newsworthy
Frozen out: Shippers of temp-controlled
goods cite capacity as top concern
alliances
Shippers of temperature-controlled products are most worried about finding available truckload capacity and about wide temperature variances during shipping and handling that lead to product spoilage, according to a shipper survey conducted by trucker RWI Transportation LLC.
According to the research, which was conducted late last year among shippers of 18 temperature-controlled products, 42 percent of respondents cited
difficulties finding capacity as their biggest challenge. About 20 percent said
the ability to maintain proper temperatures during shipping was their
biggest concern. In all, 108 shippers participated in the survey.
About 92 percent of respondents said they were affected in some way by
capacity shortages. Of those, 37 percent said the impact was “significant to
extreme.” About three-quarters of all respondents said they had trouble
finding available capacity during peak seasonal times.
During certain periods in some parts of the country, “it is almost impossible to find trucks,” said Richard Bauer, executive vice president and general manager of RWI, based in Highland Heights, Ky. Bauer cited as examples
the produce-picking season in California and holidays such as Mother’s Day
and Valentines Day, when shipments of cut flowers from Latin America
flood into South Florida for delivery to points north and west.
Not surprisingly, as capacity goes, so go freight rates. Bauer said rates in the
past three years on produce shipments off the West Coast are “higher than I’ve
ever seen.” Bauer, who has been in the business since 1988, said strong U.S.
demand for Asian import traffic has given carriers significant pricing power.
Conversely, rates on trucks moving westbound from interior points are at
20-year lows as carriers reposition their equipment along West Coast ports
to capture eastbound traffic, Bauer said. Carriers are focused on just getting
their assets to the West Coast and are willing to price near the bottom just
to have some freight along to justify the haul, he said.
CAPACITY WOES
Truckload capacity overall has tightened considerably since the freight
recession began in 2006. It is estimated that about 15 to 20 percent of truckload capacity has exited the market in the past five to six years. During that
time, truckers have replaced older cabs and trailers with newer equipment,
notably to comply with tougher federal government diesel emission standards. But there have been virtually no new net additions to the nation’s
heavy-duty fleets in the post-recession era.
Refrigerated equipment capacity has been a mixed bag. On one hand,
shippers find “reefer” capacity harder to obtain because there are relatively
few carriers willing to work in such a specialized field, where late or missed
deliveries can result in product destruction and high claims payments. On
the other, these carriers are more likely than dry van operators to add capacity because the margins on reefer shipments are higher and because there
have been few shipping alternatives to truck.
The survey’s respondents said the most common approach to combating the
capacity shortage is to seek out new carriers. Other potential remedies include
better planning and scheduling driven by timely data, the reliance on long-term
contractual commitments to lock in capacity in return for consistent loads, and
using more specialists such as third-party logistics service providers. ;
ChemLogix LLC has added
GeoMetrix rail logistics guidance
technology as part of its transportation management solutions
set. … Allpack Assembly has cut
processing and shipping costs
since implementing RedPrairie’s
On-Demand Warehouse
Management System. … Maines
Paper and Food Service Inc. has
chosen Retalix’s Power Delivery
solution to enhance delivery
capabilities and customer service
for its clientele. … Ferguson
Enterprises Inc., a wholesale distributor, has successfully implemented Descartes Systems’
cloud-based MobileLink solution.
… Con-way Truckload has implemented the Transflo Express
truck stop scanning and Express
Indexing services from Pegasus
TransTech. … Ceva Logistics has
expanded its contract with
Ecuadorian state-owned oil company Petroamazonas. Ceva will
continue to provide a variety of
import and export activities,
while also providing breakbulk,
ocean freight, and air freight
services for Petroamazonas’
drilling tools. … Inttra, a multi-carrier e-commerce network for
ocean freight, and WCA Family
of Logistic Networks, a network
of independent freight forwarders, have formed a strategic
alliance. By integrating with
Inttra’s multi-carrier network,
WCA Family members expect to
achieve global standardized shipping processes, a faster and more
streamlined document flow,
improved data accuracy, and
increased visibility to ocean shipments. ... Sunsweet Growers Inc.
has selected Star Distribution
Systems Inc., a Florida third-party logistics service provider, to
handle its less-than-truckload
shipping.
