It’s Friday, December 19, which means if you’re still reading this, you’re probably one of the few people left in the office.

I’m only here because I have no other place to go. I live here.

The good news is that you’ll be among the first to read my five supply chain and logistics predictions for 2026. Are you ready? Are you sitting? Here they are:

1. Who knows.
2. Nobody knows.
3. What do I know?
4. Do you know?
5. I don’t know.

I’m just being honest. As I’ve said many times before, making supply chain and logistics predictions is a fool’s errand, which is “a needless or profitless endeavor” — like me writing this post on December 19.

Kidding aside, it’s the unpredictability of supply chain management that keeps us in it. Yes, it’s stressful and angering at times, but it’s also exciting and never boring. I’m willing to bet most supply chain professionals are horror movie buffs, for the same reason.

Will AI and robots take our jobs? What will happen next with tariffs — and with China and the USMCA? Is the end of the trucking recession near? Are we on the precipice of another World War?

The governing law in supply chain management is Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” So, what can go wrong in 2026? A whole lot. All we can do is prepare, which includes asking good questions and developing playbooks for different scenarios. 

(A lot can go right in 2026 too, but I’m writing this for the horror movie buffs in the audience.)

Speaking of good questions, what if I win the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot tomorrow?

Well, we all know that money can’t buy us love or happiness or meaning in life. It can’t buy us more time on this planet either. But I would pay off my mortgage and car loan, and I wouldn’t have to worry about how to cover five more years of college tuition for my kids. The rest is gravy.

Wait, you’re still here?

I’m sorry, I don’t want to keep you any longer. Let me wrap up by thanking all of you — our Talking Logistics subscribers and more than 300,000 followers on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts — for another great year of learning and conversation. I wish you all much peace and health in the new year. And regardless of what happens in the year ahead, let’s figure it out together. 

Below are some highlights from the past year, including the top Talking Logistics posts in 2025.

Indago: Research with Purpose

Thank you to all of the supply chain and logistics executives in our Indago research community. We completed 26 surveys this year on a wide variety of industry topics and donated $3,000 to Breakthrough T1D, American Logistics Aid Network, American Cancer Society, Feeding America, and Make-A-Wish. This brings our total charity donations to over $26,300 since 2019!

If you’re a supply chain or logistics practitioner, find out what you’re missing and Join Indago Today! You can also follow Indago on LinkedIn and join the 60,000+ executives who have subscribed to our “Be Uncommon” newsletter on LinkedIn.

Here is a list of the research topics we explored in Q4 2025. 

• Is Your Forecast Process Really Adding Value? (October 2025): This survey explored how supply chain and logistics professionals view FVA today: how familiar they are with it, whether and how they use it, and what benefits or challenges they have experienced when applying it in practice.
• The Supreme Court and Trump Tariffs (November 2025): This survey explored how supply chain and logistics executives are viewing the potential impacts, risks, and opportunities related to this Supreme Court case.
• Trends in Last-Mile Logistics (November 2025): This survey explored how companies are managing the challenges and opportunities in last-mile logistics.
• How Big is the “Zombie Inventory” Problem? (December 2025): This survey sought to understand how big this problem is across the industry.

See the research questions Indago explored in Q1 2025, Q2 2025, and Q3 2025. 

Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure Team

Our Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure Team was back out on the roads again this year in support of Breakthrough T1D and its vision of creating a world without type 1 diabetes. We participated in various rides this season — including Mt. Washington, Cape Cod, Amsterdam, and Santa Barbara — and thanks to everyone’s support, we raised $53,226 for Breakthrough T1D this year, bringing our total to over $462,200 since 2016!

A big thank you to all our families, friends, and colleagues who contributed to the cause — we couldn’t have done it without you! Also, a big thank you to our team sponsors for your support: TranzAct Technologies, Descartes Systems Group, JBF Consulting, Pando, C.H. Robinson, and our Apparel Supporter, Jakroo.

Do you enjoy cycling? Are you looking to explore new roads? Want to have fun with friends while supporting a great cause? Then join our LL4T1DCure team in 2026, which will be our 10th anniversary! Cyclists of all abilities are welcomed. If you’re interested in participating in a ride or sponsoring the team, please contact me for details.

Top Talking Logistics Posts and New Episodes

We have many exciting new things planned for 2026, so stay tuned! In the meantime, in case you missed them the first time around or want to watch/read them again, below are the most popular Talking Logistics posts we published this year and the new episodes we aired in Q4. I encourage you to share this list with your colleagues, as well students, young professionals, and others who might be interested in joining our growing community. They can sign up for our email and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and iTunes to stay informed about upcoming episodes and to read our blog posts on industry trends and news.

Again, thank you for making this another fun and rewarding year on Talking Logistics and Indago. Happy Holidays and I wish you all much health and success in 2026.

Top 10 Talking Logistics Posts in 2025

1. Freight Fraud Is Booming. So Is The Market To Stop It
2. What The World Needs Now: Another TMS?
3. Europe’s Truck Driver Shortage: What’s Driving It — And How Logistics Leaders Are Responding
4. Introducing A Supply Chain Logistics Maturity Model
5. UNFI: Another Reminder Of Cyberattack Risks On Supply Chains
6. FAA Approves Nationwide Drone Delivery, But There’s A Catch
7. Was I Wrong About Sidewalk Delivery Robots?
8. Navigating NYC Congestion Pricing: The Impact On Distribution Operations
9. The Future (Or End) Of Supply Chain Visibility
10. AI In Logistics: Already Here, Just Not Evenly Distributed

Talking Logistics Video Episodes (Q4 2025)

Note: It’s difficult for us to rank our video episodes because many of them are hosted by our sponsors and we don’t have visibility to their views. Therefore, instead of a ranked list, below are the episodes we aired during the fourth quarter of 2025. For the rest of the episodes we aired this year, see our Q1 2025, Q2 2025, and Q3 2025 posts and our episode archive.

• AI, Networks, And The Road To Supply Chain Breakthroughs
• Insights From Descartes’ 2025 Transportation Management Survey
• Leading Through The 5 Stages of Grief in Supply Chain Management

Note: Talking Logistics will be on holiday from December 22 – January 2. We will be back on January 5, refreshed and ready to go for another year of sharing insights and advice about what’s happening in the world of supply chain and logistics. Until then, here’s our final Song of the Week for 2025, “I Try” by Macy Gray.