One of the biggest challenges for logistics providers is balancing their equipment with demand. To maintain profitability as well as service, carriers try to minimize empty miles and non-usage. Empty miles for a trucking company represent the cost of repositioning equipment to meet demand. Non-usage, in the case of containers, represents a lack of outbound shipments in a specific area. In both cases these pure expenses will be reflected in the outbound rate.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology
The Covid virus has presented production challenges for global manufacturing. Food, chemical and personal products companies, among many more, struggle to meet retail demand.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, Big Data, dimensional pricing
A surge in energy and metal prices is offering investors a fresh reminder of how the commodities market can fuel inflation and imperil the post-pandemic economic recovery.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Shipping News, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing
Politicians on both side of the isle support the Biden administrations efforts to revive the U.S. manufacturing base. The American Jobs Plan (AJP) was a proposal by U.S. President Joe Biden to spend $2 trillion on U.S. infrastructure over eight years. It is the second portion of Biden's three-part "Build Back Better" agenda, with the first being the American Rescue Plan and the third being the American Families Plan. It was unveiled shortly after Biden signed into law the Rescue Plan in March 2021. Biden had pitched the proposal as "a transformative effort to overhaul the nation's economy".
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, dimensional pricing
Warehouse technologies can directly impact one of the most critical strategic goals and differentiators for logistics organizations, warehouse efficiency. If warehouse operations run inefficiently, the business is forced to increase its workforce and overhead to maintain acceptable service levels and margins.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Freight Bill Auditing, Intermodal Freight, Logistics Business, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology, Big Data
The debate over whether density-based pricing will succeed in toppling the traditional National Motor Freight Classification’s (NMFC) based pricing in the LTL industry is an ongoing debate. Carriers are pushing for dimensional pricing to manage the margins on lightweight shipments. This is the basis of the argument. Under the NMFC classification density was taken into consideration as was packaging and commodity but it was largely based upon weight. Back in the day, carriers in a battle over business after deregulation, were offering FAK (Freight All Kinds ) tariffs to get the business. This strategy ultimately led to unprofitable operation ratios, subpar delivery performance and ultimately the bankruptcy of some major carriers. Major national freight carriers in recent years have declared the days of beating up the carrier on rates is over. Unlike in the past, the LTL industry today has a massive volume of smaller shipments. There is also the challenge of completing same-day deliveries or time definite deliveries. Likewise, these shipments are not always of consistent size and density, making it difficult for shippers to sustain adequate profit margins.
Today, if you want dependable service, you’re going to have to pay for it. Let’s see if we can offer a cursory education on dimensional pricing.
Topics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Technology, dimensional pricing
Trucking rates out of the Northeast have been steadily rising resulting from a spike in demand from shippers using the Port of New York, Philadelphia, and New Jersey as an alternative to the congestion in the California ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Savannah.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology
Transportation capacity remains on a downward trajectory while prices and utilization are increasing at a steady rate. A heavy flow of inbound containers, as providers try to catch up on depleted inventories and consumers remain active, is driving the demand side. Delays at the ports and on the rails, and a lack of equipment and trucks, is keeping capacity stretched and prices high.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Intermodal Freight, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, 3D Printing, Logistics News, Industry Trends, Technology
As if things weren’t challenging enough along comes hurricane Ida causing all manner of disruption to the Gulf states. One million without power for quite a while, hospitals limping along on generators and commerce in the region is at a standstill.
Read MoreTopics: Supply Chain Management, Third Party Logistics, Freight Bill Auditing, Transportation News, Reducing Freight Rates, Logistics Business, Maximizing Routing Efficiencies, Industry Trends
We’re all painfully aware that the last 18 months have been devastating to the U.S. economy. But things are looking up. We have several vaccines, hospitalizations are trending down as are Covid deaths. The new threat is the Covid variant. Several states are experiencing significant infection rates. We need to start planning for possible new restrictions. Already grappling with truck driver shortages, rising freight rates, and intermittent capacity issues, the domestic transportation sector experienced major shifts when the global pandemic disrupted supply chains around the world and shippers were sent scrambling for solutions. Another shutdown is unlikely, but any new level of restrictions will be problematic. Industry experts are forecasting significant supply chain issues on the horizon. A contingency plan will be critical to manage your supply chain in the coming quarters.
Read MoreTopics: Intermodal Freight, Logistics Business, Logistics News
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