Selecting the Right Freight Forwarder - By Brad Hollister

CHICAGO, IL

It truly is very crucial to find the perfect freight forwarder for the success of your company's supply chain. Speed often defines the success and effectiveness of your organization's supply chain. The following are suggestions from http://www.freightaccess.com to assist your corporation to choose the most beneficial options for shipping freight with freight forwarders.
Initially a company should examine your own practice of transportation before discussing with any sort of logistics professional or truckload carriers. Your organization might have to contemplate a number of aspects which include shipment volume, quantity, etc. How will your cargo move… by way of truck, ocean, rail or air? Your ocean shipments at the beginning may possibly be container loaded or be break bulk or very heavy freight. If your business really want to send your product by way of air freight then it could be done through passenger aircraft or through main-deck configuration, but this solution might be fairly costly. A person may also move your freight via truck or van. Your business have to be very clear concerning the expectations of your organization. Your company must clearly define the logistic requirements and describe your business' goals and objectives in all distinct proposal request.

You shouldn't leave the negotiations on prices solely on the traffic department of your firm. Your organization really should provide your abilities and understanding about internal departments like, marketing, information systems, purchasing and finance. Also, your business should really involve the senior management to review the procedures. For obtaining the best result, your firm will need to adhere to the internal values of your business. Your business also know all the capabilities and resources available. Look at the way each carrier performs together with the domestic and international offices? Should the freight broker have the necessary resources of handling all situation which may arise? All of these questions are critical. Your organization might decide upon such a carrier who will decrease your company's freight damages, saves your time & money by finding cheap freight. Any damage claims which may arise might be taken care of in an expedious fashion, with out requiring organization resources.

Lastly, decide on freight forwarders with substantial carrier and freight broker relationships. These freight forwarders should find freight carriers which will ultimately help reduce costs and provide your company with cheap freight. Although these brokers may be utilizing loadboards to find freight and empty trucks, it will absolutely assist you to reduce supply chain expenditures and leverage the relationships of current freight professionals to your benefit.

Brad Hollister
Director of Business Development
http://www.freightaccess.com
The World's Marketplace for finding loads, cheap freight, and freight quotes for shippers, carriers, owner operators, and logistics professionals.

Important Decision: Choosing the Right Carrier for Your Company. - By Brad Hollister

In the fast moving World of freight and logistics, choosing a less-than-truckload (LTL) provider is actually the essential choice a broker will need to make. Ltl carriers that fully understand the variables impacting the cost of goods delivered and the general client satisfaction can mean the distinction between selecting profitable business or ruining your business.

Clients cherish carriers that manage pickup and deliver times, keep consistent transit times, in addition to produce great customer support. Several elements to take into account are Consistency, Trust, and Customer Service.

Consistency:
Every load may possibly determine the longevity of the client relationship. Delivering a small percent of shipment delayed can certainly mean a 100% fiasco within your customer´s eyes which can surely find freight services which meet his expectations. Ensuring you choose a service provider that keeps a strong consistent history dramatically decreases unforseen risks.
Inquire into your carrier's transit times and direct service points. In Less than truckload its usually much better for freight go through the the very least amount of locations attainable to avoid needless problems, and so extensive systems gain because of these rules.

Broad, single-network coverage together with the particular highest number of direct delivery points is certainly the most effective choice for your cargo. This additionally elevates customer satisfaction. Whether your shipments demand a overnight, or a long-backhaul solution, a single simple telephone call, together with a single delivery from the ordinary driver, tends to make doing business easier.

Trust:
Project your expectations. One ought to not be held hostage between selecting dependability or speed. Selecting that Ltl carrier that can supply both is absolutely essential in today´s aggressive market place.
Search for a freight carrier with superb safety records. Incidents plus delays over the road will signify severe delays pertaining to your company's LTL shipments.
State logistics associations often observe and release service provider safety records, this is a excellent area to make sure you have chosen the perfect trucking company for your shipping needs.

Customer service:
Once a consignor has options in Ltl load carriers, he will probably need for you to take a look at the trucking company's customer service. The shipper should investigate precisely what to anticipate coming from the partnership with his trucking company.

One more element of service for you to look into is the visibility of account specifics and accuracy of bills. Find out if shippers get to ask about their particular freight's status, or will they have the capability to track it online 24/7? Investment in Online platform can today keep a frequent trace of your own shipment and will be an gauge of your Freight carriers motivation to it´s consumers. The Freight industry is a capital-intensive business. In order to provide useful solutions, carriers should continually invest in infrastructure such as freight handling tools, and new trucks, rigs, tractors, flatbeds, vans, rgns, and trailers. Old equipment implies unexpected issues can come up at any moment. An Less than truckload carrier along with an extraordinary investment record is an Less than truckload carrier that will not put your shipments at risk and will support a consistent work relationship from which both shippers and carriers benefit.

Brad Hollister
Director of Business Development
http://www.freightaccess.com
http://www.bradhollister.com

Article about tips in hiring the best LTL Carriers. Brad Hollister - Director of Business Development, www.freightaccess.com.

As Transportation Equipment Sales Spike, has the Supply Chain and Logistics Horizon Calmed, or Does it Remain Rough? - By Brad Hollister

CHICAGO, IL:

Trailer orders of Dry Van Trailers recently have erupted as truckload companies and less than truckload carriers have begun to realize an increase in earnings from recently tightened capacity. The ACT Research Company mentioned that purchases for Commercial Dry Vans have been upwards of more than 102% in June of 2010 in a month which historically is a slow month for trailer purchases.

A number of analysts believe that capacity had hit bottom for truckload carriers and LTL carriers during February 2010. This rebound in transportation and logistics has rocketed truck Van Trailer sales around 165% year to date for 2010. Reefer Trailers have not encountered the volatility that Dry Van Trailers had and Reefer truck trailers are up 5% this year to date over 2009.

The spike in trailer sales has definitely followed by the raise in spot market pricing and transportation profitability for all carriers. Many truckload carriers, ltl carriers, and owner operators have simply parked trucks and much of their equipment has been taken off of the roads and relocated over to rig parking lots. Capital expenses have been meager at best the last number of years so some analysts are convinced this most recent increase in equipment demonstrates carrier profitability and fleet reinvestment.

While many transportation and logistics professionals are excited about the recent news, others remain skeptical of a long-term recovery for the trucking industry. Brad Hollister, Business Development Director for Freight Access, Inc. (http://www.freightaccess.com) commented that “A long term recovery may be difficult to sustain. The smaller carriers, owner operators, and other logistics professionals do not have access to available credit required to sustain a wide-spread recovery. These recent spike in equipment sales is a reflection of large companies not only running lean for so long, but much of this recent capital expenditure may be postponed equipment replacement which did not happen during the last 24 months.”

Many trucking companies and owner operators have decided to park their fleet as availability of capacity neared its highs in the fourth quarter of 2009 and first quarter 2010.. With capacity tightening this equipment will undoubtedly find its way back onto the roads and highways so that capacity will once more regain a market generated equillibrium. “Even though 2Q 2010 has been a welcomed surprise, there are still many risks to a long term recovery which does not have access to available small business capital,“ said Brad Hollister.

Hollister believes that a combination of newly purchased equipment and renewed dispatching of existing fleets will balance out the current opportunity which exists in the industry, in the upcoming months. Analysts should be cautious about seeing the large carriers purchasing equipment as a definitive sign of direction of industry recovery. Until the sentiment is shared across firms of all sizes, the market will have obstacles to overcome before a recover can be declared.

By Mark Friend, July 23, 2010

Freight Access, Inc. http://www.freightaccess.com is a Wisconsin Corporation. To contact Brad Hollister, Director of Business Development, call 312-450-3020 or bhollister@freightaccess.com.

Hold the Band... Let's get our Arms Around Recovery First - Brad Hollister

Freight Certainly is looking like it is in recovery mode, but it appears that I have not received a satisfactory explanation of the factors sustaining a long term rally. Badly needed credit is still unavailable to fuel a large scale recovery, tax increases hit 1Q 2011, and unemployment seems to continue remain steady amidst increased regulation.

So someone please help me understand otherwise. I do see a tremendous improvement in the freight market, but not ready to celebrate until we understand what is behind the rally.

Brad Hollister
http://www.freightaccess.com
http://www.bradhollister.com

Supply Chain Visibility - Not an Emotional Game.

This blog is in response to the article posted by Robert Bowman - Supply Chain Brain " Stopping Conflict Minerals With Supply-Chain Visibility."

I think I understand the logic, but it is so much deeper than this Robert. The problem of conflict minerals is much larger than the problem on the surface. With that being said, the solution is deeper as well.

Let's say we took your advice. Great. Wonderful. I'm sure these warlords will continue to feed their slaves. I'm sure they will continue to take care of them with meager living conditions forever and ever. Under that Utopian scenario, what changes?

My understanding that is if we did take your advice, you know what would happen to these people working in the mines? It would be a 15 minute massacre of all men, women, and children. There would be no sense of keeping these slaves around anymore. In addition, do you really think the Warlords would just let them go? Common Robert.

The same logic applies to these advocates for closing down 'sweat shops.' First of all, define a sweatshop. Are they bad working conditions? Well of course they are. You think everyone in the World can work in a unionized, air-conditioned facilities with vending machines? So, the conditions working in an overseas factor are horrible. I concede the point. However, you know what happens when someone cannot go to work for $.15 an hour? They can't find work for even $.01 / hour.

So, while these are terrible conditions, you cannot blame market demand. You cannot try to interject government mandated or humanitarian mandated conditions on the market. The market will decide.

My point further extrapolated demonstrates if all of South America, North America, and Europe take your advice... someone else is buying these things. It doesn't help anything. So whether you restrict the buyers of these minerals to those good-hearted Humanitarians or stop the sale completely, the people you are trying to protect are hurt further.

The solution lies in each of our own salvation. God has his own way of leveling the playing field. In the meantime, don't cut off these people's only meager ability to survive, regardless of how miserable YOU think the conditions are.

Brad Hollister
http://www.freightaccess.com
http://www.bradhollister.com

Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Fell 0.4% in May from April

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) fell 0.4 percent in May from its April level, declining after two consecutive monthly increases, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today (Table 1).

BTS, a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the Freight TSI has risen 4.4 percent over the last 12 months, starting in June 2009, after declining 15.3 percent in the previous 10 months beginning in August 2008. The index has increased in nine of the last 12 months (Table 2). Through the first five months of 2010, the index declined 1.9 percent with small increases in January, March and April combined with a 3.5 percent decrease in February and the 0.4 percent decrease in May (Table 3). For additional historic data, go to http://www.bts.gov/xml/tsi/src/index.xml.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The May Freight TSI of 97.7 is a 4.4 percent increase from the recent low of 93.5 reached in May 2009. In May 2009, the index was at its lowest level since June 1997. The Freight TSI is down 13.5 percent from its historic peak of 112.9 reached in May 2006.

Although the index rose 4.4 percent from May 2009 to May 2010, it remains below the level of every other May since 1997 when it was 92.7 (Table 4). March 2010 was the first month since July 2008 in which the Freight TSI exceeded the level of the previous year. The index has exceeded the previous year's level every month since March but still remains below the level of earlier years.

The freight index is down 12.4 percent in the five years from May 2005. The index is down 1.8 percent in the 10 years from May 2000 (Table 5).

The TSI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes from the monthly average of the base year of 2000. It includes historic data from 1990 to the present. Release of the June index is scheduled for Aug. 11.

For a video explanation of the TSI, see Overview of the Transportation Services Index. For a BTS report explaining the TSI, Transportation Services Index and the Economy is available for download.

This article is found at http://www.bts.gov/press_releases/2010/bts033_10/html/bts033_10.html

Brad Hollister is the Director of Business Development at http://www.freightaccess.com.

Carriers and Owner Operators Must Manage Their Own Business, Not Government.

I have written this blog in strong disagreement with an article posted on of my favorite publications: Logistics Today, http://www.logisticstoday.com. The article is found here: http://bit.ly/92jkJ2. (PLEASE READ ARTICLE BEFORE PROCEEDING).

The article written by unattributed author basically states that the FMCSA has told SHIPPERS they need to stop undermining truckers ability to drive safely and stop wasting their time. The government is telling customers they need to be better stewards of the resources of their vendors. To make matters worse, the OOIDA's Todd Spencer agreed with this and endorsed government's opinions on free-market business practice.

I disagree with this article, as this article is not accurate. Most companies do charge detention. I have been on both sides of this coin as Business Development Director at Freight Access.com (http://www.freightaccess.com), working with abrokers, carriers, and shippers. When a truck is held, the carrier typically charges the broker detention fees per hour (if broker is involved, otherwise charged back to shipper). When the broker is charged detention, the shipper ultimately pays the broker's detention invoice, after that carrier charge is re-submitted to shipper by their broker. Detention happens most commonly at ports and trade shows. If an Owner Operator does not charge detention, that is a business policy they have chosen to elect or chosen to forgo. Some restaurants charge you for soda refills, others don't charge you for refills and provide these resources to in attempts to retain your business in the future. The FREE MARKET Decides.

When an account refuses to pay the carrier or owner operator detention charges, or argues... the market fixes itself in most cases (should fix itself in ALL CASES). What I mean is that if a client or customer is not profitable to do business with, it is up the us as industry professionals to stop doing business with that company. The last thing anyone needs is government intervention telling us how to govern the free market.

So, while detention always has been and always will be a problem... it is really a function of monitoring business profitability. Detention time and consequently impact on the driver log is a cost of doing business, which must be evaluated and communicated clearly to dispatch, sales, and business development folks. Feel free to join my linked in group called "Owner Operators and Drivers of North America." http://bit.ly/cynnTI. The purpose of the group is to discuss items like this.

In conclusion, I am very sympathetic to the terrible conditions drivers have on the road today. Detention is one of a long list of areas which our brave men and women need assistance from the market while out on the road. However, a governing body to form an OPINION on any issue is certainly not worthy of applause. It is the job of these Agencies to enforce federal law, not form their own personal opinions. We need to be cognoscente of the probability of detention and cost over runs for each individual load delivery and help carriers and owner operators measure shipper (customer) profitability for each account. While there are several options for these tools, the real issue lies in the fact that it is important to know that the solutions lies within each of us as professionals, and not the government's intervention.

Brad Hollister
Business Development Director
http://www.freightaccess.com

New York Leading the Way on Jason's Law

New York State Pioneering Parking Legislation

NEW YORK – The state of New York introduced pioneering legislation aimed at protecting Truck Drivers and Owner Operators. State lawmakers James Seward (NY State Senator) and Peter Lopez (NY State Assemblyman) have co-sponsored legislation aimed at assisting businesses to create safe and available truck parking.
The concern of safe truck parking has erupted throughout the trucking industry in the last number of months. Federal legislation has been introduced the United States House of Representatives and Senate following the murder of truck driver Jason Rivenburg. Rivenburg was a New York driver who was robbed and shot in 2009 while his truck was parked at an abandoned Gas Station in South Carolina.
The New York state legislation is proposing a loan fund to assist in the creation of truck parking along highways, truckstops, travel centers, and hotels. The bill also grants tax credits to Shippers and Consignees who provide parking facilities for drivers awaiting pickup and delivery of loads.

Brad Hollister

Logistics Costs Plummet more than 18%

CHICAGO— Manufacturer and Distributors spent a record low on logistics last year. Annual cost of logstics spent a record low of just under 5% of GDP in 2009, compared to just over 9% in 2008., according to annual report issued last week.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and Penske Logistics at the National Press Club reported Logistics Spending by Manufacturers and Distributors has fallen to 7.65%, from a Record high of 16.2% in 1981. The report outlines the impacts the 24+ month recession has taken on the transportation and freight industry.

Beginning in 2008 Shippers and Carriers had felt the pinch from excess capacity, higher fuel costs, and increased external threats introduced into the industry regarding tighter regulation on a multitude of platitudes.

Over the Road Carriers, Logistics Professionals, Truckload Carriers, Owner Operators, and LTL Carriers have taken steps to reduce capacity, but Rosalyn Wilson (Authori of the CSCMP Report) warns Shippers, Manufacturers, and Distributors that the current business climate and increase restrictions on consumer credit may cause difficulty in rapidly expanding capacity in the foreseeable future. “It is likely that we will have capacity problems in some areas by year’s end,” Wilson reported.

The Freight, Trucking, Intermodal and Air Freight Industries have been under considerable pressure since the beginning of the recession more than two years ago. Transportation costs tumbled an additional 20 percent in 2009 after surging more than 50 percent during a five year period preceding the recession which began in the fall of 2008.

After rising over 50 percent in the five years leading up to the recession, total logistics costs have fallen the past two years. Transportation costs were down more than 20 percent last year. All transportation modes have been effected, with trucking (both Truckload and LTL combined) falling more than 20 percent. Intermodal and rail prices nearly mirrored trucking rate reductions with substantial declines averaging just under 20 percent.

THE CHANGING FREIGHT INDUSTRY

Shippers cannot get too accustomed to these cheap shipping and cheap freight rates. Capacity constraints, carrier bankruptcies, and Owner Operator financial struggles have impacted the Transportation Industry which will result in large reductions of capacity Wilson warned. Wilson went on to advise caution as freight rates have already risen in some modes and higher rates will continue to be introduced to the market place before the end of 2010.

The Trucking section (truckload carriers, less than truckload carriers, and specialty carriers) have felt the economic struggles. Experts are forecasting an additional 2,000 trucking companies will close their doors because the financial pressures places on them will be too much to survive.

Third Party Logistics Firms have also played an important role in the ever changing transportation industry. Many Shippers have abandoned their long-standing Logistics (freight brokers, 3PL, Third Party Logistics Firms) and have elected to utilize the spot marketplace. This shift has significantly pressured freight companies to reduce prices further to win business.

The remainder of 2010 will continue to be challenging for all transportation companies. Some experts explain there is excess capacity simply ‘parked’ which can be utilized with little notice. Other transportation experts believe there will be shortages of both trucking equipment and truck drivers. Wilson believes the transportation industry has leveled off to adequate market capacity levels, but expressed concerns how the industry will facilitate future economic growth as demand returns and freight pricing increases.

Owner Operators and Truck Companies who survive the industry will have an undoubtedly optimistic future. Experts believe Capacity will tighten and cheap freight rates will disappear as rates rise. Manufacturers and Distributors must maintain strong freight relationships in order to position themselves favorably as freight prices begin to climb with economic recovery.

Other experts argue that modest rate increases will be realized in 2010, but that largely freight pricing will remain reasonably flat going forward. There are many factors which are yet to be determined and issues facing our economy and transportation industry. One thing is for certain: If one asks around enough about the feeling of the industry, there is certainly an optimism for a long awaited economic recovery for Owner Operators, Truckload Carriers, LTL Carriers, Shippers, Manufacturers, and Distributors alike.

By Brad Hollister

Director of Business Development

http://www.freightaccess.com

http://www.bradhollister.com

Thank you.