By definition, logistics is the management of the transportation of materials or equipment from where they are to where they need to be. For everyone, materials or equipment need to arrive on time and with no damage, and this lies especially true for those coordinating construction projects. Construction sites require heavy-duty and valuable equipment and materials that must be delivered on schedule. The absence of a logistics plan and tracking for your freight to your construction sites can lead to several problems. Here are some reasons why you don’t want your logistics in construction projects to be an afterthought. 

BEHIND SCHEDULE

It only takes one delayed shipment for a construction project to cause the schedule to fall behind days, weeks, or even months. According to the Electrical Contractor, in 2017, 61 percent of construction projects were shown to be behind schedule. Obviously, this is a big problem in the industry. Even worse, being behind schedule raises costs. Over half of those 61 percent of construction projects that were behind schedule were also over budget. 

EXTRA COSTS

When materials or needed equipment aren’t delivered on time and on-site when the crew members are scheduled, then they are sitting ducks with nothing to do. Since scheduled, they will still need to be paid for those days that they are on-site, whether they are working or not. Additionally, you’ll have to pay them for any extra days that they will need to complete their work, which may come with extra costs due to pushing back their work schedule. When the material or equipment needed is not on the job, you’re simply not making money. 

You’ll also need to consider theft. According to the National Crime Information Center, nearly 1,000 pieces of commercial construction equipment are reported stolen each month. Thieves often target valuable construction equipment like bulldozers, forklifts, or generators, and even materials with a high resale value. Theft can be costly as you not only have to replace the stolen equipment but face the possibility of increased insurance costs due to the claim. 

Choosing a provider to support your logistics in construction projects can give you the potential to avoid, or at least be better prepared should something happen. 

REDUCED TRUST

The worst issue caused by improper logistics planning is reduced trust in your customers and partners. Falling behind on schedule and incurring extra costs that have to go somewhere makes you seem less reliable. You could lose customers and gain a poor reputation. Nobody wants that for their business. 

BE BETTER THAN THE REST

Having effective transportation and logistics in construction projects ensures that your materials and equipment will be delivered on time, keep you on budget, and keep your reputation among customers. Yet, becoming effective with your logistics can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be. Consider partnering with a third-party logistics company (3PL) to help you can gain a competitive advantage by better managing your logistics. 

CONSIDER A 3PL TO HELP WITH LOGISTICS IN CONSTRUCTION

Focus on what you do best and let a 3PL do the rest. Working with a 3PL can eliminate the headache of handling your logistics in construction projects by offering you access to :

A VAST CARRIER NETWORK

You need experienced, qualified carriers, and 3PLs, such as Trinity, to have those much-needed relationships with them. A 3PLs service is to both shippers and carriers, allowing us to build solid relationships with carriers all over. Each motor carrier is vetted through our Compliance Team, so you’ll never have to stress over your freight arriving on time and safely.

MANY MODES

Since we work with so many carriers, we have access to many modes of transportation. Whether you need air, ocean, rail, truckload, or anything else, you’ll no longer have to work with several companies for your logistics needs. 

AUTOMATED PROCESSES

Whether you choose to outsource your freight transportation or all your logistics, you’ll see efficiency in the automation we offer. From carrier vetting, freight tracking, invoicing, and more, you can reduce your time on many manual logistics processes.

ACCESS TECHNOLOGY

No need to pay for (costly) technology when you can gain access to state-of-the-art technology when working with a 3PL. At Trinity, we offer tracking through FourKites, MacroPoint, Trucker Tools. View all your shipments and their statuses, pay your invoices online, or request a quote on a new shipment in our Customer Portal. Or work with our Managed Services team and see if a TMS solution is what you need.

GAIN MORE CONTROL OVER YOUR LOGISTICS COSTS

Through all the benefits mentioned above, you gain control over your logistics costs. When working with Trinity, you’ll have an expert on your side to help you make informed decisions so you can choose what works best for you and your budget.

KEEP YOUR CONSTRUCTION PROJECT ON TRACK

The main benefit you gain from using a 3PL for your logistics in construction projects is that it helps you simplify your challenges and find your own customized solutions. 3PLs, like Trinity, work with complex situations and variations frequently, and better yet, we thrive in them. In construction, we know your supply chain is always changing. When you choose to streamline your logistics, you can lower your costs and know your construction project will be completed on time. 

Trinity has supported construction and manufacturing companies of all sizes. We’ve aided in logistics projects like office buildings, roadways, housing developments, and more. We know that in your industry you need your materials and equipment exactly when and where you need them. Let Trinity help keep your construction project on track. 

Find my logistics solution

Before mass production, one would have to grow their own sides and raise their own turkey for Thanksgiving. Thanks to the supply chain and the truckers willing to drive long days and many miles, all you have to do is buy the ingredients and cook the turkey. Thanksgiving and the start of holiday shopping would not be the same without the shippers and carriers working hard to prepare the goodies that we look forward to year after year.

Gobbling This Up

Let’s start with the Thanksgiving meal itself. The main course, the golden bird, the turkey. It is estimated that the U.S. consumes over 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving. That translates to roughly 16,600 truckloads of turkey transported. That’s a lot of traveling birds!

Next, you have the sides and dessert. According to Open Road Drivers Plan, more than 65,000 trucks transport the sides alone to the stores in time for Thanksgiving Day. Let’s break it down further:

Supplying More Than Food

What about the Thanksgiving Parade? Think about the giant floats you see, and all the helium used to get them in the sky. According to LiveScience.com, the 2016 Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade needed 300,000 cubic feet of helium for the balloons. Or in a rough comparison, that is 2.2 million gallon jugs of milk needed in NYC for that day. You can thank supply chain logistics for getting those elements there.

It Is Only The Beginning

Thanksgiving marks the official start of the holiday season. As soon as the empty plates are in the sink and the leftovers in the fridge, Black Friday shopping begins. It is estimated that around 134 million people shop on Black Friday. Then comes Cyber Monday; the week after Black Friday is estimated to generate another 2 billion in online sales. All of that is possible because of trucking.

The holiday season is a time for indulging and overspending, but most importantly, a time to gather with loved ones and reflect on things for which we are thankful. We at Trinity are grateful to work every day with the shippers and truckers that provide us with the goods that we enjoy with our friends and families throughout the year.

AUTHOR: Christine Griffith

Whether you’re a large corporation coordinating dozens to hundreds of shipments a day, or a small family-owned business shopping for the best way to ship your product monthly, a third-party logistics (3PL) company like Trinity Logistics can help you find your best logistics solution. While our most popular service is coordinating truckload shipping, there are several logistics solutions to suit businesses with shipments of all shapes, sizes, methods, and budgets.

What Services Does Trinity Offer?

As a 3PL, we have a network of more than 70,000 authorized carriers to coordinate freight services for our customers. We can arrange:

Find the Logistics Solution You Need

TRUCKLOAD

Access our network of 70,000 authorized carriers for your dry, temperature-controlled, hazmat, or flatbed shipping needs.We arrange the transport of your freight and track it from origin to delivery.

LTL

Can’t fill a truck? We can help optimize your smaller-scale shipments. Live track your freight delivery time so you can manage your inventory with our free LTL software. Additionally, consider using LTL CSP or customer specific pricing. CSP can offer you savings on LTL freight costs, reduce dock congestion, and have you be less impacted by annual carrier general rate increases.

WAREHOUSING

Whether you’re securing seasonal warehousing, overflow storage, or planning an entire distribution network, we can help. We’ll select the best warehouse space for your needs and negotiate the most competitive pricing for your project. We can also find warehouse space or cross-dock space in an emergency situation, in any state or city.

MANAGED SERVICES

Gain control and visibility to your supply chain, reduce costs, improve performance, and increase efficiencies with our Managed Transportation technology solutions, or TMS.

INTERMODAL

If your shipments need to travel more than 750 miles, Intermodal shipping (via rail) is a cost- and environmentally-friendly alternative to truckload shipping. This mode offers reliable and consistent capacity due to less competition and is nearly as fast as shipping truckload. If you’re looking to reduce transportation spend by saving on fuel and reducing your carbon footprint, intermodal may be a good option to consider.

DRAYAGE

If you import or export freight using U.S. ports, we now offer a full array of drayage services. With drayage, your freight can be delivered from the port right to your door, or from your door right to the port, saving you money in the process. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team can coordinate pickup and/or delivery on a tight turnaround, for port cut or to get your freight out before the Last Free Day and can help you avoid unnecessary fees.

EXPEDITED

If you need your shipment moved faster than standard LTL transit times allow, we offer expedited shipping options for shipments between one and twelve pallets that weigh under 10,000 pounds. We can schedule for delivery on a tight turnaround, such as for trade shows or short appointment windows, utilize carriers with right-sized vehicles including cargo vans, sprinters, and straight trucks, and arrange for door-to-door transport of your freight via air, when expedited OTR isn’t fast enough.

INTERNATIONAL

Through our relationships with freight forwarders, we can help arrange shipment of your air and ocean dry freight shipments. We can help by having a communication intermediary between you and freight forwarders, assisting with customs clearing, providing access to U.S. customs-bonded storage, and offering additional cargo insurance.

Have other shipping needs that don’t necessarily fall under one of these categories?

We are more than happy to help. If you need heavy haul, liftgate services, specialty transportation equipment, or something else, our dedicated team of logistics professionals is waiting to help find a logistics solution for you.

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The last two decades have brought about increasingly destructive natural disasters. From Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy to the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Along with widespread devastation to their physical surroundings, each of these natural disasters impacted business operations in many cases on a global scale. Over the years, climate changes are happening at a faster pace than originally anticipated. This has resulted in rising sea levels, which coincides with more severe storms, temperature swings, and volatile precipitation. Because of this, we have seen and will likely continue to see more intense weather that will have greater destructive potential, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In this blog, we’ll go over the economic and supply chain impacts that result from these events and how you can best prepare your supply chain.

Impacts on the economy and supply chains

Severe weather has exponential impacts on our global economy. According to Aon Benfield’s 2016 Global Climate Catastrophe Report, the world saw $210 billion (USD) in economic losses because of 315 separate natural disasters. That’s 21 percent above the 16-year average of $174 billion (USD). When these natural events happen, numerous businesses find their supply chains shook.

Natural disasters cause severe disruption to global technology supply chains. For example, after the 2011 Thai floods, there was a global shortage of computer hard drives that sent consumer prices skyrocketing until factories were able to get back up and running. When the 2011 tsunami struck, several major car manufacturers were forced to shut down production at factories throughout Europe and the U.S. due to a lack of available parts from factories in Japan, setting off a supply chain reaction that impacted multiple suppliers of parts throughout the wider global economy. Snowstorms are also a culprit of transportation delays and supply chain worries. If weather conditions drop below a certain temperature truck engines will not start, quickly accumulating snow may mean railroads might not be able to clear the tracks fast enough and snow and ice can make it impossible for planes to travel safely. All causing disrupted supply chains across the country.

Preparing your supply chain

With the increase of natural disasters, ensuring that your business is prepared for the potential disruption is very important. Disaster planning needs to consider not just the direct impact to your infrastructure, but how the after-effects of events far away from your base of operations could affect your supply chain and markets.

Create a disaster preparedness plan
Have a plan ready that outlines what to do in case of emergencies and natural disasters. This plan should take into consideration all types of weather and natural disaster your area is most susceptible to, and perhaps some that would particularly be considered unlikely. Also, be sure to ask companies you partner with for their disaster plans to ensure alignment with risk management.

Monitor for threat
Supply chain risk management works best when companies have the earliest possible notice of potential disruptive impacts. Keeping up with potential weather, running a data analysis, and running simulations across your supply chain to identify pressure points where natural disasters would most likely impact your operations are all ways to keep up with your disaster preparedness plan.

Be transparent and flexible
Many natural disasters may be impossible to predict (earthquakes, wild fires, etc.) so disruption may be inevitable. Be open with members of your team and companies you partner with about how weather or natural disaster may affect capacity and your company’s supply chain. Additionally, think about substitute work spaces and methods of transport for your goods. It’s never too early to revisit your risk management and disaster preparedness plans. At Trinity, we work with a network of over 70,000+ carriers and we’re always looking at the state of the industry and communicating with our customers. If you’re looking to partner with a 3PL to help manage your supply chain or have any questions about how Trinity can help your business, chat with us online here.

When Trinity Logistics first opened its doors in 1979 as Trinity Transport, the small family-owned company specialized in the arrangement of truckload freight. In the last decade, Trinity has expanded its focus into the arrangement of more specialty services, designing solutions that don’t necessarily fit within the cookie cutter of ordinary freight arrangement. One of those services is dray service, or drayage, which is typically needed with shipments where freight is coming into a port or being transported via intermodal, or rail.

What is Drayage?

Drayage is most commonly known as the act of pulling containers out of a rail yard or ocean port and either loading them or unloading them before returning the container to the port or rail yard, typically over short distances. With dray service, an empty or full container can be mounted on chassis, or a flatbed, to be delivered either from your door to the port or rail yard or from the port or rail yard to your front door. Drayage is an important part of the shipment and transportation of products to and from different modes of transportation.

The term “drayage” comes from “dray,” meaning a horse-drawn cart with low sides, used to transport goods a short distance. Eventually, the horse-drawn carts were replaced by trucks, but even today drayage refers to short distances between multiple modes. Drayage moves continue to prove highly valuable in keeping freight moving without interruptions. The upward trend in globalized trade has increased imports and exports that are shipped via ocean, drawing attention to the need for dray services.

Why is Dray Service Needed?

Most people in Logistics think of drayage as it relates to intermodal or containers on a ship, but here are two other dray services you may not have considered: shipment to shopping malls and trade shows. For many shopping malls, there may be a centralized loading dock or drayage area where receivers pick up from in order to limit congestion at the mall itself. If you exhibit at trade shows, you are probably familiar with paying bills for trade show drayage. Whether you ship directly to the show site or to a show warehouse, every company’s exhibit needs to get from the loading dock to its respective spot on the show floor. Imagine the traffic jam if that were left entirely up to the individual companies to retrieve their crates from the loading docks! Many trade shows employ outside services who provide drayage, delivering crates to each company’s designated exhibit space, and back to the loading dock after the show is complete.

We can arrange pickup and/or delivery in advance, on a tight turnaround for port cut, or to get your freight out before the Last Free Day. Our Logistics Team is trained in drayage and can help you avoid any necessary fees to keep your freight moving.

Think you could benefit from the arrangement of drayage services? Give us a call today!

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Do you find yourself with little space for inventory? Is a large chunk of your money tied up in stocking materials that aren’t needed yet? The just in time (JIT) supply chain model might be the best solution for your space and budget.

How does a JIT program work?

JIT is utilized as a means to protect profit and warehouse space in all types of industries, but especially in manufacturing and food production. This strategy can be used for the inbound delivery of raw materials, the outbound shipping of finished products, or both. The ultimate goal is to save money on inventory and storage costs by cutting (or completely eliminating) the amount that’s sitting on shelves or in the warehouse.

This model allows for goods or materials to only be delivered when they’re needed immediately, or “just in time”. While this makes for a constant drop-off and pick-up of products and materials, it lessens the amount of money and space invested in raw materials before they are needed in the manufacturing process, which frees up funds that might be needed elsewhere.

Why would a company choose JIT?

JIT became popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s, most notably in the car manufacturing industry. This allowed for vehicles to be made and put together piece by piece, without taking up huge amounts of space and money on parts that weren’t ready to be installed yet.

Toyota still works primarily off of this business and logistics model, but JIT can work especially well for smaller companies too. Those with limited space and funds between each stage of manufacturing, as well as those with large gaps of time between production and delivery, may want to consider switching to the JIT model.

If your business requires high value products to be stored, like metal, JIT might be a good fit. Since large amounts of inventory aren’t kept on hand, there is less time between manufacturing and shipping for products to be lost, damaged, or stolen.

Businesses with perishable goods should also look into converting to JIT. It’s important to keep expiration dates in mind when ordering products with a shelf life, and having them delivered only when and in the quantity needed, reduces waste and protects your bottom line.

The great thing about JIT is that it can be adjusted for times when business is either booming or slowing. Companies that see slow seasons could especially benefit, as the logistics ”spigot” can be turned down (or off completely) and you won’t be left with a wasted surplus. Essentially, if parts or stock aren’t needed, they don’t have to be ordered or delivered.

How can Trinity help me switch to JIT?

As a full-service 3rd party logistics provider (3PL), Trinity can assist with all stages of the transition into the JIT program. We can arrange the JIT shipments of both inbound materials and outbound product. Our network of over 30,000 certified carriers means that timely pickup and delivery are easy to arrange. If you need to switch to a smaller warehouse space to accommodate your new JIT plan, we also offer warehousing solutions.

Trinity offers extremely flexible and customizable supply chain services, so that if production is slow, we can slow down your shipments going in and out, or if you hit peak sales, we can get carriers moving to match your pace. Rest assured that all of our logistics and warehousing solutions are adjustable and streamlined to allow your time and energy to be most focused on your own business.

To request a consultation or more information about switching to a JIT program, click here!

With the U.S. economy strengthening, and industries booming, truck drivers are seeing some of the largest wage increases in years. As encouraging as it is for drivers to be seeing bigger paychecks, the reasoning behind the pay raises can’t be ignored: the nationwide truck driver shortage.

Why are truckers’ wages going up?

It’s no secret that truckload capacity has been tight lately. Truckers who were unable to afford the shortage of loads when the economy was suffering left the industry behind for jobs that allowed them to be closer to home. Not only that, but the tougher federal regulations introduced in 2013, which put tighter limits on driving hours, didn’t exactly persuade truckers to stay in the industry. That leaves about 35,000 spots unfilled, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

Now that the economy is bouncing back and there is an increase in demand for goods, there is also a stronger need for getting those goods to market. A limited number of truck drivers and high demand from shippers leaves even some of the largest carriers in a scramble to get their unmanned trucks on the road.

With hundreds of trucks left idling and the average turnover rate for drivers with large carriers being just over 90%, fleet managers have had to make the driver’s seat look more appealing to potential truckers. The best way to get that message across is by fattening paychecks, as well as taking on licensing costs and offering signing bonuses. This means higher salaries for those who are left, but also those in the younger generations that need to make up for the 96,000 drivers leaving every year for retirement.  If carriers don’t take measures to boost hiring numbers, we will see a shortfall of 240,000 drivers by 2020, the ATA said.

Read our blog about truckload capacity to learn more.

What impact will this have on my supply chain?

So, here comes the bad news for shippers. Since carriers are upping their labor costs, they need to still protect their profit margin. In order to do this, they must raise their bottom lines – in turn, raising their rates.

Until the driver shortage flames have been put out, expect capacity to be tight and rates to be high.  There are still not enough drivers to cover the volume of loads needing to be shipped. Carriers are forced to turn down loads because of not having trucks available, and if they’re not turning them down because of capacity, they are hanging up because the rates offered are just too low.

How can I avoid the higher costs?

As long as you’re shipping truckload, rising rates are something you’re just going to have to factor into your budget. You will not be able to continue shipping at the same rates you locked in one year ago. This is the unpleasant truth.

However, there is an alternative.

If paying higher rates for truckload shipping is simply not an option, consider moving freight over the rail (intermodal).  Not only is intermodal usually cheaper than truckload, it’s environmentally friendly and can meet many of the requirements demanded in the truckload industry, like transporting reefer shipments in temperature controlled cars. However, its most appealing characteristic is the fact that it can offer plenty of capacity when trucks are hard to find for a reasonable price.

Just this year, intermodal volume for all of North America increased 5.7% to 13 million trailers and containers, according to the Association of American Railroads. Intermodal freight shipping is on the rise, and shouldn’t necessarily be your last option, because it’s easily becoming your best. Even if you only utilize intermodal shipping a few times a year, it could save you time, money, and stress.

Check out our blog about intermodal shipping to learn more.

Sources:

“ATA MC&E: Economy Improves, Driver Shortage Continues”, Truckinginfo
“Turnover at For-Hire Carriers Largely Unchanged During the First Quarter”, ATA
“Drivers Gain From Wage Race as Truckers Turn Away Cargo”, Bloomberg
“Expanding U.S. economy exposes rising truck driver shortage”, Reuters