Transportation management software is often thought of as a tool to help shipping departments select the lowest cost carrier. Other times, it’s looked upon for consolidating shipments or enhancing the way a shipment is being routed. While these are definite features, a TMS also provides opportunities for savings in both soft and hard costs that create far-reaching benefits for your entire company, not just the transportation department. The TMS has a dramatic positive effect on the profitability of all departments. Let’s take a look at how.
Transportation management software can have the following effects on your total expenses:

Reduce inventory costs

Through integration with existing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software and WMS (Warehouse Management System) software, a TMS can ensure accurate shipments of product(s) are tracked and removed from inventory. This allows correct inventory levels for planning purposes and therefore reduces the need to carry “just in case” inventory. It will also help you avoid the need for additional separate shipments.

Reduce wasted employment expenses

Since a TMS can automatically track and trace, it reduces the time required by employees to do so. By reducing the time it takes your employees to manually track shipments, it saves on employment expense, reduces overtime costs, as well as increases employee productivity.

Reduce services provided to less profitable customers

A TMS can track transportation cost down to the granular level. Since it can do this it allows a company to determine the total cost of a customer, compare it against revenue by customer and truly determine the profitability (or loss) of the customer. Perhaps this will allow you to adjust what is included in the sales agreement such as excessive lumper fees or detention. It can also identify where you may need to stop providing certain discounts or increase their cost to accommodate shipping expenses.

Reduce handling costs

With its ability to optimize and consolidate shipments, a TMS reduces the number of shipments and as such, you’re reducing the amount of hands required to touch the shipment and therefore lowering handling costs.

Reduce personnel costs

Without a TMS, daily operations can require significant fixed cost wages or salaries of the people equipped to handle logistics. With a TMS, many processes can be automated and outsourced to the point where it requires less personnel, allowing you to reassign staff to more productive roles or avoid adding additional salaries.
Example: Your TMS receives an order from an ERP electronically and notifies the WMS all within the blink of an eye. The WMS notifies warehouse personnel to pick, pack, and prepare for shipment. Once the shipment is ready for pick-up, the WMS notifies the TMS which automatically tenders the load and notifies the carrier. Overall, the requirement of human involvement and management has been minimized to exception management.

Avoid increasing physical network/facilities costs

As a TMS automates processes and integrates with other tools, just-in-time order fulfillment can become a reality! As a result, you’re able to reduce the amount of inventory stored “on hand” which decreases your need for more square footage and larger networks.

Leverage new and/or alternative distribution channels

Through optimization using a TMS, we can determine if your shipments qualify to be shipped through alternative modes such as LTL and intermodal. Alternative modes often carry significant cost savings.

Reduce billing costs

A TMS can automatically handle billing and is able to be integrated with your company’s software which may result in a faster billing and payment cycle without the additional costs of collections staff or agencies.
These are just a few areas of expense that a TMS can have a positive effect on. How much can you save with a transportation management system? Contact us for your free consultation and we’ll show you!

I need my LTL shipment to move quickly. What are my options?

In the LTL world, there are many ways to guarantee your freight moves quickly.  Each LTL carrier has their own set of options (and rules for those options).  Let’s say you need your freight to deliver next day, by a certain timeframe, like 8AM, noon, or by close of business at 5PM.  Not all delivery points can be next day, but if it’s important, there are even air carriers that can accommodate long hauls in a short timeframe.  In general, you have two options – schedule an expedited LTL shipment (which moves faster than a standard LTL shipment) or a guaranteed LTL shipment (which comes with a guaranteed delivery date and time, and if they aren’t met, the cost of your shipment may be refunded, depending on the carrier.)

What kind of cost will I experience for speeding up my delivery with an expedited shipment or having a guaranteed delivery time?

Guarantees are much less expensive than expediting a shipment.  If a shipment is scheduled to deliver in two days and you want to guarantee that, the cost will be minimal, but the reward will be great.  Some carriers will completely remove all freight charges if the shipment doesn’t arrive by the specified time.  To enforce this, it’s imperative that the proper information is on the bill of lading the carrier receives at the time of pick-up – so as long as you play by the rules, this is a great option. For shipments that require next day delivery, you will often have to pay to expedite the shipment.

Can volume LTL shipments be expedited?

Unfortunately, volume LTL shipments play by different rules and cannot be guaranteed or expedited.  If you want to ship a larger shipment with general LTL pricing, you can maintain the timeliness of your shipment.  However, if a volume quote is obtained, all bets are off.  Volume shipments move with capacity and they can’t be guaranteed – in fact, you can’t even go by the standard amount of time in which an LTL shipment would normally arrive.  Some volume shipments take weeks to arrive at their final destination.  Never ask for a volume quote if timeless is essential!

How can I get the best rates for guaranteed and expedited shipments?

It’s important to be flexible if you’re looking for the best rate.  For example, if you prefer to only work with larger LTL carriers, you may be limiting your options;  if you broaden your horizons, you may find great carriers that provide first-rate guaranteed or expedited services.  By working with a 3PL (third party logistics) provider like Trinity, who has contracted rates with many different carriers, you can easily find the best solution for your guaranteed or expedited LTL shipping needs.

As a purchaser of LTL shipping services, should you be worried about a capacity crunch in the LTL industry?  Capacity really has three distinct components, and any one of them could create a reduction in capacity. This can quickly lead to slower service, and then result in rate increases, as the more profitable shipments will gain preference over those moving at break-even or with low margins.

Equipment Availability

The first of the three variables is equipment availability – tractors and trailers.  This is the easiest of the three to remedy by carriers, as rental equipment is almost always available and can be used short-term to handle seasonal surges in traffic.  However, the operating costs will increase with leased equipment, and on-board computers will not be available in those units, causing a reduction in visibility of the real-time movement of your shipments.  An LTL carrier in good condition and prepared for the future will be happy to share the average age of the fleet, trade cycles and capital expenditures on equipment, currently and in the future.

Available Drivers

The second component: available drivers and dock associates are critical to maintain service levels and keep shipments moving on schedule.  The trucking industry is experiencing a driver shortage, and it is expected to become much more severe during the coming decade.  The truckload segment is the first to feel this shortage, as the long-haul, over the road drivers quickly burn out with the long hours and time away from home.  Many of the larger truckload carriers have no planned expansion to their fleets as they cannot keep sufficient drivers in the seats of their current fleet.  The turnover rates range from 70% to more than 100% per year.

LTL carriers have an advantage in this department, as the majority of drivers return home daily. The most successful LTL carriers have loyal and long-term associates bred by a culture of appreciation, great equipment, strong wages and a team environment.  These drivers tend to be the safest, the most productive and the most customer-friendly in the business. These companies frequently have in-house driver training programs to move associates with a proven record into a driving role.

Service Centers

The third and most challenging factor is available infrastructure, defined as the network of service centers.  These must be located in the correct locations and be large enough with sufficient dock doors.  In the LTL business, shipments move very quickly and trailers must be put to the dock on arrival for rapid unloading.  If a service center does not have enough dock doors, shipments will be slower to be cross-docked, close out times will be missed, dispatches will be late and your shipment will be delayed.  Sometimes a 30 minute delay along the way can cause a full day delay for your shipment.

The problem is that it takes a very long time to add service centers to an LTL network, as property needs to be secured that is in the right location, has the correct zoning (who wants a trucking terminal as a neighbor?) and has enough acreage to build a large service center.  This property can be virtually impossible to find in many major markets today.  The permitting and construction gestation period can take years to complete.  The carriers that are best prepared will have a complete service network with more than enough dock doors to move shipments on schedule.  These carriers will be making land purchases 5 to 10 years prior to the need just to be sure the property is available when needed.  The goal should be to never have “choke points” anywhere in the country where shipments could be delayed.  As a customer, you don’t want to hear excuses about backlogs of shipments caused by a service center structure that is not big enough to move every shipment in a timely manner.

As a customer, you should be asking all your carriers questions to validate their capacity, both today and in the future.  Look at the equipment as drivers come to your location to be sure it is new, clean and in good condition.  Walk inside an empty trailer or two and you will quickly see a difference in quality as equipment ages.  Talk to the drivers who pick up and deliver at your location and ask if they are happy with their employer and why.  Most of these drivers are not bashful and will share a story or two about their company.  When it comes to infrastructure, plan a visit to each carrier you are using in your city and judge for yourself.  If you just can’t get away or the carrier won’t extend an invitation, Google Maps will give you a good basis for comparison.

In the carrier selection process, don’t be seduced by the “discount game” but look for those carriers that are professional and prepared to handle your shipments both tomorrow and five or ten years from now.  Look for no “choke points”, a professional driver in a modern tractor with all the newest technology, and a service center that can move all shipments on-time.  That is what you are buying and that is what you and your customers deserve.

Many thanks to Scott Harrison at Southeastern Freight Lines for contributing this blog. Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL) was named an Elite LTL Carrier by Trinity Logistics in 2013.

An asset based carrier is a company – like a trucking company, LTL carrier or railroad carrier – who has their own equipment and works directly with customers like you to move your freight. Conversely, freight brokers and 3PLs, like Trinity Logistics, are non-asset based companies. We have no equipment and simply act as the middle man between the asset based carriers and customers like you, in order to arrange the shipment of your freight.

The debate about which kind of provider is “better” – asset based or non-asset based – has been ongoing for years. Some argue that they’ll only work with asset based carriers, others swear by sourcing everything to a single 3PL, and a good amount of companies work with a mix of both kinds of providers. When you’re trying to decide which type of provider is a good fit for your business, weighing the pros and cons can be difficult when you haven’t had the experience of working with both.

There are four major areas where working with a non-asset based 3PL, like Trinity, is beneficial:

Single-Source, Multimodal Service

If you’re a larger company, you might be shipping a mix of truckload, LTL, and intermodal freight. Working with asset based providers means you’re working with separate truckload carriers, LTL carriers, and intermodal carriers. That can get a little complicated. A multimodal 3PL like Trinity offers all of the above shipping services, so you can rely on one single point of contact for all your shipping needs. This is very convenient, for instance, when you want to compare the cost of moving a shipment over the road vs. over the rail – you can do that in a single step, rather than reaching out to multiple freight shipping companies.

Truckload Capacity and Carrier Sourcing

In the world of truckload shipping, capacity is unpredictable. Currently, truckload carriers are still recovering from the harsh, long winter in the US, compounding with a delayed produce season. When you consider the severe driver shortage that’s only worsening, it’s clear that truckload capacity is something to worry about.

This is where working with a non-asset based provider comes in handy. We’re the ones who find the truck – not you. Conversely, when you work directly with an asset based carrier, you have access to the capacity of their own fleet only. Our network of over 30,000 carriers is ready and waiting to help move your freight, and a network of that size is simply beyond what most companies have access to.

Carrier Compliance

There’s nothing worse than unknowingly shipping freight with a carrier who is uninsured, a scammer, or non-compliant with government rules and regulations – especially if an accident or theft occurs. Unless your staff has the time and resources to thoroughly vet each asset-based carrier to verify their credentials and compliance, working directly with asset-based carriers may introduce unnecessary risk into your supply chain. Any approved carrier in our network has gone through an intense approval process, so working with Trinity (or any reputable 3PL who follows a similar carrier vetting procedure) may save you a potential headache down the road.

Nationwide Network

Unless it’s one of the larger asset based carriers, many carriers only have a presence in one portion of the country, or only prefer to run certain lanes. A huge benefit of working with an established 3PL or freight broker is that no equipment means no boundaries. For example, we have over 90 offices spread across the US and Canada, so we can virtually service any lane, thanks to our expansive carrier network. The same will be the case for any other top logistics companies. You won’t have to spend extra time calling certain carriers for certain lanes, or searching for a new carrier when you open that new distribution center across the country.

Are there benefits to working with asset based providers, too? Absolutely. The best decision for your company will simply depend on your circumstances, your logistics department, and the kind of service you require. We would love to talk to you about working with a 3PL, if you still have questions! Ask us a question here!

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In the world of transportation and logistics, sometimes all it takes is a minor curveball for something to go majorly wrong. One of the most common and devastating arenas where curveballs happen is the world of weather. From hurricanes to blizzards, and tornadoes to floods, extreme weather has had a negative impact on shipping ever since people began moving goods from place to place.

The good news: according to this study by the US Department of Transportation, weather incidents only account for about 15% of delays in trucking, ousted by other issues like traffic accidents (25%) and bottlenecks (40%). But when a severe weather incident strikes, it strikes hard. Let’s take a look at the top five worst weather incidents of all time.

Great Lakes Storm of 1913

Let’s start by going way back in time, to 101 years ago, to an incident you may not have heard of before – the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds up to 90mph, this was the most devastating storm the people of this generation had ever seen, and it would likely be just as devastating if it were to strike today. The blizzard impacted the entire Great Lakes region, which was filled with cargo ships at the time, carrying commodities like steel, iron, lumber, and coal.

When all was said and done, 12 cargo ships had sunk and countless others were stranded or damaged, equating to a current-day loss of equipment and cargo of roughly $119,310,000.

Hurricane Sandy

Whenever a hurricane hits, damage is inevitable, but Hurricane Sandy hit the US particularly hard in 2012. It was the second-costliest hurricane in United States history (after Hurricane Katrina), racking up damage over $68 billion. Much of this destruction had an impact on logistics and transportation. According to the New Jersey DOT, Sandy caused 80 road washouts and 581 accidents in New Jersey within the first three days; over 1,250 road signs had to be replaced, 4,400 truckloads of debris had to be removed, and sand and debris had to be cleared from over 12 miles of a major NJ state highway. Sandy caused damage to roadways and infastructure in surrounding states, as well, including New York and Pennsylvania. The hurricane had an extreme impact on transportation up and down the East Coast.

Hurricane Katrina

Predictably enough, Hurricane Katrina definitely makes the list. The most expensive hurricane in US history and the most deadly hurricane to strike since the 1920’s, this deadly storm hit the Gulf Coast in 2005 and is now a historically famous disaster. Although the hurricane is remembered mainly for the death and destruction it caused, it also had a huge impact on the transportation industry – not just truckload, but rail and sea as well. Important railroad bridges were destroyed, ports were inaccessible – Katrina essentially cut off the entire Gulf Coast and made it temporarily inaccessible to the rest of the nation and world.

2011 Missouri River Flood

In May of 2011, at the upper Missouri River basin, one entire year’s worth of rain fell. This, combined with record snowfall in the nearby Rocky Mountains, meant all six Missouri River dams were completely overloaded. This led to the longest flood event in US history – 82 days of flooding. Over 60 miles of highway in Iowa were closed for a whopping five months. This detour added 150 miles to the trip between Kansas City, MO and Sioux Falls, SD. Truckers traveling lanes in that area had to make major detours and add extra miles and time to their trips for an extended period of time.

Polar Vortex

No one has yet forgotten the Polar Vortex, the extreme winter weather that impacted a large portion of the US this past winter. This weather event was unique largely because of its widespread effects. Unlike a blizzard that only impacts a small portion of the country, this period of harsh cold and winter storms made lives miserable all up and down the East Coast, stretching out to the Midwest and Canada. Beyond the transportation delays caused by the snow and ice, produce season was seriously delayed this year due to the incredibly late winter, with cold temperatures reaching far into spring.

When an extreme weather disaster strikes, it’s important to know you have a reliable logistics provider on your side. Check out our case study from Hurricane Irene, detailing how we assisted our customer, Pizza Blends, in the face of a natural disaster. What would happen if a hurricane, blizzard, or flood were to strike your distribution area tomorrow? Do you feel confident that your transportation providers could go the extra mile to make sure your product reaches its destination with the fewest delays possible? If not, we’d love for you to get in touch with us and discuss your transportation needs.

Other Sources
Impacts of Extreme Weather on Transportation: National Symposium Summary
Gauging the Impact of Winter Storms on Trucking
Case Study of the Transportation Sector’s Response to and Recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Shipping temperature-controlled freight can be a very nervewracking experience. Whether you’re shipping ice cream that could disastrously melt, or beer that might freeze in transit, the risks are higher than a regular truckload shipment because your product is more vulnerable.

For a long time, the go-to for shipping refrigerated freight has been, of course, reefer truckload. But did you know that there’s an alternative that is often cheaper and more reliable? Shipping your temp-controlled freight over the rail via refrigerated intermodal is quickly becoming an extremely popular trend.

There’s many reasons for this. A huge one: The technology involved is fairly advanced and takes much of the worry and stress out of the process. When you ship your freight via refrigerated intermodal, the containers are enabled with 24/7 satellite tracking, internal temperature monitoring, and the ability to remotely change the temperature of the containers. The reefer units also have 120-150 gallon fuel tanks, which is roughly two to three times the capacity of the tanks on reefer units typically found on trucks. It’s pretty futuristic!

Beyond the reliability of this mode, there is a potential for a huge cost savings in comparison to shipping over the road. Because an intermodal train uses so much less fuel per pound of shipment, it usually is an extremely affordable option, especially for reefer freight.

Jeremy Odom, an account manager here at Trinity, manages all the shipments for one of our customers, a well-known non-dairy frozen dessert manufacturer. He’s been assisting them with transitioning from reefer truckload to refrigerated intermodal in the lanes where it makes sense to do so, and so far, they’ve been very pleased with the results.

“They had heard of it before, but we suggested it for certain lanes and they’ve been very happy with the cost savings!” Jeremy shared. “I surprised them when we shipped a two-drop ice cream load via intermodal. They were impressed that we could do a multiple-drop shipment over the rail. In my opinion, refrigerated intermodal really is a safer way to transport perishable products. The reefer containers hold so much more fuel than an over-the-road reefer unit, and the up-to-date tracking and remote temperature control technology is absolutely amazing!”

If you’re considering experimenting with refrigerated intermodal shipping, ask yourself these questions: Are you looking for a way to save money on your reefer freight? (That one’s a no brainer.) Are you often concerned with the well-being of your temperature-controlled shipments? Do you frequently ship long-distance (800 miles or more)? Are your pick-up and delivery points near intermodal terminals? (We’ll help you figure this one out.) Do you have flexibility to adjust to slightly longer transit times, in some cases? If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, you are a good candidate!

What’s the next step? If you’re still unsure about refrigerated intermodal and want to get more information, you can request a consultation here and we’ll have someone get in touch with you to address your concerns. If you’re gung-ho excited to start using this method and dying to know how much money you might save, you can go ahead and request a quote on our website and we’ll get you a rate ASAP!

Is your supply chain as simple and efficient as it can be, custom-built to address the challenges and business needs that your company, your suppliers and your customers face today?  Or, like many others, is it a complex structure of the additional lanes, services, products and SOPs that have been added on and forced to fit your existing process as your business has grown and changed over the years?

If your supply chain is not as smart as it could be, the only thing holding it back from innovation might just be all of your knowledge and experience. You’re probably thinking… “Huh? How could that be?” Let me explain a cognitive bias known as “the curse of knowledge”.

In the early years of WWII, German hydroelectric dams were untouchable.  With layers of torpedo nets protecting the dam underwater, and imposing anti-aircraft guns on land, the only option for British forces came from late night bombing runs from above.  The challenge was that the narrow profile of the dams made them nearly impossible to see, much less to hit.  For more than four years, the allied forces had some of the brightest weapons engineers and most experienced military minds in the world trying to devise a strategy to destroy the dams. They came up with nothing.

It wasn’t until 1942 that an engineer from Derbyshire, England named Barnes Wallis came up with a solution to this problem while skipping marbles across a pond in his garden. He invented what came to be known as the “bouncing bomb”.  This ingenious design was essentially an oil drum filled with explosives that was mounted laterally on the belly of an RAF bomber. Flying at 240mph, 60 feet above the water, the bomb was given backspin prior to being dropped.  The result was a bomb that literally skipped over the surface of the water (and the torpedo nets that lay below) until it hit the dam, where the remaining backspin kept it tight against the dam while it sank and ultimately exploded.

So how is it that the RAF spent four years trying to solve this problem, but were unsuccessful until Mr. Wallis finally figured it out?  The answer, I believe, can be traced back to “the curse of knowledge”.

In a great article on this topic, Andy Zynga explains: “Cognitive biases are very human and arise from our need to make sense of a situation before deciding on a course of action. As we acquire, retain, and process relevant information, we filter it through the context of our own past experience, likes, and dislikes. Not surprisingly, with every subsequent challenge, our response is increasingly shaped by our knowledge of how we’ve always done it.”

Simply put… the wealth of knowledge and experience the RAF team had? It was actually working against them, because they were unable to break away from what they believed the solution should look like. Barnes Wallis had the technical skill set, but was not limited by past experience of “how he had always done it,” and because of that, he was able to create an innovative and elegant solution to the problem.

In very much the same way, a multi-modal 3PL provider like Trinity Logistics might be able to shed light on the supply chain innovation you need, but haven’t quite been able to put your finger on. We have the industry experience, without the bias towards how you have always done it.  You know more about your business than anyone else, but it’s never a bad idea to get some fresh eyes on your supply chain.  Who knows? Maybe a more efficient, simple and intelligent supply chain is closer than you think.

Author: John Nelson

According to this study, the number of companies with an environmental stability program in place increased by 54% in 2010, and an even greater 69% reported that they had deliberately increased their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. This number has undoubtedly risen year after year, and now, in 2014, the focus on environmental sustainability is greater than ever.

Sustainability programs aren’t just good for the environment – it’s proven that they have a positive impact on the public opinion and culture of your company, too.

When your company’s business depends on shipping freight, it’s easy to feel like you have no choice but to negatively impact the environment, due to the inevitable fuel consumption and carbon emissions of the trucking industry. However, many companies either are not aware of, or do not consider, a valuable alternative to truckload shipping that cuts down on these impacts significantly: intermodal shipping (over the rail).

With intermodal shipping (which literally means “multiple modes”), a truck brings the container from your pick-up location to the nearest rail facility, where it is loaded on a train and then delivered to the rail facility nearest your delivery location. The container is then loaded onto another truck, which delivers the freight to its final destination. When you book an intermodal shipment with us, it’s door-to-door service, so you don’t have to worry about the drayage (the truck bringing your shipment to and from the rails) – we take care of it all.

The difference in fuel consumption and carbon emissions when you ship intermodal is staggering, which makes it a very popular choice for companies with a sustainability initiative. The rail industry is fully aware of this and has made continued strides to further increase fuel efficiency, resulting in a 94% fuel efficiency increase since 1980. An intermodal train can move one ton of freight roughly 830 miles on a single gallon – yes, just one gallon – of diesel fuel. Not to overwhelm you with more numbers, but another impressive fact: an intermodal train only emits 5.4 pounds of carbon emissions per every 100-ton miles, whereas a truck emits 19.8 pounds.

The hard numbers make it very clear that considering intermodal shipping is a wise choice – and I haven’t even mentioned the fact that it’s usually cheaper than truckload shipping!

There are a few key factors you should keep in mind that will determine whether you are a good candidate for intermodal shipping:

If these apply to you, get in touch with us to explore switching some or all of your truckload freight to intermodal. The environment, and your shipping budget, will thank you!

o you automatically route your LTL shipments to the provider who quotes you the lowest rate? For the purpose of this blog, take a moment to think back to your decision-making process and recall the reasons you decided to go with this lowest rate logistics model. With that in mind, this blog may give you pause to think about the dialogue that could be taking place within your organization in order to determine what your true LTL shipping costs are (this is more than just the rates you’re paying). Reconsidering how you view your overall LTL costs vs. individual rates will help you keep your customers happy and allow you to remain one step ahead of your competition.

Cost vs. Rate

Cost refers to the total combined expense of an LTL shipment, including both time and dollars (the shipping, customer service, accounting, administrative tasks, technology, etc.) This includes the rate.

Rate is simply the dollar amount charged by the LTL carrier for the transportation of that same LTL shipment – meaning the rate is only one part of your overall cost. Rates are easy to identify, whereas identifying cost requires a commitment and collaborative spirit from many levels of an organization, both internally and externally.

Reflect on the first quarter of 2014 and the inclement weather that impacted all of us in the movement of freight. Were you one of the thousands of shippers that experienced missed-pickups, tracking and tracing nightmares, delays, or the communication of incorrect information? Did you lose any customers over it? If so, what was the total cost associated with that? No one can control the weather, but there are certain things that can be controlled, like having a sound LTL program in place.

If the inclement weather taught us anything, it certainly exposed some gaps in many shippers’ perception that the lowest rate is the most important variable when selecting an LTL shipping provider. More times than not, there is a trade-off between the value you receive and the rate you pay.

One of Trinity’s guiding principles is continuous improvement, constantly aspiring to reach our greatest potential. In order to do so, we responded to the inclement weather experience as an opportunity to improve. We evaluated what went right, and what didn’t. We discussed it internally, and we discussed it with LTL carriers in our program, and most importantly, we discussed it with our customers.

What we found was a common theme across the board. When rate was the sole driving factor in selecting carrier providers as per our customer’s requirements, it had much more of a negative impact on the LTL shipping experience through this period than when choosing carrier providers based on overall value.  Whether it was delayed transit times or just plain poor customer service, several of our “lowest rate” customers changed their preferences in the future to avoid this model.

In retrospect, a lot of the pain our LTL customers felt during the first quarter could have been reduced or eliminated by proactively identifying value over rate. There is a place for the lowest rate model, as in some cases it is a good fit (such as when arranging warehouse transfers or returns), but we cannot ignore the fact that in the majority of times, your company’s vision and your customer’s requirements might not benefit from this method of thinking.

As you review your LTL logistics program, Trinity can work with you through honest dialogue in order to develop a sound recommendation that is flexible yet strong enough to weather the storms of an ever-changing LTL service industry.

Trinity Logistics is excited to announce our new regional service center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Minnesota office will be offering all aspects of Trinity Logistics’ suite of services to include freight services such as full truckload shipping, LTL services, intermodal, and international. In addition, logistics and technology options such as consulting, transportation management software (TMS), and LTL freight management software will round out the team’s offerings.

Jeff Banning, President and Chief Executive Officer at Trinity Logistics, had this to say about the new location: “Minnesota is an excellent location for our ongoing expansion due to the incredible wealth of talent and knowledge in the logistics industry. We are eager to become involved in the community, as is our goal with every office in our network. One of our company’s guiding principles involves leaders and creating opportunities for our new Minnesota team members to grow as leaders in the community is key. Our service isn’t limited to just our shipping customers and carrier partners, it includes the citizens of St. Paul and the surrounding areas.”