Industry Research · April 2026
Your P&L shows what logistics costs. It rarely shows where it leaks. Three patterns kept surfacing across APAC. This research names them.
Based on qualitative research with APAC logistics operations leaders and third-party industry data from Capgemini, McKinsey, Dematic, CBRE, and CustomerGauge.
Each finding is backed by third-party data, names the signals to look for in your own operation, and closes with a practical action list.
Last-mile is now 53% of total shipping cost. Most operators manage it in aggregate. The leaks stay invisible.
Every operations leader we spoke with knew their total transport spend. Almost none could tell you which routes were absorbing excess cost, or which decisions were driving it.
The cost sits in the P&L as aggregate diesel, aggregate overtime, aggregate vehicle utilisation. The accounting is correct. The picture it gives is too blurry to act on. Without a per-route baseline, there is no comparison point. The leak continues either way.
The report names the signals to look for and gives a four-step process to build a per-route baseline from data you already have.
It held up for a decade because one person held all the context in their head. That worked when scale was stable and people stayed. Neither is true in 2026.
Fleet size is growing while senior-planner supply is shrinking. Delivery windows have tightened past what a spreadsheet can handle in real time. Operations leaders we spoke with had reframed this: the risk is not a slow plan. It is a plan that depends entirely on one person showing up.
In a team of two planners, an 11.6% annual turnover rate means a one-in-six chance of losing someone. And with them, the unwritten logic of how the operation actually runs. The morning plan isn't just slow. It's fragile.
Qualitative research with logistics operations leaders across Asia Pacific, covering fleet operations, distribution, and last-mile delivery. All interviews are anonymised. Third-party data sources are fully cited at the back.
Third-party data from Capgemini (2024 Last Mile Delivery Report), Dematic (2025 APAC Supply Chain Survey), CustomerGauge (B2B churn benchmarks), McKinsey (2024 distribution operations research), and CBRE (2025 APAC Industrial & Logistics Outlook).
SWAT Mobility builds route planning software for APAC operations. We commissioned this research to understand the industry, not to sell to it.
The findings reflect what operations leaders told us: where costs are hiding, what's making planning fragile, and what's quietly costing them customers. Where those findings have implications for how operators use software, we say so plainly. Where they don't, we don't manufacture a connection.
The report does not name SWAT Mobility as the answer. It lays out the questions. You can decide what to do with them.
Qualitative research with APAC operations leaders, backed by third-party data. Each finding closes with a practical action list you can start this quarter.
