Rising Prices Ahead

Top Tip To Quickly Mitigate Rising Warehousing & Rail Costs.

Disruption across the supply chain continues to increase costs for shippers. In fact, disruption looms all around us which has forced many shippers to think creatively about how and where to cut expenses. “More than ever, logistics budgets are constrained, which is forcing shippers to find out-of-the-box ways to cut costs,” said Michael Paul, VP of Sales at Sleek Technologies. “One area where innovative shippers have quickly reduced spend is transportation, specifically full truckload (FTL) cost.” Warehousing Disruption The recent spike in warehousing cost is a result of higher demand for storage space, along with increased labor costs. Looking at Q2 2022, less than 4% of warehouse space sat empty, which is a 27-year low. Rent cost increased by 10%+ in 2022, compared to 2021. And reports have stated that 2023 will see an increase of 8.8%. Therefore, shippers should plan for more disruptions at the ports, and more inventory sitting in containers as it waits for warehouse space. The inventory ratio will continue to rise, which means increased costs related to demurrage and detention for ocean boxes. When goods are finally ready to be transported to an available warehouse/distribution center, shippers will need to react quickly by securing compliant, over-the-road capacity.   Rail Disruption Warehousing is not the only factor related to increased supply chain cost. The Railroad Workers Union is predicting more disruption. Although Congress halted the railroad workers' strike a few months back, major pain points still exist such as staff shortages, long hours, and lack of paid sick days. If some or all of the 60,000 railroad union members go on strike, nearly 30% of the nation’s...

Need to revitalize your TMS? Here’s a quick and easy tip!

If you are in transportation you are probably familiar with a transportation management system, also called a TMS. Serving as the logistics central hub, the TMS helps shippers plan, execute and optimize the movement of goods with the goals of improving supply chain efficiency while strengthening customer service and compliance. While a TMS offers numerous benefits, as with any software platform, once launched there are often oversights, gaps, and missed opportunities. Many shippers believe they are stuck with what they have because there is a preconceived notion that it is difficult to modify or upgrade your TMS without consuming more resources or disrupting day-to-day business. This is simply not true. TMS Software Plugin Upgrades TMS Without Disrupting Business Software plugins can quickly and easily enhance the performance of existing software systems by adding new features and functions not available, or not required when implemented. For logistics specifically,a new innovative TMS plugin has helped transportation teams easily advance the freight procurement process by providing access to thousands of complaint carriers in seconds using AI/ML algorithms. Shippers have stated that many TMS platforms do not provide advanced freight procurement solutions, which results in shippers spending hours finding and vetting compliant carriers. They also spend time manually tracking shipments and then dealing with carrier invoicing and billing. All of these time-consuming tasks can now be automated using technological advancements. To read "Maximize Your TMS Investment" and learn more about this topic, click here.  

Why Transportation Teams Are Setup to Fail

Plans are just that… plans. They are never set in stone and oftentimes fall apart. The world’s best planners spend as much time- if not more- developing a strong contingency plan for when the original plan falls apart to avoid disruption. The same goes for logistics and transportation teams. The routing guide is a plan, and when executed flawlessly contracted carrier obligations are met and all loads are covered. Now imagine if flawless execution happened every time... we can dream, right? Unfortunately, we know the routing guide will fall apart. So what can shippers do today, to prepare for tomorrow?  Traditional Way to Secure Spot Coverage Transportation teams are on the hook to deliver goods on time so customers remain happy while paying a fair truckload cost so expenses can be managed. Unfortunately, traditional freight procurement processes to secure spot coverage force shippers to prioritize either cost or services- not both! “Loads need to move, that’s a fact. When transportation teams are forced to prioritize cost or service they can't succeed,” said George Belle, Head of Sales Engineering at Sleek Technologies. "Both cost and service need to be taken into consideration."  In the traditional freight procurement process, after a load passes contractual obligations, shippers have 2 methods to secure spot coverage: Waterfall: focused on cost, shippers connect with carriers sequentially one by one. If the carrier refuses the offer, they move on to the next in line. This process can take many hours.   Broadcast: focused on time, shippers connect with all carriers at the same time. Whoever accepts the offer first, wins.   The Spot Safety Net AI-powered software has advanced...
Freight Market Chess

Can Shippers & Carriers Both Win in Freight Procurement? Technology Says… Yes They Can! 

Freight logistics knew one truth for decades: money was a game, and someone won while someone else lost. For years, freight brokers have strategized to make the biggest amount of money they could, generally at the expense of one of the other players. The market would decide who had an advantage in each round, and that advantage was subject to change at the drop of a hat or, more accurately, at the occurrence of any disaster, legislation, or shift in the economic balance, big or small. But what if smart technology came along and advanced traditional freight procurement thinking, helping both the shipper and carrier win? Guess what…. smart technology has finally arrived! AI-Powered Freight Procurement Technology We know that technology benefits humanity by putting the world in the palms of our hands. We have the benefit of being connected, globally, to anything we want to purchase, anywhere we want to go, friends and family we want to talk to or discover, and anything we want to learn. When it comes to logistics, there is no difference. Technology instantly connects freight to compliant carriers whenever and wherever needed, so both the shipper and carrier come out on top. Technology does us the favor of removing waste. When freight brokers serve as the moderator of the game, it takes shippers hours to find, vet, and transact with new carriers. AI-powered technology dynamically matches shippers’ loads to compliant carriers in seconds using configured attributes. Only carriers who pass the pre-qualification algorithms are given a chance to bid directly on a load. With the middleman eliminated, the carrier makes more money in their...
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