What do we mean by logistics and why are they hard

# What do we mean by logistics and why are they hard? # What do we mean by logistics and why are they hard At its core, logistics seems to be “the discipline of making sure that the things are in the place at the time.” Abstractly this is hard because 1. There are fewer things that carry things (trucks, ships, etc) than things that need to be carried. So there’s some kind of optimal matching problem. 2. Unknown factors can introduce delays/shortages  [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+do+we+mean+by+logistics+and+why+are+they+hard) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/What+do+we+mean+by+logistics+and+why+are+they+hard)