28 DC VELOCITY SEPTEMBER 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
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participating carriers.
At the end of the day, ELDs’ most compelling value
proposition is safety, notes John Smith, president and chief
executive officer of FedEx Freight. The company expects to
complete its networkwide update by the end of September.
“Safe operations are our top priority, and we see these ELD
devices as enhancing our commitment to safety and [compliance
with] hours-of-service regulations,” he says.
Adds Satish Jindel, president
of SJ Consulting Group, “Before,
it was an unlevel playing field.
Having ELDs and getting everyone to play by the same rules—
that’s good. What it does mean
is that a certain amount of excess
driving that had taken place is
getting taken out,” which reduces
capacity. Overall, Jindel believes
ELDs will positively affect the industry, ensuring discipline
among drivers and better safety for the motoring public.
SHIPPER OF CHOICE
The Great Freight Market of 2018 cemented the concept
that it pays to be a “shipper of choice,” as carriers with
scarce capacity gravitated to those shippers who demonstrated a desire to collaborate and cooperate with their
carrier partners rather than engage in old-style confrontational, transactional relationships. Has the softer market
put a damper on that?
“I think they [shippers] are definitely collaborating now
more than ever,” says Pat Martin, corporate vice president of sales for Richmond, Va.-based LTL carrier Estes
Express Lines. Most shippers recognize “a good working
relationship is important to make sure they are not causing
undue expense for the carrier to move their freight.” Often,
a simple meeting between a shipper and carrier to compare operating processes can lead to subtle but important
changes for both that can create benefit for the shipper
and reduce costs for the carrier. “We try to impress upon
customers the opportunity for both of us to win,” he says.
Greg Orr, president of Joplin, Mo.-based truckload car-
rier CFI, has seen mixed results over the past six months.
“Some customers still are trying to figure out what they can
do to be a shipper of choice,” he says, noting that while the
trend is positive, those conversations are not happening
with the same frequency they did in 2018. “We still try
and provide whatever data, tools, and resources we can to
help them,” Orr says. Working together and sharing infor-
mation, “we can help them minimize [cost] in the overall
supply chain and support them [in ways] that make all of
us better at the end of the day.”
Pitt-Ohio Chief Operating Officer Jim Fields remains
encouraged by the open dialogue and the continuing inter-
est from customers in more collaborative relationships. The
Pittsburgh, Pa.-based LTL carrier has “specific dialogue
with customers on things they can do to mitigate increases,
or at least lower increases and costs,” Fields says. “Most
of it is supporting where our biggest costs are—getting
our trucks in and out of their docks” in a timely manner.
“When you look at the number of
trucks we put on the road, if we
can reduce the amount of time
at pickup and delivery by five
minutes, that has huge implications for cost and productivity,”
he says.
YRC Worldwide’s Hawkins
wants to bring his company and
shippers closer together and is
exploring development of a “loy-
alty” program “that provides an
enhanced customer experience
for those who view us as a strate-
gic partner.” He also cites the collaborative value of a mul-
titiered new-customer onboarding program “that reviews
customer supply chain objectives, ensures data integrity
and connectivity, [establishes] lines of communication,
and reviews freight characteristics to minimize potential
shipment damage.” Hawkins adds that “shippers that
invest in their relationships with carriers will be the winners
in the supply chain.”
Ricky Stover, executive vice president, sales and market-
ing at Salt Lake City, Utah-based nationwide refrigerated
carrier C.R. England, says “most shippers … have a sincere
desire to be good partners and recognize that shippers and
carriers have to collaborate more closely.” Given what he
calls the current uncertainty in the market, “we can over-
come that better together,” he says.
SMOOTH SAILING OR BUMPY ROAD AHEAD?
What’s keeping trucking executives up at night?
“We are coming into some really critical periods,” says
Pitt-Ohio’s Fields. “Fortunately, the economy is still doing
OK, still growing.” One of the big challenges, he believes,
is managing the escalation of costs. “They’re going up for
all service providers,” he says. He also cites the “
acceleration” of technology and the ability of carriers to manage
it effectively. “The speed of [technology] change has put a
new dynamic into our industry,” he says. “The companies
that can embrace that change, understand how it can help
their business, and make good decisions will be the ones to
really take advantage of the opportunities that are coming.”
Estes Express’s Martin echoes Fields’ observations about
technology. “Today, data—how you capture, use, share,
and manage it—has become just as important as the movement of the freight itself,” he says, noting that a cohesive,
informed technology strategy is crucial. “Our ability to give
[customers] visibility from the pickup all the way through
