The figures on this site, where they come from and what they count. We use US sources wherever one exists, and say so where one doesn’t. These are industry figures and other people’s operations, not results from SMART RTP.
Returnable containers that don’t come back
Used on the page for: Idle containers
$244M
US Postal Service mail transport equipment (sacks, trays, wheeled containers, pallets) unaccounted for at local mailers in fiscal 2021. Separately, $199 million in questioned costs at postal facilities and large mailers, and about $300 million spent on new equipment from 2017 to 2021.
What it counts“Unaccounted for” means not tracked back, which isn’t the same as lost. The Inspector General said the equipment was “at risk of loss, leakage, and unauthorized use.”
Michigan State University School of Packaging researchers, citing a Johnson & Johnson case: “Cutting in half the number of days in the cycle can double NPV.” They also note that containers “are routinely misdirected, inappropriately reused or lost, and they are rarely tracked.”
What it countsA review paper. The NPV line quotes Block (1999), a single medical-device case.
The FSMA Sanitary Transportation rule: food that requires temperature control must be “transported under adequate temperature control.” The shipper specifies the temperature in writing, the receiver checks the food wasn’t subjected to temperature abuse, and on request the carrier shows it held the temperature, for example with “time/temperature data taken during the shipment.”
What it countsCovers motor and rail transport. It sets no fixed temperature and doesn’t require continuous logging.
Under the FSMA Food Traceability Rule, businesses handling foods on the Food Traceability List keep key data for events including shipping and receiving, and give it to the FDA within 24 hours of a request.
What it countsApplies only to listed foods. FDA will not enforce it before July 20, 2028.
US retail shrink in fiscal 2022, an average shrink rate of 1.6%. Theft, internal and external, was nearly two-thirds (65%) of it.
What it countsInventory loss in stores. In-transit and supply chain losses are often reported as claims instead, and NRF hasn’t published a dollar figure since.
UTZ founded. Family-owned, headquartered in Bremgarten, Switzerland, with about 1,300 employees and production in eight countries, including its US plant in Edinburgh, Indiana.
