Supply Chain Optimization

One more thing for Food Shippers (and Others) + Uber parcel from DHL

Our Will Cotten was at the Food Shippers Conference last week, where many attendees focused on truck capacity shortages.  Their solution set seems to be:

  1. Make freight more enticing – offer drop trailers to help with hours of service, etc.
  2. Fix current processes – quicker gate check-ins, quicker in and outs at the dock, etc. 
  3. Add technology – freight matching tools, trailer tracking, etc. 
The focus was more on how to find trucks.  We’d advance another important strategy:  to cut the need for trucks.  By better-filling trailers, our clients eliminate an average of 6 out of every 100 trucks…a nice capacity boost!   
 
DHL is jumping back into the US domestic market with a novel approach to the last mile – use contractors.  Package recipients will see on their smart phone exactly who is making the delivery and where they are.  This may help to put a lid on UPS and FedEx price increases.