A panel session at CSCMP discussed how important it was for a Carrier / Shipper “relationship.” Carrier contracts are pretty loose*; the concept of “relationships” is even looser. For example:
- Does a carrier accept a load from a “relationship” shipper paying three dollars a mile when they could take a load that is paying four dollars?
- Do both carriers and shippers totally ignore the market?
When you see situations like a "relationship" carrier refusing a load, and then sending in one of their trucks for the same load, which is now a higher-revenue broker load, you know that money tops everything.
Get over relationships—it’s a freight market, and the most efficient shipper and carrier both win. If this were not true, companies like Uber Freight would not exist.
And yes, together, shippers and carriers can make the process more efficient (more on that next week).
* I have covered this in previous emails, but, in short, freight contracts are not binding. They essentially say, "We might ship so many loads down this lane, and you might provide equipment if you feel like it and charge this rate."
