Raising the bar(code?): real-time tracking and communication technologies help carriers and warehouses improve supply chain performance. (Logistics).

They say life is what happens to you while you're making other plans.

It's a fitting summary of life in the food industry's logistics sector. On one hand there's the ongoing quest of consumer packaged goods companies to realize a 10-year-old vision of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR).

Where to start? How about with a look at the more concrete details of warehousing and distribution.

Released in 2002, the latest biennial report from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service show the nation's gross refrigerated space increased 4.8 percent to 3.04 billion cubic feet in 2001. Moreover, both the public and private warehousing sectors are literally gaining ground. Industry officials say public refrigerated warehouse space continues to grow at an annual rate of more than 10 percent and now exceeds 2.25 billion cubic feet. Privately owned warehousing also is growing and now accounts for a combined estimated 789 million cubic feet of space.

Using construction industry revenues to track activity, market tracker McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge said the nation's robust transportation sector generated $25.8 billion in contracted work during 2002. That amount -- representing 13.3 percent of total construction contract revenues -- was up significantly from the year before.

Logistics observers sound one cautionary note. They point out that the nation's building boom comes while many manufacturers strive to reduce inventories and increase turns. As a result, there probably is a temporary glut of capacity with so many new private, public and dedicated warehouses and mixing centers. Meanwhile, there's reason to believe warehouse and distribution center operators - private and public -- will work to shutter outdated storage sites.

The nation's transportation sector offers a similar story of growth, slightly offset by the hard realities of business. Refrigerated Transporter magazine Editor-in-Chief Gary Macklin says demand for trucking continues to be strong and indications are that truck carrier revenues will be up during 2003. However, most carriers will continue to experience weak performance with narrower margins for many.

Says Mackim, "High insurance premiums and fuel costs -- particularly during the first half of this year -- have contributed to higher operating ratios for even those carriers with the strongest profit margins. As freight volume increases, carriers also need more drivers and the money for all these things has to come from somewhere."