Technology seems to be the only thing that gets cheaper with time, because all expenses related to transportation logistics management keep rising. Finances, every trucking manager cites, are the biggest concern weighing on everyone. Escalating fuel costs, governmental restrictions, and the emerging popularity of third-party brokers have left a lot of carriers scrambling to maintain a strong profit margin. In theory, moving goods from point of origin to point of sale sounds like a simple process, but economic factors have made the issues faced with transportation logistics management much more complicated.
If that sounds too doom and gloom, those in the trucking industry know it’s not all bad. A hefty percentage of carriers continue to report profit growth, but even these successful companies are facing more challenges than the industry has ever before seen. New regulatory restrictions have limited load capacities, which has made local and transcontinental runs much less efficient. When diesel prices keep rising, these restrictions become especially difficult. On a related, environmental regulations have forced carriers to pay more and more to pass compliance reviews.
Brokers and intermediaries, though, have thrown another wrench in the system. A substantial majority of shippers continue to rely on the relationship with their carriers, but many are turning to third parties to handle their variety of freight needs. To combat that, trucking companies have to market themselves as dependable and capable of handling any sort of client, regardless of complexity. Before, marketing was just about increasing sales, but in this day and age, it’s a concern for transportation logistics management too.
Recent Comments