The challenges facing our industry in the drayage sector are far-reaching. Reduced capacity, difficulty recruiting drivers, ongoing regulations and port and terminal congestion compounded by a non-standardized, inefficient chassis system are weighing heavily on drayage and today’s supply chains. Add the recent flow of costly, disruptive supply chain events, including severe winter weather and labor issues, and we are faced with the need for momentous change. The first step is for businesses to move from short-term, reactionary planning models to long-term, collaborative partnerships to drive supply chain performance improvements, productivity and mitigate risk.
Intermodal drayage is slated to be the fastest-growing transportation segment over the next 10 years. We must move to mutually beneficial relationships built on shared planning and costs. Increasing rates to improve drayage capacity and trucker recruitment is critical.
Availability of well-maintained chassis in neutral pools at all ports and rail terminals, or intermodal trucking — shipper partnerships that form dedicated chassis fleets are our path forward. We also need to transform the existing transaction-based drayage model to a dedicated solution.
In the retail sector, we continually witness dramatically different supply chain dynamics on the two sides of the distribution center. On the inbound side, drayage companies are typically paid by the move and often via a third party with no consistent commitment to long-term volume or margin protection. On the outbound side, we see the same client commit to long-term dedicated solutions with Tier 1 transportation providers to assure seamless product delivery from the DC to store level.
The old saying “what comes in must go out” stands true with the supply chain activity around the DC. To stay balanced and predictable, both sides of the freight movement equation must be balanced.
Ken Kellaway, President and CEO, RoadOne IntermodaLogistics