We recently announced real-time visibility for truckload as a standard capability, without any extra transaction or integration fees, for all of our managed transportation services and Transportation Management System (TMS) customers. We are thrilled to be the first to provide real-time visibility as a standard within a TMS solution as part of our commitment to deliver an unprecedented level of service and value to our customers.

We also want to raise the expectations within the logistics industry itself. We believe real-time visibility should be an industry standard and a fundamental part of transportation management.

What Can You Expect from Real-Time Visibility?

To deliver this service, we will be leveraging Descartes MacroPoint as our real-time visibility partner. Seamless incorporation of Descartes MacroPoint into our TMS and managed services solutions will enable us to deliver consistent and reliable real-time shipment tracking for hundreds of thousands of carriers. In addition, we will be placing an enterprise level real-time control tower within reach for shippers of all sizes and scale.

The integration of real-time visibility extends our ongoing efforts to apply the benefits of machine learning and data science to help shippers take a more predictive and proactive approach to supply chain management. Real-time visibility combined with our existing predictive risk analytics capabilities will enhance service predictions and enable us and our customers to more proactively manage potential supply chain disruptions.

The Benefits for our Customers

Including real-time visibility as a capability for our entire logistics services and technology offering delivers significant benefits to customers, including:

• Access to best-in-class, real-time visibility. With this new offering, we will be able to provide current and future customers with unprecedented coverage and drive new consistency and efficiency in their track and trace execution.
• Automatic real-time visibility from a single vendor. By building Descartes MacroPoint into our TMS and managed services solutions, customers no longer have to purchase a real-time visibility solution from another vendor.
• Greater supply chain visibility and efficiency. Customers will now be able to view a large percentage of their freight with greater efficiency and coverage at a lesser overall cost, resulting in superior differentiation and immediate return on investment.

Implementation and the Future

We will begin to roll out the solution for truckload shipments in the U.S. and Canada by January 2020 and will expand the offering to Mexico and other geographies, as well as other modes in the future as part of our vision to deliver superior, full, end-to-end real-time global visibility as standard practice. There is much more to come!

Learn more about freight tracking. 

The post Introducing Real-Time Visibility: A Standard for All of Our Customers appeared first on Uber Freight.

By Darren Miesner, Vice President of Operations, Transplace

It’s a fascinating time in the logistics industry. Increased demand and customer expectations are putting intense pressure on shippers to deliver on-time-and-in-full without blowing their bottom line. And while capacity has loosened in the first half of 2019, the spot market is still well above the levels seen in 2015, 2016 and even early 2017. In this current environment, a capacity crunch can truly rewrite the rules of the game—making it critical to be prepared in advance.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss how to prepare your supply chain for capacity challenges with Adrian Gonzalez on an episode of Talking Logistics. Below are some of the key insights shared during our conversation about how shippers can plan for ongoing capacity challenges and optimize that plan through analytics, feedback and consistent updates.

Build Out (And Constantly Update) Your Playbook

At Transplace, Lean Six Sigma’s PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) model is ingrained within our DNA—and shippers can use this same method to keep ahead of obstacles in their own supply chain operations. The key is to forecast and simplify your operations as much as possible to create a plan, and then as that plan is enacted, look for successful, repeatable elements that you can build out to adjust. So, when the next hurricane or polar vortex throws your supply chain out of balance, you can continuously improve in how you adapt and respond.

In particular, forecasting is absolutely instrumental in setting shippers up for success. You need to spend the necessary time to create a playbook for what will happen within your network during any disruption or seasonal event. Make sure you understand the unique seasonality, surges and holiday schedule of your organization and supply chain. Re-evaluate these as often as possible and update your plan accordingly—this is where the right data and predictive analytics can be absolutely invaluable.

Why Your Plan Matters to Carriers

When it comes to planning with your carriers, if you come to the table with your playbook and help them to better understand your business, they too will become invested in your operations. This allows both parties to plan appropriately and flex when the capacity market fluctuates.

In the retail market in particular, it’s also important to focus on smoothing volume. For example, you don’t want 80% of your 300-mile runs picking up on Friday and delivering on Monday—that’s certainly not carrier-friendly. Make sure you consider network optimization from all sides of your operations, including that of your carrier partners.

Developing Your Bid Strategy: Bid Early, Bid Often

At Transplace, we bid annually—and these annual resets give us the best results possible because so much can change over the course of the year. While there are many different strategies to choose from, our approach is to stay hand-in-hand with carriers and bid strategically annually based on the current market landscape.

Shippers (or their 3PL partners) may have a core carrier base that may be managing up to 60-80% of their freight. It’s critical to protect these carriers and have conversations with them first as part of a mutual partnership. This is a great way to gain continued support from your incumbents and keep your bids as close to your cost-out goals as possible.

Data, Metrics and Communication

In order to reach true network optimization, shippers need to utilize the right analytics and business intelligence, and there are a few key metrics that help paint an overall picture. For example, are your carriers accepting and picking up loads (primary tender acceptance/routing guide compliance) that they bid and committed to? Forecast accuracy is also a big aspect of post-bid compliance. Are your carriers shipping what they said they were going to ship, or are they shipping more/less?

It’s also important to consider the cadence of providing feedback. Ensure that you’re regularly communicating with carriers about the outputs of your score carding—this helps to instill confidence that you know what’s going on with your market. And partnering with the right 3PL provider who has deep expertise in your core markets can also help give you the industry edge you need to succeed.

Want to learn more? Watch the full video of my conversation with Adrian Gonzalez below!

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/YI0v039rAqM&feature=youtu.be

How are you planning for the next capacity crunch?

The post Preparing Your Supply Chain for Capacity Challenges appeared first on Uber Freight.

By: Frank McGuigan, Chief Executive Officer, Transplace

Yesterday, Transplace was thrilled to announce that it acquired Yusen Logistics Americas’ intermodal marketing company/over-the-road freight brokerage group. A subsidiary of Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Yusen Logistics is a global logistics and transportation provider that established a strong, successful North American intermodal business. This acquisition expands Transplace’s intermodal and freight brokerage capabilities and better positions us to meet the supply chain needs of our customers.

Expanding Our Intermodal Footprint & Capabilities

In today’s challenging marketplace, with fluctuating capacity and rising freight costs, more and more shippers are making intermodal a key component of their transportation operations. Transplace is committed to best positioning itself to provide our customers with flexible, reliable and secure intermodal solutions. And acquiring Yusen’s North American intermodal operations will allow our customers to better take advantages of this highly effective and efficient mode of transportation.

Yusen strengthens our current position in the intermodal market, drives more effective equipment utilization and increases our already deep pool of dray providers. The overall Transplace shipping community will benefit from network synergy with our current intermodal and over-the-road footprint, resulting in better opportunities for more effective execution of their intermodal shipments and mode conversion.

Another significant benefit of the acquisition is the group of experienced, talented logistics professionals that have joined the Transplace family. Yusen’s intermodal team will operate as part of our intermodal business unit – Celtic Intermodal – which is led by President Doug Punzel.

Transplace’s Strategic Approach to Acquisitions

The acquisition supports Transplace’s strategy of complementing strong organic growth with selective, strategic acquisitions. As with all of our acquisitions, it’s important to Transplace to find companies that are a great fit – both in their capabilities, geography and culture. Yusen established a strong presence in the industry along with a superb customer base, and brings a customer-centric culture that complements Transplace’s business and mission.

The addition of Yusen’s intermodal business enables us to better serve our existing customers as well as serve a new set of customers. Transplace is committed to providing exceptional transportation management services and technology, exceeding expectations and building long-term, strategic relationships with these new customers.

Do you have questions about the acquisition?

The post Letter from the CEO: Transplace’s Acquisition of Yusen Logistics’ Intermodal Operations appeared first on Uber Freight.

Today kicks off National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (September 9-15), a celebration of the 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States. Because of the hard work and dedication of these men and women, goods are delivered securely and our highways are kept safe – and we’re truly grateful for all that they do!

The American Trucking Association recently released some data that highlights why truck drivers are the backbone of the U.S. economy. Here are some of the latest stats:

• In 2018, trucks moved 10.77 billion tons of freight
• This makes up 70.2% of all domestic freight tonnage
• The industry generated $700.1 billion in annual revenue in 2017
• Truck drivers moved 69.1% of all trade between the U.S. and Mexico and 57.7% of Canadian-U.S. trade
• Roughly 7.7 million people are employed in jobs related to trucking activity (including 3.5 million drivers)
• Of those 3.5 million drivers, there are 1.7 million heavy and tractor-trailer drivers[1] 

 Stay tuned here on Logistically Speaking and on our social media channels this week (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) – we’ll be hosting our 2018 Carrier Symposium, and will share photos and updates on how we’re honoring our highway heroes throughout the week.

We thank you, American truckers, for your hard work, dedication and long hours on the roads!

How are you showing truck drivers your appreciation this week?

[1] American Trucking Association, New Report Finds Trucking Industry Revenues Topped $700 Billion

The post We Appreciate Our Highway Heroes – Thank You, Truck Drivers! appeared first on Uber Freight.

By: Frank McGuigan, Chief Executive Officer, Transplace

As many of you may already know, we recently announced that Tom Sanderson has transitioned to the role of executive chairman and will serve on Transplace’s board of directors, and that I have moved into the role of CEO. I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue as a leader of our company and build upon the rich heritage that has made Transplace a dominating player in transportation management and 3PL services.

Having had the opportunity to lead Transplace’s North American sales and operations for the last several years, along with the opportunity to work alongside Tom, this is a natural transition for us as a company. I want you to be confident that throughout this change, no matter what, our mission and core values will continue to be the standard in which we will all strive.

Over the past eight years, Transplace has experienced record growth and made significant investments in its people and technology. We’ve also expanded our geographic presence in the U.S., Mexico and Canada – allowing us to better provide exceptional logistics and trade compliance services to our growing customer base throughout North America. These investments and our ongoing commitment to supply chain excellence will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers.

This legacy of success has as much to do with the dedicated people handling day-to-day operations, in all functions across North America, as it does the executive team. We are where we are as a company, because of our outstanding people and their commitment to providing outstanding service to our customers every single day. Our customers can rest easy knowing that the people who truly make Transplace what it is are all still in place and will continue to deliver the exceptional service that they have come to expect.

Ongoing, we will work together as one Transplace and as a cohesive, purposeful team, with an extreme focus on our customers, our people and our shareholders. We will challenge ourselves to improve in all facets of our business through metrics, measurements and our continuous improvement tools, so that we can add value each and every day to both our business and that of our customers. We will strive to anticipate and act upon problems before they happen, leveraging the collective information and expertise across the entire enterprise for a truly differentiated customer experience.

I am excited and honored to further support our mission to thrill our customers, and the entire Transplace team will continue to work toward delivering innovative logistics solutions and outstanding service today and into the future.

The post Letter from the CEO: Executive Team Changes, Future Success and Putting the Customer First appeared first on Uber Freight.