<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">TRAC Intermodal CEO Keith Lovetro says he’s optimistic a “gray” chassis pool can be created for the Port of New York and New Jersey, but that chassis providers should have a say in how the portwide pool is governed.</div>

TRAC Intermodal CEO Keith Lovetro says he’s optimistic a “gray” chassis pool can be created for the Port of New York and New Jersey, but that chassis providers should have a say in how the portwide pool is governed.

<div>TRAC Intermodal CEO Keith Lovetro says he’s optimistic a “gray” chassis pool can be created for the Port of New York and New Jersey, but that chassis providers should have a say in how the portwide pool is governed.“We would have difficulty supporting any pool where we didn’t have a voice in the governance, or at least a vote,” Lovetro told JOC.com.TRAC’s market dominance gives the company a pivital role in the New York-New Jersey port’s chassis supply. The 21,000 units in TRAC’s Metro Pool comprise an estimated 63 percent of the port’s overall working fleet, and 75 percent of...

TRAC Intermodal CEO Keith Lovetro says he’s optimistic a “gray” chassis pool can be created for the Port of New York and New Jersey, but that chassis providers should have a say in how the portwide pool is governed. “We would have difficulty supporting any pool where we didn’t have a voice in the governance, or at least a vote,” Lovetro told JOC.com. TRAC’s market dominance gives the company a pivital role in the New York-New Jersey port’s chassis supply. The 21,000 units in TRAC’s Metro Pool comprise an estimated 63 percent of the port’s overall working fleet, and 75 percent of the chassis provided by third-party lessors and rental companies. Chassis are widely seen as the biggest challenge to efforts to end bottlenecks and delays that plague New York-New Jersey container terminals and threaten the port’s ability to handle larger ships and increased volume expected to follow the lifting of the Bayonne Bridge roadway and the expansion of the Panama Canal. During the last five years, most container lines have withdrawn from their traditional role as primary provider of marine chassis for the U.S. market and have transferred most of their fleets to leasing companies. The lessors, in turn, now rely less on long-term leases to ocean carriers and more on daily rentals to truckers. In New York-New Jersey, 90 percent of port chassis now are controlled by lessors TRAC, Flexi-van, and Direct ChassisLink Inc. However, container lines often still require use of a certain pool’s chassis for shipments booked under carrier-haulage terms. With no interchange between competing chassis pools, this means truckers often must switch chassis between pickups or deliveries of different carriers’ containers. These extra trips worsen congestion at terminal gates and cause equipment imbalances that leave terminals short of chassis. New York-New Jersey’s chassis supply problems spiked last winter, when icy weather delayed repairs and slowed the return of equipment to terminals and chassis depots. The crisis abated, but truckers still complain that chassis often are unavailable or so rundown that drivers receive police citations that affect safety scores. An industrywide port performance task force organized by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey identified chassis as a top issue. The task force reviewed six potential new supply models but reached no consensus and recommended further study. Support was strongest for a portwide “market pool” of chassis in which pools would cooperate in a gray pool allowing full interchange of chassis. Co-op members would retain their commercial arrangements with customers, but the pool’s operations would be run by an appointed manager. Some task force members favored a “pool of pools, in which competing pools would interchange chassis and share maintenance, as is being proposed by two existing chassis pools in Los Angeles-Long Beach, and a central port-run pool such as the one at the Port of Virginia. Lovetro said TRAC likes the concept of a market pool, provided that equipment providers have a voice on its board. He said that if such a pool is created, TRAC would “aggressively” bid to win the contract to manage it. “Frankly, I would expect that we would win it, but in an open bid you never know … Let the best man win.” He said the appointed manager should serve for a specific term, be rated on key performance indicators, and be replaced if the KPIs aren’t met. Lovetro has long complained that lessors contribute most chassis in the six regional pools run by Container Chassis Management but have no CCM board representation. He said that if equipment providers don’t have a vote on board of a New York-New Jersey gray pool, “it’s hard to see the other pieces working.” TRAC participated in the port performance task force discussions. Lovetro praised the group’s work. “I’m very optimistic we will find a reasonable solution” on chassis, he said. The task force determined that the port has enough chassis to meet annualized demand, but not enough to avoid shortages when volume spikes or multiple off-schedule ships arrive simultaneously. Lovetro said chassis supply is adequate, and that shortages at terminals are due mainly to equipment being out of position because of cargo flows. He said chassis availability is “much improved” from a few months ago and that TRAC expects ample capacity for the summer-fall import peak season. “Are we where we want to be? No. But we’re doing things to improve the fluidity in the port,” he said. In addition to availability, chassis quality has been a sore point for New York-New Jersey truckers. Much of the carriers’ equipment that TRAC and other lessors have acquired during the last several years has been old and in poor repair. Truckers complain that chassis upgrades have been too slow to materialize, and that maintenance and repair have lagged. The M&R issue has been brought into sharper focus recently with roadability audits in the port by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. TRAC’s companywide M&R costs for its marine equipment increased 16 percent in the first quarter while the average number of chassis operating in its marine pools rose 35 percent. The company’s quarterly report cited “a lower average cost per repair and lower frequency of repair per pooled chassis utilized.” Lovetro said the reduction in M&R costs per day of chassis use reflects improved efficiency, and that TRAC is committed to improving its fleet. “We’re going to repair to the FMSCA standard and make sure the equipment is roadable. We’re very focused on improving and being very efficient in our repair,” he said. Like other lessors in the port, TRAC uses International Longshoremen’s Association labor for chassis maintenance and repair. In early June, TRAC’s Metro Pool launched a program to make its overtime scheduling more systematic and predictable — a change Lovetro said makes workers’ lives easier and aids productivity. However, Lovetro said overtime is “a short-term solution” and that TRAC would like to see faster hiring of ILA mechanics, which has been slowed by disagreements between employers and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. “If we had more mechanics, we’d put them to work,” he said. He said TRAC also is addressing the quantity of available equipment in the port by stepping up M&R, repositioning 2,000 units from other regions, and overhauling up to 2,800 units — 1,800 under a recently signed contract and 1,000 for a contract TRAC hopes to sign soon. TRAC is absorbing costs of an expanded program to use flatbed trailers to rebalance chassis among port terminals. In addition, the Metro Pool recently launched an incentive program that pays truckers to reposition chassis between terminals on what otherwise would be a deadhead trip. Lovetro said he’s surprised more truckers haven’t used the latter program. “It’s still early,” he said. “We’re hoping as the guys learn about it, it begins to change behavior. That really is the intent, to change behavior through financial incentives.” Contact Joseph Bonney at jbonney@joc.com and follow him on Twitter: @JosephBonney .

Drayage

Marine terminals

TRAC: Chassis providers want voice in NY-NJ ‘gray’ pool

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The charges come as spot rates for ex-Asia cargo into the US have climbed sharply over the past month.</div>

The charges come as spot rates for ex-Asia cargo into the US have climbed sharply over the past month.

Feature image

<div class="phx-topic">The number of container lines preparing surcharges ahead of potential disruption to US East and Gulf coast service networks has reached at least five as a Jan. 15 longshore strike deadline nears and new carrier alliances launch. CMA CGM, Yang Ming and Hapag-Lloyd said they would implement surcharges ranging from $1,125 to $1,700 per FEU linked to the expected disruption should 45,000 dockworkers from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walk off the job in less than two weeks.The three carriers join Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Zim Integrated Shipping, <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-atlantic-carriers-cue-fresh-surcharges-for-early-2025-risks-5908990">which in December announced they could implement disruption-related surcharges</a> in mid-January. Zim cited the potential ILA strike, while MSC said its charge was linked to the restructuring of its trans-Atlantic network from Feb. 1 when it will <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/mscs-global-scale-enables-standalone-network-coverage-5726563">begin operating as a standalone carrier following its exit from the 2M Alliance with Maersk</a>. CMA CGM said Thursday it will implement a $1,500 per unit “Peak Season Surcharge” (PSS) on Jan. 15 for all cargo from the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, Red Sea and Egypt to the US East and Gulf coasts.Hapag-Lloyd said it will implement an $850 per TEU or $1,700 per FEU “Work Disruption Surcharge” (WDS) and “Work Interruption Destination Surcharge” (WID) on any cargo gated in on or after Jan. 20. The WID would apply to trans-Pacific cargo, while the WDS would cover trans-Atlantic shipments, the carrier said.“This surcharge covers additional costs from labor disruptions, strikes, slowdowns, unrest, congestion, and other unforeseen events that may delay operations and incur extra handling, storage, and feeder service costs,” Hapag-Lloyd said.Yang Ming will implement a “Port Congestion Surcharge” (PCS) on Jan. 15 for all cargo moving into the US and Canada of $800 per TEU and $1,000 per FEU. The carrier said the potential labor unrest could increase its costs. Sources said other carriers are planning to implement surcharges, which are often actually negotiated between carriers and their customers down from the originally announced amount.“The others are hinting at it with their adjustments, just not openly stating it,” said a freight forwarding source. The announced surcharges come as <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/trans-pacific-spot-rates-on-the-rise-amid-pre-lunar-new-year-cargo-bump-5912763">spot rates for ex-Asia cargo into the US have climbed sharply in the past month</a>, according to Platts, a Journal of Commerce sister company within S&amp;P Global. The Platts Container Index measured trans-Pacific East Coast import rates at $6,400 per FEU and West Coast rates at $5,000 per FEU as of Jan 2. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:Laura.Robb@spglobal.com">Laura.Robb@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The number of container lines preparing surcharges ahead of potential disruption to US East and Gulf coast service networks has reached at least five as a Jan. 15 longshore strike deadline nears and new carrier alliances launch. CMA CGM, Yang Ming and Hapag-Lloyd said they would implement surcharges ranging from $1,125 to $1,700 per FEU linked to the expected disruption should 45,000 dockworkers from the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walk off the job in less than two weeks. The three carriers join Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Zim Integrated Shipping, which in December announced they could implement disruption-related surcharges in mid-January. Zim cited the potential ILA strike, while MSC said its charge was linked to the restructuring of its trans-Atlantic network from Feb. 1 when it will begin operating as a standalone carrier following its exit from the 2M Alliance with Maersk . CMA CGM said Thursday it will implement a $1,500 per unit “Peak Season Surcharge” (PSS) on Jan. 15 for all cargo from the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East, Red Sea and Egypt to the US East and Gulf coasts. Hapag-Lloyd said it will implement an $850 per TEU or $1,700 per FEU “Work Disruption Surcharge” (WDS) and “Work Interruption Destination Surcharge” (WID) on any cargo gated in on or after Jan. 20. The WID would apply to trans-Pacific cargo, while the WDS would cover trans-Atlantic shipments, the carrier said. “This surcharge covers additional costs from labor disruptions, strikes, slowdowns, unrest, congestion, and other unforeseen events that may delay operations and incur extra handling, storage, and feeder service costs,” Hapag-Lloyd said. Yang Ming will implement a “Port Congestion Surcharge” (PCS) on Jan. 15 for all cargo moving into the US and Canada of $800 per TEU and $1,000 per FEU. The carrier said the potential labor unrest could increase its costs. Sources said other carriers are planning to implement surcharges, which are often actually negotiated between carriers and their customers down from the originally announced amount. “The others are hinting at it with their adjustments, just not openly stating it,” said a freight forwarding source. The announced surcharges come as spot rates for ex-Asia cargo into the US have climbed sharply in the past month , according to Platts, a Journal of Commerce sister company within S&P Global. The Platts Container Index measured trans-Pacific East Coast import rates at $6,400 per FEU and West Coast rates at $5,000 per FEU as of Jan 2. Contact Laura Robb at Laura.Robb@spglobal.com .

Supply chain

Container Shipping News

Port News

Trucking News

Surface

LTL carriers expanding networks to prepare for long-term growth

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">The deal will see Acuitive Solutions’ AcuAudit product integrated into Cass’ freight audit and payment platform, one widely used by large shippers.</div>

The deal will see Acuitive Solutions’ AcuAudit product integrated into Cass’ freight audit and payment platform, one widely used by large shippers.

<div class="phx-topic">Freight payment and audit provider Cass Information Systems on Thursday said it has acquired AcuAudit, a product it says will enable it to deepen its reach in ocean and air freight auditing. Terms were not disclosed. The seller is logistics technology provider Acuitive Solutions, which predominantly serves the retail and high fashion industries with expedited shipment routing, parcel carrier management and auditing tools. Acuitive CEO Phil Marlowe will retain ownership of the rest of the company and serve as an advisor to Cass. Shippers use AcuAudit to audit ocean air freight bills, with an emphasis on understanding how transportation costs factor in a product’s total landed cost. It competes with a range of international freight-focused audit solutions as well as those offered by multimodal audit firms that tend to specialize in truckload invoice auditing. Cass is a part of the latter category as one of the largest audit and payment platforms for US shippers, with an associated index tracking freight economic activity using data from reconciled freight bills. “The Acuitive team has built a truly exceptional solution to support the advanced needs of global shippers,” Tony Urban, president of Cass’ freight audit and payment group, said in a statement. Marlowe said AcuAudit’s customers “will benefit from ... being integrated into Cass, with its financial capabilities and global reach.” Contact Eric Johnson at <a href="mailto:eric.johnson@spglobal.com">eric.johnson@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

Freight payment and audit provider Cass Information Systems on Thursday said it has acquired AcuAudit, a product it says will enable it to deepen its reach in ocean and air freight auditing. Terms were not disclosed. The seller is logistics technology provider Acuitive Solutions, which predominantly serves the retail and high fashion industries with expedited shipment routing, parcel carrier management and auditing tools. Acuitive CEO Phil Marlowe will retain ownership of the rest of the company and serve as an advisor to Cass. Shippers use AcuAudit to audit ocean air freight bills, with an emphasis on understanding how transportation costs factor in a product’s total landed cost. It competes with a range of international freight-focused audit solutions as well as those offered by multimodal audit firms that tend to specialize in truckload invoice auditing. Cass is a part of the latter category as one of the largest audit and payment platforms for US shippers, with an associated index tracking freight economic activity using data from reconciled freight bills. “The Acuitive team has built a truly exceptional solution to support the advanced needs of global shippers,” Tony Urban, president of Cass’ freight audit and payment group, said in a statement. Marlowe said AcuAudit’s customers “will benefit from ... being integrated into Cass, with its financial capabilities and global reach.” Contact Eric Johnson at eric.johnson@spglobal.com .

Air Cargo

Logistics Technology News

Cass acquires international freight invoice auditing tool to widen modal reach

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">Shippers moving cargo on the inter-Americas lane can expect to see further volume growth in 2025, potentially reflected by increased attention and capacity from carriers.</div>

Shippers moving cargo on the inter-Americas lane can expect to see further volume growth in 2025, potentially reflected by increased attention and capacity from carriers.

<div class="phx-topic">The big picture: A combination of growing demand, port bottlenecks and vessel and equipment shortages pushed rates from the East Coast of South America to the US to their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic last year. This year, the inter-Americas trade is poised for more growth, but that growth will likely come with congestion at South American ports and tight capacity on northbound services from the East Coast of South America that keeps rates elevated. <div class="wrapper-narrow float-right-element"><img src="/images/phoenix/5914445_0.1.png"></img></div>A look back: Freight demand on the north-south trade connecting Latin America with North America increased in 2024, but actual volume growth was hindered by port congestion and a lack of available vessel space. Total container volumes between the US and the Carribean, Central America and South America rose 4.3% in the first 10 months of the year, with northbound shipments up 3.8% and southbound volumes up 4.8%, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&amp;P Global. Growing import demand in South America and poor vessel schedule reliability resulted in tight capacity for imports to the East Coast of South America throughout the year. At the same time, infrastructure projects at multiple ports in Latin America aimed at attracting additional volumes reduced operating capacity at those gateways. Vessel delays caused by the International Longshoremen’s Association’s (ILA’s) strike, which shut down all US East and Gulf coast ports for three days at the beginning of October, further exacerbated vessel bunching at South American ports. That, in turn, worsened existing equipment shortages, as ports and container carriers prioritized clearing the backlog of ships over repositioning empty containers inland for exporters. Some carriers opted to divert ships to lesser-used ports and/or blank sailings to keep ships on schedule, which further reduced effective vessel capacity on the trade and resulted in rolled cargo. Steady growth in rates accelerated in the lead up to the ILA strike, with average spot rates from the East Coast of South America to the US Gulf Coast peaking at $5,800 per FEU in late October, more than double the rate recorded just three months prior and up 251.5% from the same week in 2023, according to Platts, also part of S&amp;P Global. Those rates have since cooled, but only slightly, settling at $5,600 per FEU in the three weeks ending Dec. 13. A look ahead: Shippers moving cargo on the inter-Americas lane can expect to see further volume growth in 2025, potentially reflected by increased attention and capacity from carriers. Demand for US-made products in South America continues to increase, with petrochemicals offering another source of substantial southbound volume growth. The implications of a second Donald Trump presidency for trade policy remain unclear, but the change in administration — particularly the threat of universal tariffs on US imports — could increase costs. However, if Trump imposes much higher tariffs on imports from China, this could prompt US importers to shift some sourcing to Latin America, increasing north-south volumes. Another potential spanner in the works for intra-Americas shippers are the still-unresolved contract talks between the ILA and port employers on the US East and Gulf coasts. If an agreement is not reached by Jan. 15, the union will strike again, and if East and Gulf coast ports are closed for any meaningful amount of time, congestion and equipment shortages in South America are likely to flare up again. <div class="wrapper-narrow"><dynamic-object type="jocchartid" resource-id="09c5f6da-205d-43ca-83e7-ae8373849666"></dynamic-object></div>The next inflection: With demand already growing and Trump tariffs potentially accelerating the nearshoring of US imports, the north-south trade is positioned for long-term growth. However, that growth remains dependent on ports expanding and carriers flexing up vessel capacity and equipment supply to handle the rising volumes. Contact Laura Robb at <a href="mailto:laura.robb@spglobal.com">laura.robb@spglobal.com.</a></div>

The big picture: A combination of growing demand, port bottlenecks and vessel and equipment shortages pushed rates from the East Coast of South America to the US to their highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic last year. This year, the inter-Americas trade is poised for more growth, but that growth will likely come with congestion at South American ports and tight capacity on northbound services from the East Coast of South America that keeps rates elevated. A look back: Freight demand on the north-south trade connecting Latin America with North America increased in 2024, but actual volume growth was hindered by port congestion and a lack of available vessel space. Total container volumes between the US and the Carribean, Central America and South America rose 4.3% in the first 10 months of the year, with northbound shipments up 3.8% and southbound volumes up 4.8%, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Growing import demand in South America and poor vessel schedule reliability resulted in tight capacity for imports to the East Coast of South America throughout the year. At the same time, infrastructure projects at multiple ports in Latin America aimed at attracting additional volumes reduced operating capacity at those gateways. Vessel delays caused by the International Longshoremen’s Association’s (ILA’s) strike, which shut down all US East and Gulf coast ports for three days at the beginning of October, further exacerbated vessel bunching at South American ports. That, in turn, worsened existing equipment shortages, as ports and container carriers prioritized clearing the backlog of ships over repositioning empty containers inland for exporters. Some carriers opted to divert ships to lesser-used ports and/or blank sailings to keep ships on schedule, which further reduced effective vessel capacity on the trade and resulted in rolled cargo. Steady growth in rates accelerated in the lead up to the ILA strike, with average spot rates from the East Coast of South America to the US Gulf Coast peaking at $5,800 per FEU in late October, more than double the rate recorded just three months prior and up 251.5% from the same week in 2023, according to Platts, also part of S&P Global. Those rates have since cooled, but only slightly, settling at $5,600 per FEU in the three weeks ending Dec. 13. A look ahead: Shippers moving cargo on the inter-Americas lane can expect to see further volume growth in 2025, potentially reflected by increased attention and capacity from carriers. Demand for US-made products in South America continues to increase, with petrochemicals offering another source of substantial southbound volume growth. The implications of a second Donald Trump presidency for trade policy remain unclear, but the change in administration — particularly the threat of universal tariffs on US imports — could increase costs. However, if Trump imposes much higher tariffs on imports from China, this could prompt US importers to shift some sourcing to Latin America, increasing north-south volumes. Another potential spanner in the works for intra-Americas shippers are the still-unresolved contract talks between the ILA and port employers on the US East and Gulf coasts. If an agreement is not reached by Jan. 15, the union will strike again, and if East and Gulf coast ports are closed for any meaningful amount of time, congestion and equipment shortages in South America are likely to flare up again. The next inflection: With demand already growing and Trump tariffs potentially accelerating the nearshoring of US imports, the north-south trade is positioned for long-term growth. However, that growth remains dependent on ports expanding and carriers flexing up vessel capacity and equipment supply to handle the rising volumes. Contact Laura Robb at laura.robb@spglobal.com.

North American ports

International ports

Maritime

Rising north-south trade hinges on fluid ports, vessel capacity

<div class="phx-topic abstract-wrapper">While the two sides have come to terms on wages, formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November as the union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the deal will include about port automation.</div>

While the two sides have come to terms on wages, formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November as the union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the deal will include about port automation.

<div class="phx-topic">The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7, sources said Tuesday.The scheduled resumption of negotiations leaves a small window before the <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-usmx-agree-on-new-wage-offer-and-contract-extension-that-reopens-ports-5741882/">current contract extension runs out on Jan. 15</a> and a likely second strike by the ILA hits ports along the US East and Gulf coasts.The ILA and USMX declined to comment on the status of talks that affect 45,000 dockworkers.While the ILA and USMX have come to terms on wages for a new master contract, the formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November. The union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the new master contract will include about port automation. The ILA has taken <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-breaks-off-contract-talks-accuses-usmx-of-semi-automation-push-5810392">a hard line</a> against automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-targets-rail-mounted-gantry-cranes-amid-impasse-in-port-labor-talks-5874742">it wants to bar</a> from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX countered that technology, including RMGs, boosts port productivity and creates more opportunities for longshore workers. Progress on the talks have been further complicated by <a href="https://www.joc.com/article/ila-plays-new-trump-card-in-automation-standoff-with-usmx-5905242">the attention of President-elect Donald Trump</a>, who sided with the ILA’s stance against automation. Contact Michael Angell at <a href="mailto:michael.angell@spglobal.com">michael.angell@spglobal.com</a>. </div>

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) are set to resume talks for a new master contract on Jan. 7, sources said Tuesday. The scheduled resumption of negotiations leaves a small window before the current contract extension runs out on Jan. 15 and a likely second strike by the ILA hits ports along the US East and Gulf coasts. The ILA and USMX declined to comment on the status of talks that affect 45,000 dockworkers. While the ILA and USMX have come to terms on wages for a new master contract, the formal negotiations have stalled since mid-November. The union and maritime employers remain stuck on what provisions the new master contract will include about port automation. The ILA has taken a hard line against automation technology at ports under its jurisdiction. It singled out semi-automated rail mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) as a technology that it wants to bar from further implementation at East and Gulf coast ports under the new contract. The USMX countered that technology, including RMGs, boosts port productivity and creates more opportunities for longshore workers. Progress on the talks have been further complicated by the attention of President-elect Donald Trump , who sided with the ILA’s stance against automation. Contact Michael Angell at michael.angell@spglobal.com .

Container lines

Longshore labor

ILA, USMX contract talks set for Jan. 7 restart ahead of strike deadline: sources

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The world of LTL is slow to embrace change. Business anachronisms permeate current supply chain processes. These vestiges of the way things used to work define the LTL freight transportation procurement process of many modern shippers.David Knuth, logistics specialist at IEWC, a global supplier of cable and wire based in Wisconsin, is happy to have modernized the RFP process, automating the entire LTL bidding procedure with Bid$ense, SMC³’s automated truckload and LTL freight transportation sourcing solution. But when prompted, he can still recall what once was.In his previous job, a large part of his duties were consumed by creating an intermodal bid package for carriers. In a spreadsheet, Knuth detailed the company’s volumes lane by lane, taking care to delete any errant keystrokes or misleading data. He would then email out the information to each carrier, taking time to respond to detailed technical questions about the spreadsheet data. Finally, he had to compile all the results, create an algorithm that would compare the carriers on each lane, and award the business.“It was a huge undertaking. It took about four months to do,” Knuth said of the old process. “It was almost a full-time job for that part of the year, every year.”In his new job at IEWC, he sat down with Bid$ense on day one and was amazed at the capabilities. Knuth had never before used a bid tool. SMC³’s latest versions of Bid$ense automate the process even further, taking truckload and LTL RFPs entirely online. The tool draws on RFP best-practices protocols to streamline the bidding communication process, enabling bidding carriers to respond accurately and promptly to shipper requests. The solution also does all the distribution work automatically, electronically submitting shipper bid data to carriers based on their actual service capabilities and performance records. Carriers are alerted with timely prompts for RFP deliverables, so shippers aren’t waiting by the phone for responses.Another benefit of automating the process is the data-cleansing assistance. When Knuth sent spreadsheets to carriers, data errors might cloud the bidding process; he might have to resend data or simply accept a price that did not truly reflect the costs of doing business. Data cleansing is incredibly beneficial, he said.The spreadsheet technique also made bidding analysis an onerous task. Since Bid$ense automates and streamlines the entire RFP process, intensive examination is now simple. SMC³ knows that each bid has more than one best outcome. With uniform responses from each carrier, shippers can quickly rank results and create an unlimited quantity of what-if scenarios to make the optimal procurement decision.Jesse Burnett of Central Garden &amp; Pet experiences many of the same benefits. Founded in 1980, Central Garden &amp; Pet has spent the last three decades growing from a small garden supply company to a provider of a range of products from dog chews and bird seed to soil supplements and natural insecticides. For much of its life, the company shipped these disparate goods via LTL and truckload carriers to retailers throughout the country, relying on each business unit to negotiate directly with their freight transportation providers. This arrangement worked fairly well for a small company, but as Central Garden &amp; Pet expanded, leadership decided to consolidate decision making.Burnett helped centralize the transportation decision making in 2015 with SMC³’s Bid$ense. Before Bid$ense, every business unit operated independently as far as negotiating with carriers.“There were a lot of different things just floating around,” he said. “We didn’t have master agreements in place; no national pricing at all. The pricing from carriers was just all over the place, depending on where you were.”The transformations he saw with Bid$ense were immediate. Burnett has been using the tool about every other year since its implementation at the company. Central Garden and Pet’s $19.6 million 2019 LTL bid saved the company just more than 9 percent when compared to its historical average. For Burnett, though, bid automation extends far beyond savings.“We knew that we weren’t getting the best pricing offer from our carriers just because nothing was centralized,” he continued. “We knew that if we combined everything from all these business units and paired it with one corporate offering, then it would drive some cost benefit with it.”When the company initially decided to centralize bid procurement, executives researched a number of different methodologies and technologies. In the end, though, Burnett found that Bid$ense was both widespread and well known, and that his carrier partners already knew how to use the application. Burnett also highlighted the data-cleansing process as a major benefit, saying the rigorous process ensures that carriers always return the best price.“It definitely has helped drive savings,” he said. “Any time you go out there and you drive that competitiveness with the carriers and they know they’re in a bid environment, it seems to sharpen their pencils.”Transportation procurement is an integral part of the modern supply chain. With Bid$ense, shippers can develop a strategic implementation plan that saves them time and money, but also helps them create strong relationships with their carrier partners. These carriers appreciate the solution’s data-cleansing process; when carriers receive a complete shipment history and future volume forecast, they don’t have to guess on pricing. Carriers that receive more data from shippers get a complete picture of that shipper’s freight, allowing them to accurately plan instead of simply preparing for the worst-case scenario. Clean data presented through an automated system can lead to both bigger shipment savings and a lasting partnership between carrier and customer.Whether customers are looking to streamline over-the-road transportation bidding by automating the RFP process or create an entirely new, centralized sourcing process, Bid$ense has the analytical horsepower to get the job done.SMC³ 2020 Customer Case Study

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Shippers save money, time with automated transportation bidding tools

If there’s one immutable truth in the world of logistics, it’s this: LTL is an inherently complex form of transportation. Tariffs, rates, DIM weights, transit times — it’s enough to confuse even seasoned logistics professionals. The solution to this knowledge gap has historically been on-the-job training or university supply chain education, but for a variety of reasons there is now a pressing need for third-party, remote LTL training that prepares logistics workers for transportation success. Global Scope Can Overlook Local Intricacies In the past, professionals looking to move into a supply chain career learned about the basics of supply chain from universities. However, many of these college supply chain programs are now global in scope, focusing on worldwide supply chain management instead of the intricacies of specialized domestic transportation. And even these programs, which used to be widespread, are becoming less common. LTL is not an industry of broad-brush strokes; supply chain professionals really need a pointillistic understanding of the logistics of LTL in order to excel in the industry. Accelerating Need for Dedicated LTL Education This lack of specified training put the onus on employers to prepare new hires with the LTL knowledge needed to do their jobs. Dedicated LTL study is a necessity, not a luxury. At the same time, changes in LTL and the broader supply chain world are accelerating. The reliance on e-commerce has ballooned since the start of the pandemic, and last-mile LTL shipments and related e-commerce strains on the supply chain won’t diminish once social distancing abates. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle. So supply chain employers need logistics workers that are fully versed in all aspects of the industry, ready to solve unique shipping and delivery problems based on their extensive supply chain knowledge But why care about LTL? It’s been reported that some shippers in today’s world are no longer concerned with what mode is used to ship their goods. A Multimodal Approach Ensures On-Time Delivery This mode agnosticism means supply chain stakeholders have to be well versed in all modes of transportation. As unforeseen weather events and other disruptions, such as protests, become more common, savvy logistics employees will need to be armed with familiarity of all modes, not just the most popular, to ensure that freight is delivered on time, without damage, and in the most financially expedient way possible. Offerings like SMC³’s LTL online education courses cover a wide range of topics from LTL basics and operations to more advanced concepts like pricing analytics and transportation law. The company also has plans to continually refresh content, adding new expert presenters and taking the feedback of students to make the courses even better as time goes on. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://logisticstrainingcenter.com/smc3-courses/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">SMC³’s LTL Online Education program</a>&nbsp;and view the 2021 hybrid schedule, featuring live industry experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smc3.com/onlinelearning2021/" rel="noreferrer" class="joc_admin__link">here.</a>

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Filling the Supply Chain Education Gap with LTL Education Courses

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