste. That's harder than technology implementation but more valuable. His conversation covers both the structural barriers to collaboration and what's actually beginning to change. Understanding where logistics collaboration is moving is increasingly important for operators thinking about competitive advantage.