In 2017, transportation, long treated as the Rodney Dangerfield of the supply chain, moved front and center during a year where huge mega-storms, fires, and other environmental events severely impacted shipper supply chains. Coupled with the advent of the ELD mandate and other regulatory issues, transportation providers struggled to maintain profitability with little hope of gaining ground.
As we look forward into 2018, this perfect storm will find carriers pushing up rates while shippers do their best to keep costs under control. Many sources are already predicting transportation rates increasing between 5 and 10 percent depending on mode. One other impact on cost that is in the shipper’s area of control is shipping practices. Delays on a shipper or customer dock can result in huge costs to a carrier, which will ultimately be passed on to the shipper. Shippers need to review their practices and do their best to mitigate these money-draining issues.
I’d like to see 2018 as the Year of the Shipper. Shippers working with their carriers to become a “shipper of choice” by doing whatever they can to streamline operations and open lines of communication with their transportation providers will become the norm and not the exception.
Just as technology is rapidly transforming the supply chain, transportation professionals must embrace these new ideas and find ways to incorporate technology into their network by increasing visibility, improving key performance metrics, and evaluating various transportation options. Only by embracing technology while retaining the human relationships that sustain our industry, will shippers become a shipper of choice.