How Booster Vaccines and the Supply Chain Crisis Go Hand in Hand

Two of the biggest topics on people’s minds right now are COVID booster shots and supply chain shortages. And unfortunately, these two are feeding into each other. With the FDA approving booster shots and vaccinations for younger people, and the supply chain facing historic back-ups, shipping vaccinations is once again a top-of-mind issue. And the effects are being felt across the government, carriers and shippers. With that, here is a brief look at how vaccine shipping is impacting the supply chain and vice versa. Eating Up More Capacity During An Already Tight Market One of the main factors driving the supply chain crisis is the shortage of carriers. This is especially true for refrigerated capacity, which vaccines directly impact. Vaccines are now occupying space that under normal circumstances would be used to transport food leading to increased food costs and empty shelves at grocery stores. To compound matters, as with other sectors, employment-related vaccine mandates for companies with 100+ workers could cause drivers to leave large carriers for small ones, or exit the profession altogether. The Government Using Smaller Carriers Normally when the government needs high-value products shipped, they leverage bigger, contracted carriers. But with sky-high rejection rates from large carriers, the government continues to wade new territory by leveraging smaller carriers to haul time-sensitive vaccine loads. In turn, this is putting pressure on smaller carriers, who may not have worked with the government previously-- to learn and follow new processes. Cost Spikes Much like with any capacity crunch, shippers are facing heightened freight procurement costs. Recent reports state that freight spending by shippers increased 32% YoY. And this is...

The Transparency Battle: Where to Start

Transparency in freight procurement is paramount to success. In an industry riddled with moving parts, it’s important that shippers see the complete picture so they can maximize supply chain efficiency. Unfortunately, multiple roadblocks lay in the way. Here are a few things shippers, and transportation departments, should consider in order to cultivate a transparent freight procurement operation. Obtain Actionable Data  Many important freight procurement questions still go unanswered because there are massive data gaps in transportation and logistics, which makes it difficult for shippers to effectively manage today’s market volatility. Ideally, a shipper would turn to data to quickly uncover how to optimize the carrier network so they can maximize the transportation budget and deliver products on time. They’d have data at their fingertips that identify which carriers to replace, keep, and/ or add. With smart tools that provide actionable data outputs, shippers have the ability to gain deeper insights so proper carrier adjustments can be made. Limit Freight Brokers From pricing to performance data, brokers are known for opacity. Today, new intelligent automation technology empowers shippers to eliminate the need for freight brokers by providing direct access to a healthy freight marketplace full of compliant, asset-based carriers. When the freight broker is eliminated, and carriers bid directly on loads, shippers no longer need to wonder how much of the truckload cost went to the broker versus the carrier. And because carriers set truckload prices-- not non-transparent brokers-- shippers obtain a clearer picture of the true-market cost to haul a specific load. Transparency Within the Team It’s just as important to have transparency in-house than it is to get it from outside partners and vendors. Successful...

Worried about supply chain issues? Make sure you’re looking at logistics spending.

Originally posted on StrategicCFO360. With logistics spending reported to have hit $10.6 trillion last year alone, it’s surprising that some executives still focus attention on manufacturing processes, and not the supply chain as a whole to benchmark productivity. When doing so, organizations miss out on staggering cost-reduction opportunities. It’s common for financial teams to look at logistics only as a hefty, but necessary, line-item within the annual budget. And unfortunately, due to outdated technology and lack of actionable data, logistics—in particular, freight procurement—continues to be one of the leading areas of financial waste for many companies. Logistics operations and infrastructure are renowned for being slow to adopt innovative technology and/or process changes. In fact, many companies are still using a decades-old approach to freight procurement. Why? Maybe logistics isn’t seen as a company priority, or maybe logistics insiders stand their ground and say the current process works just fine, or it’s too hard to change. Whatever the barrier, without continuous improvement, there’s a high probability your silent peril is working against you. So, what can be done? Here are some things that CFOs should keep in mind when reviewing their yearly logistical spend, and ways they can better collaborate with—and empower—logistics teams to drive success. Ask the Right Questions Finance teams need to understand how transportation issues can impact business success. They don’t need to be logistics experts, they just need to know which questions to ask. Asking the following—and ensuring the logistics team has the right data set to answer these questions—will quickly uncover logistics weaknesses and opportunities: Are transportation costs in line with what the market is paying? Are transportation costs...

Navigating the EOY Freight Procurement Crunch

Black Friday is right around the corner. And, while the early shopping rush may typically be fueled by bargain hunting, this year’s early shopping is being spurred on by fears over product shortages and delays. COVID-19 has been an underlying disruptive force on the supply chain for nearly two years. However, these conditions are only going to be exacerbated as we move into the notoriously hectic holiday period. With that in mind, here are a few factors that shippers and logistics professionals need to keep in mind as they look to meet year-end fulfillment and delivery needs. New Delivery Options Add Stress Retailers have done a great job of expanding delivery options to end customers to help eliminate supply chain stress. For example, “buy online, pick-up in-store” eliminates shipping to the customer's home. That said, retailers still need to find ways to get goods to the store for pickup. Managing full truckloads will require shippers to double down on their forecasting and pre-planning efforts to make sure they can adequately meet the product demand for their customers this holiday season. Increased Demand Equals Increased Freight Procurement Cost Shippers are set to incur possibly some of the highest costs ever thanks to the confluence of the COVID pandemic and the upcoming holiday period. This is why shippers need to pay close attention to their freight procurement costs and look for ways to enable more cost-friendly freight procurement. This means moving beyond broker middlemen and leveraging technology to automate freight procurement, and obtaining actionable freight data to qualify new carriers and evaluate existing ones to optimize the all-important carrier network. Dynamically Accessing Reliable Carriers  Ensuring on-time delivery...

3 Ways AI Can Reap Benefits

Originally posted on Inbound Logistics on 9/11/2021. Set to generate more than $550 billion in revenue by 2024, arguably no sector in the technology world is growing more rapidly than artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). And while AI may be experiencing well-known impacts on industries such as healthcare and retail, it's also quietly affecting logistics and shipping, particularly freight procurement. Logistics, supply chain and manufacturing are historically slow-moving when it comes to adopting new technologies. However, given how rapidly things are changing as a result of the pandemic, now is the time when carriers and shippers need to take a long, hard look at their technology stack. The only way to prepare for unplanned disruption is to add technology that empowers adaptability. With that in mind, here are three key areas where AI can reap significant benefits for both shippers and carriers. 1. Alternate carrier procurement. Requiring a huge amount of manual effort, locating an alternate carrier when your primary carrier rejects a load is one of the most painstaking and convoluted tasks shippers face today. But what if it was possible to circumvent the broker market and rely on technology to directly locate the best alternate carrier in a fraction of the time? With AI, it is. By leveraging AI tools, shippers can pair their own data with third-party data to dynamically source the perfect alternative carrier matches based on a host of variables, including type of load, load weight, delivery location, and more. This allows shippers to eliminate any legwork spent finding an alternate carrier. 2. Waste elimination. The freight industry today is littered with waste—especially when it...