Consumer Goods Logistics Blog

Distribution network optimization has become a white-hot topic these days as “the Amazon effect” leads businesses to evaluate how quickly they can get products to customers. 

Warehouse optimization modeling exercises examine the upside of being closer to customers versus the downside of carrying more inventory in more locations.  The biggest mistake companies make in this area is relying too much on the modeling software itself to provide an answer to the question: “How many warehouses should I have and where should they be?”

Owner-operators are freedom-loving entrepreneurs. They own their trucks and want to earn a good living, while remaining independent. Some may choose to hunt profitable freight on load boards, while others align with carriers to provide dedicated capacity. 

In recent months, Kane Freight Lines has had an increasing number of inquiries from drivers seeking owner-operator trucking jobs. That’s because currently, in the spot market, load-to-truck ratios are down and rates are down. The owner operators who rely on load boards are working hard to find profitable driving opportunities. Two-way freight would help, but that’s nearly impossible to find in the spot market. And, if you get it, the rates will need to be dirt cheap. 

Damage losses and claims increase your transportation costs and can also damage your relationship with shipping partners.  To reduce freight damage, monitor claims closely and take proactive steps to continuously drive down damage incidents.  

In our “Dispatches from the Road” feature, the KANE blog will periodically publish interviews with our drivers – the men and women who live and breathe the transportation topics we often write about.  In our newest installment, we interview KANE driver John Shepherd, III.

Freight capacity has historically been viewed as a commodity. The onus has been on the trucking company to position itself as the customer’s “carrier of choice.”

But if you haven’t noticed, that’s changing. The combination of a growing U.S. economy and the chronic truck driver shortage is turning freight into more of a seller’s market, requiring shippers to examine how they can become “shippers of choice” for carriers, who are now more selective about the loads they haul.

Last month, 1,401,081 trailers and containers were transported via intermodal rail -- the highest monthly total ever. Intermodal numbers are up for the year as well, with volumes 3.4% higher than this point in 2016 and 0.3% higher than 2015, which was the highest-volume year on record. 

Why all this record-setting growth in intermodal? Let’s find out.

On February 11, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced plans for a commercial vehicle ban on all major highways in Eastern Pennsylvania in anticipation of a predicted snow-ice mix the following day.   Thankfully, the severity of the storm fell short of predictions and roads remained safely drivable for the duration of the weather event.

But by the time DOT administrators caught up with Mother Nature’s exact plans, it was too late for trucking companies to avoid major financial losses related to pulling trucks off the road.

2018 was a tough year for both shippers and carriers as constrained capacity led to delayed shipments and higher freight prices. Q1 2019 has started like many Q1s have in years past, with a softening of the truck market. 

While things are shifting for the better, don’t be fooled.  The capacity crunch is not behind us. But this slight grace period does provide shippers a golden opportunity to build and strengthen relationships with a select group of strategic carriers.  Cementing these carrier relationships will ensure that you have reliable capacity at locked-in rates when the market inevitably shifts back.