Why ocean-to-inland logistics needs a more connected flow in Latin America
Summary: Latin America is at a supply chain crossroads. While the region is primed to benefit from shifting global trade, its reliance on informal, relationship-driven logistics workarounds is stalling progress. To scale, shippers must adapt to five critical market shifts. Read more.
Alicia De La Guardia
Head of Digital Marketing and Digital Sales
Shipping cargo should follow a simple rhythm: booked, shipped, delivered. But in Latin America, reaching that ‘delivered’ milestone involves local volatility, fragmented coordination, and last-minute fixes. A missing document, a customs hold, or a phantom truck can turn a standard process into a high-stress scramble.
For years, logistics teams have had a simple motto: “It’s messy, but it’s manageable.” And we get it! Experienced teams, trusted contacts, a quick message, and relationship-led fixes have helped keep the freight moving through difficult moments.
The issue is not that these workarounds do not work. It is that they are becoming too costly, too manual, and too difficult to scale.
So, what’s changing? Five shifts are making traditional logistics harder to sustain. These conversations happen every day across Latin American supply chains. Each one sounds like an isolated problem. In reality, each one reveals a much bigger market shift.
Click each conversation below to explore the shifts behind it and how it's reshaping logistics in Latin America.
As regional supply chains grow, this model is under heavy pressure.
McKinsey states that Latin America is at a pivotal moment. The region could benefit from shifting global supply chains—supported by its proximity to major markets, natural resources, manufacturing potential, and relatively neutral geopolitical position. But that opportunity comes with a catch: growth will depend on stronger infrastructure, additional trade corridors, and more integrated supply chain capabilities.
Simply put, the region’s logistics model cannot stay informal while its trade ambitions become more sophisticated. Here are five shifts that are making the old way of managing logistics harder to sustain in Latin America.
Shift #1: Inland volatility is now a core commercial risk.
Ocean transit follows structured, predictable schedules. But landside transport operates in a more complex and unpredictable environment.
Physical bottlenecks: Shippers regularly face road disruptions, severe highway blockades, and terminal congestion.
Resource shortages: Limited terminal capacity or driver shortages can delay cargo, causing vessel omissions or rolled cargo.
The stakes are rising because the logistics market itself is expanding. According to Mordor Intelligence, South America’s freight and logistics market is projected to grow from USD 270.18 billion in 2026 to USD 348.78 billion by 2031—while road freight remains the dominant transport mode.
But when infrastructure breaks down in a fragmented supply chain, it heavily impacts the shipper. Inland volatility can affect inventory, cost exposure, and customer commitments. This makes inland reliability a significant commercial priority.
When you design a supply chain, you want it to work like a Swiss clock—stock levels right, deliveries on time, everything moving as planned. In Latin America, infrastructure and geography can add complexity, so having the right support around the move matters.
Shift #2: Visibility must provide actionable certainty.
In a reactive supply chain, visibility means sending a five-minute voice note and waiting for a reply. But today’s customer expectations have shifted completely. This expectation shift is visible in how performance is being measured at a global scale.
The World Bank measures logistics performance using shipment-level operational data, that includes supply chain speed, connectivity, and reliability across countries.
Visibility in supply chains has also evolved beyond a tracking event. It encompasses whether the information is timely, standardized across different parts of your supply chain, and reliable enough to support action.
Visibility has shifted from “where is it?” to “what does this mean, what happens next, and who owns the next action?”
But, here’s the catch: On-ground realities in Latin America can change rapidly. Yet the digital updates lag behind—leaving customers with outdated information. This forces logistics teams to spend hours chasing updates through emails, calls, and manual confirmations, instead of focusing on crucial business operations.
Overcoming this localized fragmentation is exactly why shippers are moving toward unified logistics structures—and where a single, connected network becomes a game-changer.
The biggest change customers notice with integrated ocean and inland services is improved visibility. They are able to track shipment milestones, and they also have a single point of contact managing the communication between the customer and transport providers. This integration simplifies the business operations.
Shift #3: Fragmentation creates hidden costs.
A standard delivery in Latin America involves multiple handoffs—between the ocean carrier, port terminal, customs broker, inland provider, and other teams.
Every handoff creates a hidden cost. When delays happen in a disconnected supply chain, accountability becomes harder to find. The trucker blames missing customs release, the broker blames terminal gate hours, and terminal blames vessel congestion.
The cargo owner absorbs the operational and administrative burden. This includes delayed deliveries, unclear communication, and continuous issue resolution.
The shipment may still move, but the cost of making it move keeps rising. Mitigating these hidden operational frictions requires an active partner that can plan the entire move as one connected flow.
It’s been enriching to connect with customers, understand what they deal with every day, and see how—with the structure and teams we have—we can support them, overcome roadblocks, and keep their business moving.
Shift #4: Workaround culture has reached its limit.
Across many Latin American markets, relationship-led problem solving plays an important role. A trusted contact or a quick call can resolve urgent issues quickly. That relationship and responsiveness is valuable. But it becomes risky when it becomes the main operating model.
Relationship-driven exception management can work well when volumes are low, routes are familiar, and only a few scenarios need attention. But relying on this way of supply chain management breaks down under pressure—when market conditions change.
BCG’s work on growth in the Global South makes a similar point: companies expanding in Latin American markets need supply chain models that are localized, resilient, and flexible enough to handle market-specific complexity.
Scaling operations requires a standardized, predictable framework. In Latin America, that does not mean replacing local relationships. It means introducing a structured system where exception management is predictable, and day-to-day coordination is digitized.
This shift doesn’t distance logistics partners; it actually allows them to be more responsive.
When customers use digital portals for routine requests, they save time. And it allows us to support them faster, more strategically—whether that’s helping with new requests, resolving issues, or connecting with the right partners.
Shift #5: Fast execution needs instant pricing.
In the past, negotiating spot shipping rates was a slow process of back-and-forth emails. Today’s supply chains move too fast for slow pricing loops.
Shippers cannot wait for days or weeks for new or updated pricing when market conditions change or disruption happens.
They need clearer, complete, and faster pricing to help them make quick and informed spot shipping decisions and execute fast.
They need a booking model that lets them see options, understand the commercial terms, and move from decision to execution without waiting through long email cycles.
But fast pricing only matters if you can actually secure the space at that rate. Shippers need a clear, upfront system that gives them the confidence of an instant, guaranteed rate. This pairing of speed and predictability is what transforms spot shipping into a reliable strategy.
Today’s customers value simplicity, visibility, and reliability. Maersk Spot delivers all three—by offering instant responses, transparent commitments, and a clear framework that helps customers plan with greater confidence.
Adding another vendor will not solve fragmentation. Starting another WhatsApp group will not create visibility. To manage the volatility of Latin American logistics, you don’t need to hustle harder. You need a more connected way to book, manage, and move your cargo.
When ocean and inland are managed together, the gap closes. You get visibility, accountability, predictability—in a single flow.
By managing end-to-end transportation through a single booking journey, shippers can reduce blind spots in their supply chains. With integrated spot shipping solutions like Maersk Spot, the mechanics change—fewer handoffs, centralized control, and unified execution logic from the port to the final destination. That is the shift Maersk is built to support: a more connected way to book your ocean + inland moves across Latin America.
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