Looking toward 2024, I believe it will be a year where shippers need to double down on their strategic relationships with key partners ensuring that their business is meaningful. Undoubtedly, we will continue to see blank sailings and inconsistent service as ocean carriers try to manage with diminished volumes.
Based on lessons learned, we’ve increased our investment with our private fleet, thus managing the flow of goods from port to our cross-dock operations. Investing in a private fleet that’s managed by a third party, we’ve increased our ability to keep the ports clean and added a consistent flow of containers through our network.
At SanMar we believe that business is personal. Facing a year with lots of uncertainty in domestic and international business, it will be even more important that we continue to play the long game, investing with our strategic partners and our internal teams. Our goal is to prepare our supply chain and position ourselves on the leading edge when the economy recovers. We’re confident that the way we manage and strengthen relationships during the tough times will pay dividends when the market turns. Looking at the domestic marketplace, we do not see ourselves chasing mini bids or even quarterly bids. We will continue to work with our carriers providing year-round consistent business. We’ll continue to work to be good stewards of drivers and equipment. And we believe that the net effect provides us with competitive rates and top-tier service.
One thing the past few years have taught us is that global logistics will be impacted by events we can’t foresee. What we can do is continue to invest in our people and our relationships, so we are prepared as much as possible to deal with the unexpected.