The Cost of Logistics Drift

By Reinder Hoornstra

From Issue 3, 2026 of Breakbulk Magazine

(2-minute read)

On most capital projects, logistics sits within the procurement function. That makes sense when the focus is purchasing transport services, negotiating freight contracts or managing shipments. The problem is that logistics engineering begins much earlier.

During front-end engineering design (FEED), logistics influences critical engineering decisions. Route studies define the maximum transport envelope, port assessments determine feasible import strategies, and lifting and constructability studies influence equipment dimensions, module splits and installation methods. These are engineering constraints that shape the design before procurement is even involved. Numerous industry studies have shown that decisions made during front-end planning have the greatest influence on project cost, schedule and overall success.

Yet once engineering is complete, logistics often becomes a procurement activity. The engineering intent behind those early logistics studies gradually disappears and with it, logistics readiness.

Consider a typical route study. It establishes the maximum dimensions and weights that can be transported to site and provides the basis for equipment design. Months later, procurement awards a fabrication contract. The OEM optimizes the design, adjusts support steel, changes lifting points or selects a different transport frame. Individually, these changes appear minor. Collectively, they can invalidate the original logistics assumptions.

The same occurs throughout the project lifecycle. Engineering revisions, supplier substitutions, schedule changes, construction sequencing and permitting updates all influence how equipment will ultimately be transported and installed. Each decision may be justified, but together they gradually erode logistics readiness.

This gradual erosion can be described as logistics drift: the progressive loss of logistics readiness caused by hundreds of seemingly insignificant project decisions.

Unlike cost or schedule overruns, logistics readiness rarely deteriorates because of one major event. It is lost through hundreds of small decisions made across engineering, procurement and construction without anyone verifying whether the original logistics strategy still supports execution. This reflects a broader project management challenge: managing change across the project lifecycle while maintaining alignment between disciplines.

This raises an important question: If engineering, cost and schedule are continuously managed throughout a project, why isn’t logistics engineering?

A route study should not be viewed as a one-time deliverable. It should become a living engineering constraint that is continuously validated as the project evolves. Every significant engineering or procurement decision should answer a simple question: Does this improve or reduce logistics readiness?

Maintaining logistics readiness requires ongoing collaboration between engineering, procurement, construction and logistics. Equipment dimensions should be verified against approved transport envelopes, supplier changes assessed for transportation impacts, and construction sequencing reviewed to ensure the original execution strategy remains achievable.

As projects become increasingly modular, global and scheduledriven, logistics engineering can no longer be treated as a support function. It should be recognized as a core project discipline that continuously safeguards execution by maintaining logistics readiness throughout the project lifecycle. From concept development and engineering through procurement, fabrication, transportation and construction, logistics assumptions must be continuously validated as projects evolve.

Reinder Hoornstra, MBA, MSc., is the founder and lead consultant of Greenfield Logistics, an independent consultancy specializing in logistics engineering for major capital projects. With over 20 years of international experience, he has advised owners, EPCs and contractors across mining, energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors. He developed the Logistics Readiness Assessment (LRA), a methodology that helps project teams improve logistics readiness and reduce execution risk. Hoornstra is a member of Breakbulk’s Future Thinkers.