The Logistics of Logistics Podcast
The Logistics of Logistics podcast is dedicated to exploring how things get places. Join our host, Joe Lynch, for conversations with the people who get them there. Joe talks with logistics and transportation industry leaders about innovation, technology, trends, and the future of freight.
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The 5 Billion Dollar Overcharge with Steve Ferreira
05/22/2020
The 5 Billion Dollar Overcharge with Steve Ferreira
The 5 Billion Dollar Overcharge with Steve Ferreira and discuss the 5 billion dollar overcharge which refers to the amount that ocean shippers are overcharged every year. Steve is well recognized expert in ocean freight auditing and in the interview, he describes the problem of ocean freight overcharges and ways to recapture the difference. About Steve Ferreira Steve Ferreira is the founder and CEO of Ocean Audit. Steve has spent his entire career in global container shipping. He established Ocean Audit in 1994 when he realized general freight audit practices reverse no more than 50% of overcharges occurring in ocean transportation. Today, Steve’s process is leading edge and utilizes machine learning to identify and validate ocean freight invoice errors. Initial recovery validation can be accomplished with only a very basic requested client-side report. Steve Ferreira is often featured in leading business publications like USA Today, Journal of Commerce, and as a guest commentator on CNBC. About Ocean Audit is the leader in ocean freight invoice auditing. Ocean freight billing is very complex, and few shippers fully understand all the charges. As a result of this complexity, ocean freight shippers are commonly overcharged. Ocean Audit and Steve Ferreira specialize in ocean freight auditing. Ocean Audit uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify invoice inaccuracies and overcharges. Ocean Audit utilizes its expertise on a contingency only basis, which means Steve only gets paid if he discovers a saving. Key Takeaways - 5 Billion Dollar Overcharge The Problem with Ocean Freight Invoices In Steve’s experience, ocean freight invoices are usually inaccurate. The average high-volume ocean freight shipper is overcharged by 1-2% with some shippers getting overcharged by much more. Ocean freight invoices are very complex and there are few supply chain people who have the time and or expertise required to audit the invoices. Auditing of the ocean freight invoices frequently falls in a gap somewhere between accounting and the supply chain group. Ocean freight invoicing is often very antiquated and technology improvements implemented are far behind the truckload and LTL modes. The top five reasons ocean freight invoices are inaccurate: Double billing (the ocean freight provider may double bill when they discover a surcharge not added to the freight bill). Date cusp issues Fuel surcharges Not checking container numbers Contract complexity Ocean Freight Auditing – Recapturing the 5 Billion Dollar Overcharge Shippers can conduct their own ocean freight auditing; however, they would need to hire an internal resource that would have a deep understanding of ocean freight auditing. This specialized knowledge is not easily found. Shippers can also hire a pre-auditing firm, which is a 3rd party company that audits the freight bills prior to the shipper paying the invoice. Since most pre-auditing firms specialize in over the road trucking freight audit, they may lack the knowledge required to conduct an effective ocean freight audit. For many ocean freight shippers, the right audit solution is a company that specializes in ocean freight auditing. Ocean freight auditing is too complex to hire a firm that just dabbles in the space – hire a specialist. Ocean freight shippers hire Steve Ferreira because he has over 40,000 hours of expertise in all areas of ocean freight invoicing and dispute management. Steve is the world’s leading expert in recovery auditing for the container shipping industry. Ocean Audit is the only international company specializing in all aspects of ocean freight recovery. Learn More: The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Niches Have Riches with Kevin Hill
05/22/2020
The Niches Have Riches with Kevin Hill
The Niches Have Riches with Kevin Hill and discuss why the niches have riches, which refers to the advantage of specializing and owning a niche. In the logistics and transportation business, competition is intense and increasingly the best 3PLs are developing market segments, so they can customize their services to a specific niche (market segment). About Kevin Hill is the Director of Editorial and Research at FreightWaves, which publishes proprietary research on all things transport and logistics. Kevin is also the co-host of the popular freight sales podcast, . Additionally, Kevin is the founder of , which is the only carrier database that provides a comprehensive profile of carriers that go beyond what is available in public records.. Earlier in his career, Kevin held leadership positions in both the financial and logistics industries. Kevin earned an MBA from the University of Oklahoma. About FreightWaves is the leading freight intelligence provider, offering current digital intelligence and context to the freight community on a central platform. FreightWaves' SaaS product, SONAR, is the leading freight market analytics tool and dashboard, aggregating billions of data points from hundreds of sources to provide the fastest data in the transportation and logistics sector. FreightWaves.com, the company's news site, is the leading provider of news and commentary for the transportation and logistics space. FreightWaves also hosts conferences under Transparency and MarketWaves branding and is a co-developer of the first futures contracts dedicated to trucking spot rates. Key Takeaways – The Niches Have Riches The Problem with One Size Fits All The competition is fierce in the transportation and logistics business and without a niche, you and your company will struggle to stand out from the crowd. The “we are everything to everyone” messaging is a sure loser Shippers look to 3PLs for answers to their transportation and logistics problems. Shippers are increasingly looking for industry-specific expertise and if you do not have it, they will work with your competition. Content marketing begins with market segmentation (niches). If you want to gain favorable attention with a food shipper, you better be able to create content that appeals to them. Food shippers are obviously different than hazmat shippers, and vice versa. With a one size fits all strategy, your marketing and messaging is going to be a “mile wide and an inch deep” which won’t for shippers who want to work with experts in their business. The Niches Have Riches Approach When logistics providers develop their own niche, they have a better chance of winning business with shippers in that niche. To develop the selected niche, learn about the biggest problems facing the niche industry - that your company can solve. Once understood, incorporate the problems along with your solutions into your marketing and sales messaging. With industry knowledge, your chances for a sale increase. Since your company is focused on a niche, the confidence of the sales team will be much higher. Logistics market segments include: Automotive Chemical and Plastics Industrial and Manufacturing Gov & Defense Energy and Petrochemicals Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Furniture Food and Beverage Appliances Electronics Health, Pharma, Life Sciences Industry leaders like CH Robinson are using market segmentation and thought leadership to grow their business: Learn More: The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Securing the First, Middle and Last Mile with Andrew Kelley
05/21/2020
Securing the First, Middle and Last Mile with Andrew Kelley
Securing the First, Middle and Last Mile with Andrew Kelley and discuss securing the first, middle and last mile. As supply chains evolve, the need for secure asset transfer increases for both consumers and business to business applications. About Andrew Kelley Andrew Kelley is the Chief Commercial Officer at BoxLock. Andrew is an experienced technology executive and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in supply chain, logistics, SaaS, software, and technology-enabled services businesses. Prior to joining BoxLock, Andrew held leadership positions at Bell Creek Partners, Haulme, Omnitracs, and Dell. Andrew has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University. About BoxLock is the industry leader in secure, unattended delivery technology. The company’s inventory, access, and security solutions integrate into existing systems to help businesses make their supply chain more efficient, accountable, and reliable in the first and final mile. BoxLock’s unique combination of barcode scanner and connectivity allows an unprecedented level of secure integrations without the need for complicated and unreliable mobile software or key fobs. Key Takeaways - Securing the First, Middle and Last Mile The Problem with Unsecured Shipments With the rise of e-commerce, supply chain logistics has evolved into more small package deliveries to both consumers and businesses. Many of the deliveries are to locations where there is nobody available to receive the package. This is true for both home and business deliveries. One option is to deliver the package to the porch or dock and hope that it does not get stolen or discovered by insects or rodents in the case of food deliveries. When a driver leaves a package unattended on a porch or dock, the proof of delivery can potentially be disputed. A second option is for the delivery company to keep the package and attempt to deliver when the receiver is available. Re-delivery results in inconvenience, delayed deliveries, and added costs. Clearly, after-hour and unattended location deliveries are the weakest links in the supply chain. There is a high risk of theft, loss, time delays, privacy concerns, and additional costs associated with these types of deliveries. Securing the First, Middle and Last Mile Both businesspeople and consumers want the convenience of a shipment direct to their home or business whether they are there or not– and those shipments must be safe and secure. Shippers and the logistics companies they work with also want the option of delivering to a location even when there is no one available to receive the shipment. Of course, shippers and 3PLs, do not like the lack of security of leaving a package unattended on a porch or dock – it puts them at risk. BoxLock has developed a unique padlock with a scanner that enables supply chain visibility and security at the point of asset transfer. BoxLock is easy for delivery drivers to recognize and use. Once the package barcode is scanned by the padlock scanner, the container opens, and the package can be put in the secure container and locked. The scan feature enables real-time visibility and proof of delivery notification. The smart padlock works with a broad range of hasped storage containers, sheds, gates, and doors, for maximum compatibility and security. Note: a hasp is the metal hinge mechanism that enables a container or door to be locked. Learn More: The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Upgrading to One Integrated Suite for all Logistics Operations with Naval Sabharwal
05/17/2020
Upgrading to One Integrated Suite for all Logistics Operations with Naval Sabharwal
Upgrading to One Integrated Suite for all Logistics Operations with Naval Sabharwal Naval Sabharwal and Joe Lynch discuss why using one integrated suite for all logistics operations is the best approach for driving logistics and supply chain efficiency and effectiveness. Utilizing fragmented systems limits logistics companies from fully leveraging the data in their systems. Data equals dollars and the 3PLs that best harvest the data (dollars) in their systems will be the most profitable. About Naval Sabharwal Naval is Global Head of Supply Chain and Logistics at Ramco Systems, where he leads a team that is building a logistics software platform that meets the end to end needs of transportation and logistics providers. Prior to joining Ramco, Naval held leadership positions at a variety of companies including Safexpress, Reliance Logistics, Reliance Retail, Unipart Logistics and Hexaware Technologies. Naval has a Postgraduate in Material Management from the National Defense Academy. He served the Logistics stream of the Indian Air Force for 20 years before taking pre-mature retirement in September 2004 as a Wing Commander. About Ramco Ramco’s Logistics Software is a unified cloud-based software covering the end to end needs of third-party logistics, freight forwarders, and parcel/courier service providers who are seeking a high-performance logistics software. Ramco Logistics Software will not only help you manage your business with ease but also swiftly respond to evolving imperatives of business, regulatory changes, market conditions, etc. without having to go through the pains of integration again and again. Noteworthy Questions [7:45] Logistics companies don’t necessarily have the talent in-house to manage information systems. [20:10] Trying to integrate systems from different suppliers is where the problems begin. [28:30] Why do we need an integrated solution for all of our logistics operations? Key Takeaways - Integrated Suite for all Logistics Operations The Problem with the Fragmented Approach to Software Most transportation and logistics companies have purchased stand-alone, single-function software like TMS, WMS, CRM, HR, tracking, and fleet management to better manage their business. The problem with this hodge-podge approach to software is that each system is disconnected, and the data created is not easy to share between software systems. Some companies integrate their disparate software, which is time-consuming and costly – and with uncertain results. Fragmentation of software systems and data causes a lack of visibility and data that is too old to act on. Real-time data enables real-time decision making. As logistics companies push for additional efficiencies, business intelligence, and real-time insights, the fragmented systems can not deliver. The Advantages of One Integrated Suite for All Logistics Operations Customer (shippers) expectations are rising, they need a fully integrated suite for all logistics operations. The platform seamlessly connects every function from the CRM through freight claims. The integrated suite eliminates silos, enables continuous innovation, and provides real-time data and insights that can help improve service and lower costs. An integrated suite for all logistics operations (like Ramco’s solution) is a platform that is completely configurable by operations people – no IT people required. By utilizing a completely integrated platform, logistics companies can take advantage of artificial intelligence/machine learning, which will take their business to the next level Pick a Strategic Partner for Your Logistics Company Software Needs Most 3PLs do not have the internal expertise required to compete with the best 3PL software development teams. To stay competitive, 3PL should consider partnering with a 3PL software company that can build and support a comprehensive, end-to-end software suite that includes CRM, freight rating, billing, operations, WMS, cross-docking, profitability, claims, finance, and HR. When selecting a 3PL software partner, logistics companies should look for three things: 1. Design capabilities, 2. Flexibility and 3. Investment capabilities. Technology is advancing quickly and companies need to invest to stay ahead of the curve. 3PLs must look to the future and make lasting technological and digital partnerships that will ensure their competitive advantage. Learn More: The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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A Better Way to Reach Your Target Market with Tom Augenthaler
05/02/2020
A Better Way to Reach Your Target Market with Tom Augenthaler
A Better Way to Reach Your Target Market with Tom Augenthaler and discuss what it takes to reach your target market more effectively and more efficiently. Tom is an influencer marketing expert and he shares how influencer marketing can be used to boost your company’s growth and form better relationships with your customers. About Tom Augenthaler Tom grew up in Long Island and studied finance at Gettysburg College. Finding himself unfulfilled by the world of finance, Tom went on to study American English Language at Harvard before entering the PR industry. Tom worked with HP for years which is where he discovered how to utilize influencer marketing during the economic crash of 2008. About 551 Media and The Influence Marketer The Influence Marketer is the place to go for any company looking to start or improve their use of influencer marketing. Tom offers full team training on the many different aspects of the process, one on one mentoring, or strategy calls. He consults digitally and in-person to help B2B businesses build a marketing strategy that is right for them. Reach Your Target Market Using Influencer Marketing Individuals are more likely to be trusted over brands. Think of when your friend recommends a movie or T.V show to you; you are much more likely to watch than if it were recommended by an anonymous entity. Finding bloggers who already have an audience in the same demographic you are looking to target makes it easy to effectively convey your message and increases its relevancy. Utilizing influencer marketing effectively will enable your business and brand to grow, resulting in your own brand becoming an influencer in the B2B industry. Why Use Influencer Marketing in the B2B industry? The landscape of traditional marketing has evolved to trend more towards digital. While businesses do still have to run advertising campaigns to maintain a presence, influencer collaborations are often a cost-effective way to increase your audience, especially in the B2B industry. B2B is a harder market to corner in some respects because you often can’t give bloggers a physical product to review. Often, influencers in the B2B industry will be a more inexpensive choice to collaborate with as their audiences are smaller and more focused. Tom has also found it will usually be a quid pro quo situation. Digital Vs. Influencer Marketing Digital marketing includes things like articles, SEO optimization, and social media. This can be costly and hard to see an ROI on. There is no right or wrong answer. Track what works for you and see which offers the best return. The consumer and market changes quickly. In terms of B2B the sales process is a longer one than other industries. Influencer marketing is a way of keeping up with your target audience in a more immediate fashion than using a digital strategy to launch over a longer period of time. Noteworthy Questions [3:29] What are some of the problems people are experiencing in trying to reach their target market? [18:22] How does content creation and SEO compare to influencer marketing? [22:15] How can companies get started using influencer marketing? Key Takeaways - A Better Way to Reach Your Target Market Know your objectives - are you looking for more brand awareness and consideration or are you looking for more sales leads? Don’t work with too many influencers at once - be selective about who you work with and develop a relationship with them for a lasting partnership. Choose a strategic over transactional relationship; it will offer more benefits in the long run. Leverage your relationship with current collaborators to find new people to work with. Learn More The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Understanding Your Sales Personality with Ryan Schreiber and Ann Holm
05/01/2020
Understanding Your Sales Personality with Ryan Schreiber and Ann Holm
Understanding Your Sales Personality with Ryan Schreiber and Ann Holm is joined by and to discuss sales personality type. When you understand your sales personality type it enables you to play to your strengths and account for your blind spots. Knowing your individual sales personality type leads to greater self-awareness, a starting point for self-improvement activities, and better sales results. About Ryan Schreiber Ryan is the Director of Engagement at CarrierDirect in Chicago. Ryan was born and raised in Tampa Florida. Ryan earned a degree in History from the University of South Florida and then a Law degree from Michigan State University. Prior to joining CarrierDirect, Ryan worked at a variety of logistics companies and even started and exited a few tech-enabled freight brokerage start-ups. Ryan is a skilled technologist and strategist who has helped transform many leading transportation and logistics companies. In Ryan’s experience great technology is important but finding and keeping the right people is the key to success in the 3PL business. About Carrier Direct Since 2011 carriers, 3PLs, shippers, and logistics technology vendors have looked to to deliver the efficiency, strategy, go-to-market plans, and technology that will elevate their business above their competition. CarrierDirect builds organizations and relationships, providing strategy and technology designed to maximize efficiency, reduce cost, and make your business stand out. CarrierDirect advises clients on the elements of their business most vital to success: strategy, organizational structure, compensation, technology, training, recruiting, workflows, processes, and more. CarrierDirect clients include Werner, J.B. Hunt, Covenant, CRST, and FedEx. Finding Your Sales Personality The process to discover your personality type is a simple one. Ann provides a link to an online assessment. The assessment is easy and fun and takes about 20 minutes to complete. After you receive your customized report, you schedule time with your coach (Ann). In your coaching session, you review and discuss your sales personality type report with Ann. Ann explains the nuances of the report. Utilizing this approach helps salespeople identify strengths and blind spots, which leads to greater self-awareness, improved capability and ultimately more sales. points. Finding your personality type can help you to apply what you learn to your role at work and what aspects you can leverage for the best results. Ryan’s Impression of the Process It has a two-fold value: 1) Taking the assessment allowed him to highlight aspects of his personality he was not aware of previously and 2) Having a professional come in and add depth to the things that originally didn’t mesh with him. Initially, Ryan found the assessment to be about 80% true and about 20% not quite accurate. During his consultation with Ann, Ryan was able to help clarify these traits and allowed Ryan to crystallize the interpretation in his own mind. Ryan's Sales Personality Ryan was assessed as an ENFP. The results are evaluated by which way you learn more, rather than a binary result. No one is purely one thing; we are all comprised of different personality traits and combinations. The definition is split into 4 different groups: Extroversion vs. Introversion, Sensing vs. Intuition, Values vs, Logic, and Routine vs. Spontaneity. Ryan tells us how this fits with him in various different ways, such as how he remembers things related to concepts rather than details. He also has always seen himself as more of an introvert but after consulting with Ann realized that he does form relationships easily and has a natural ability to connect with people. Contextualizing Personality with Sales Ryan and Ann discuss how he is an ‘ideas generator’, a typical aspect of ENFP personalities and how the assessment revealed his problems with handing off ideas. This identifies areas of strength and areas to be improved for Ryan in regard to teamwork. He is able to generate excitement within his team very easily but has issues finding that balance of sharing with his team. It is typically a trait of Ryan’s to have unrealistic expectations about what is possible. He has found he struggles with realistic timelines and needs to open up to others definition of realistic. The benefits of finding out your personality type is the ability to work on becoming a more well-rounded individual. Organization is a typical stumbling block for ENFP's like Ryan. Ryan feels like he is organized, but his approach is different than most people. When it comes to opening and closing sales, ENFPs are natural openers and Ryan agrees. He has much more trouble in closing sales as he gets bogged down in details. Ann recommended that Ryan partner with someone who is very good with details to enable Ryan to close more deals. Becoming aware of his blind spots will also enable Ryan to be more aware when he is dealing with a difficult area. Noteworthy Questions [3:56] Ryan, what are some of your impressions on going through the process of finding your sales personality? [17:12] What does the collaborative environment look like in your work? [23:44] Let’s talk about opening versus closing in the sales process. Key Takeaways Knowing your personality type allows you to set goals within a situational framework to improve your performance at work. It allows for the ability to open up with your team regarding strengths and weaknesses allowing for better cooperation. It provides the ability to see things from different perspectives, and why other people think differently will allow for more cohesive teams. Learn More The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , ,
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Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL with Betsy Westhafer
05/01/2020
Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL with Betsy Westhafer
Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL with Betsy Westhafer and discuss building a high growth, customer-focused 3PL. In Betsy's experience, the difference between a high growth company and a low growth company is customer focus. The companies that build their entire business around the customer and customer engagement become market leaders. Betsy is the CEO of The Congruity Group and has years of experience in helping other companies improve their customer focus. Today, she’ll outline the strategies your company needs to adopt for success today. About Betsy Westhafer Betsy is the founder and CEO of The Congruity Group. The Congruity Group works with CEOs and private equity firms to increase the value of their companies by accelerating recurring revenue, customer retention, and account expansion. Betsy is passionate about helping companies establish strategies to facilitate deeper connections with customers. Betsy attended Western Kentucky University where she studied Journalism, Public Relations, and Business Administration. About The Congruity Group Congruity means alignment, and The Congruity Group was formed to help organizations reach this alignment. They use strategic conversations that will give a greater insight into customer needs and facilitate a deeper relationship with client bases. The Congruity Group offers in-person and digital customer advisory boards tailored to your company to help you achieve your goals. The Have-Nots (Not Experiencing High Growth) The have-nots are not seeing growth, because they lack customer focus and alignment despite their belief that they know what their client base wants and needs. They only know their customers on a superficial level. The market changes and evolves quickly. What worked a few years ago may not be working for them now, but they have yet to see the need to update their strategies. This leads to unimaginative marketing strategies. Lack of communication with the day-to-day staff causes a disconnect between them and the senior management. This leads to ineffective sales teams because they are trying to sell something that customers don’t necessarily want or needs. The Haves (Experiencing High Growth) The haves (customer-focused 3PLs) understand their customers on a deeper level, so they can build breakthrough value propositions and superior products. They understand the need for deeper relationships with their customer base and use them to create new insights and innovations that fulfill their needs. The haves show alignment with their customers by demonstrating marketing, values, onboarding, and sales in sync with the customer. Noteworthy Questions - Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL [5:14] In your experience, what’s the difference between the companies that are winning and the companies that are not winning? [16:15] The haves understand their customers and align with them so talk about that. [19:37] Talk to us about a process that helps us get these deeper insights. Key Takeaways - Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL Senior management should commit to a process for understanding the customer. Recognize that it takes time and effort to develop a strategy for better understanding the customer. Consider a neutral third party to offer advice. It is often hard to see what needs to change when you have been making decisions in a bubble for so long. Ask questions of the customer and accept feedback. Take their feedback and use it to implement change. Maintain strong lines of communication with the customer. Keeping them updated builds trust and deepens the relationship. Leverage your relationships with existing customers to create a base that will advocate for you when trying to expand. Learn More About Building a High Growth, Customer-Focused 3PL The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Right Talent - Recruiting Training and Retaining with Ryan Schreiber
04/12/2020
The Right Talent - Recruiting Training and Retaining with Ryan Schreiber
The Right Talent – Recruiting, Training, and Retaining with Ryan Schreiber and discuss what it takes to recruit the right talent in the transportation and logistics industry. While Ryan is very much a techie, he believes that people are the ultimate competitive advantage. In the interview, Ryan shares his perspective on recruiting, training and retaining the right talent. About Ryan Schreiber Ryan is the Director of Engagement at CarrierDirect in Chicago. Ryan was born and raised in Tampa Florida. Ryan earned a degree in History from the University of South Florida and then a Law degree from Michigan State University. Prior to joining CarrierDirect, Ryan worked at a variety of logistics companies and even started and exited a few tech-enabled freight brokerage start-ups. Ryan is a skilled technologist and strategist who has helped transform many leading transportation and logistics companies. In Ryan’s experience great technology is important but finding and keeping the right people is the key to success in the 3PL business. About CarrierDirect Since 2011 carriers, 3PLs, shippers, and logistics technology vendors have looked to to deliver the efficiency, strategy, go-to-market plans, and technology that will elevate their business above their competition. CarrierDirect builds organizations and relationships, providing strategy and technology designed to maximize efficiency, reduce cost and make your business stand out. CarrierDirect advises clients on the elements of their business most vital to success: strategy, organizational structure, compensation, technology, training, recruiting, workflows, processes, and more. CarrierDirect clients include Werner, J.B. Hunt, Covenant, CRST, and FedEx. The Right Talent The right talent is the talent that will succeed in your organization, not just look good on a resume. To recruit the right talent, recruiters must understand the organization, industry, job responsibilities, and company culture. Turnover is very high in the transportation and logistics industry, which indicates that the people that get recruited to the company are not the people who ultimately succeed at the company. High turnover is demoralizing, upsetting to customers, costly, and negatively impacts company culture. Recruiting the Right Talent Many companies in the logistics and transportation business are “winging it” when it comes to recruiting and it shows. This is particularly true with start-ups where the founders and early hires do most of the work. The informal recruiting process works well when the company is new, and the founders hire their contacts and friends, but the informal process breaks down as the company grows. Just as the company is scaling, they realize that their recruiting process isn’t working anymore. Ryan compares the recruiting process to the sales process and believes the right candidate can be hired by following a sales process: Lean generation: Target and attract the right talent. Make sure your recruiters really have their finger on the pulse of the organization and the industry. They should also do their homework so they know exactly the type of person they would like to interview and eventually hire. Qualifying: Standardize the interviewing process and develop interview guidelines so there is consistency. In order to develop the guidelines, you must understand what type of people succeed in the organization. Closing: Recruitment is the precursor to the experience a candidate will have with your organization. Provide the candidate the best experience possible so that when you find the right talent, you get them. Design a recruiting process much as you would design a customer’s experience. Consider each step in the process to ensure the candidate is treated properly. Communication throughout the process is crucial. Don’t oversell, keep your commitments and treat the candidate like you would treat your best customer. Training the Right Talent Ryan believes that many logistics companies do a poor job of training and development. The nature of the industry makes it difficult to pull employees away from day-to-day operations. While this may be true, the lack of training becomes evident in the business. Untrained and under-trained employees are not performing at their highest levels and they may never completely understand the job they were hired to do. Training is not just for new hires, everyone in the organization should be trained, coached and developed to ensure that everyone is getting better at their job. The right training will have a good return on investment, improve customer satisfaction, and deepen the ties to the employees who get trained. Companies should have the following training: 1. New hire training and development. 2. Ongoing training to reinforce learning while incorporating new software features, new processes, and lessons learned. 3. Developmental training for employees who are promoted into leadership positions and or lateral moves to expand their knowledge. People in leadership positions should be coaching their people on a regular basis. To ensure that the coaching is constructive and positive, leaders should be training in effective coaching techniques. Training should include supply chain topics, so employees learn about the whole supply chain, from end to end and not just their small piece of the process. Key Takeaways Even in the technology-obsessed logistics industry, people matter. The talent war is real. To succeed companies, need to: recruit, train, and retain the right talent. Invest in the right talent and build a culture that attracts the right people to your company. Learn More (please subscribe on Youtube) Understanding Your Sales Personality with Ryan Schreiber and Ann Holm (podcast interview coming soon) The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , ,
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The New Reality of Logistics Sales and Marketing with Brian Everett
04/12/2020
The New Reality of Logistics Sales and Marketing with Brian Everett
The New Reality of Logistics Sales and Marketing with Brian Everett and discuss the new reality of logistics sales and marketing. Since Brian is the CEO of TMSA he has a great perspective on what’s working in transportation and logistics sales. Brian shares his thoughtful insights, which are based on TMSA research and his direct involvement with TMSA members. About Brian Everett Brian is on a mission to help sales, marketing, and communications professionals in transportation and logistics to be more successful in their careers. Brian uses his 25 plus years of experience in marketing, sales, association management in transportation, logistics and supply chain to do accomplish his mission. He is committed to bringing together a community of successful marketing and sales professionals in freight transportation and logistics as the CEO of the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA). About the Transportation Marketing and Sales Association (TMSA) TMSA is the one and only association serving marketing, sales, and communications professionals in transportation and logistics. TMSA’s mission is to enable sales and marketing professionals to learn and give back to the transportation and logistics industry through education, connections, and resources, ultimately strengthening their individual development, their businesses, and the industry-at-large. Part of TMSA's mission is to help marketing and sales professionals be armed with knowledge on such issues as sales and marketing integration, blockchain technologies, lead generation, CRM and marketing automation platforms, and content marketing. Noteworthy Questions [10:23] Please tell us the first new reality of marketing and selling logistics services? [19:53] What’s the second new reality of logistics marketing and sales? [23:31] What’s the third new reality of marketing and selling logistics services? Key Takeaways Logistics sales is becoming increasingly sophisticated. In the podcast, Brian shared the three (3) new realities of logistics sales and marketing. New Reality One: Leveraging technology is one of the keys to success in sales and marketing. The logistics industry leaders are making big investments in technologies like websites, digital marketing, SEO, social media, email marketing, marketing automation, . New Reality Two: Customer experience (CX) can be described as the cumulative impact of multiple touchpoints over the course of a customer's interaction with an organization. CX has been used extensively and successfully in the B2C market but is only now being used by B2B marketers. Top logistics companies, especially the tech-centric players are using CX to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and win more business. To improve the , map the process noting every interaction with the customer, from the first marketing impression through the sales process, onboarding, training, and day-to-day servicing of the account. Capture and fix any gaps or issues in the process. New Reality Three: Sales and marketing integration is a new reality that grows in importance daily. Traditionally, sales and marketing departments had quite different cultures, personalities, and objectives. As the buying and selling process moves online, more and more companies are integrating the two functions. Ideally, the integration will remove silos, communication barriers, and gaps between marketing and sales. Marketing and sales integration ideally will lead to greater customer satisfaction and a more efficient and effective sales process. Learn More The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers with Don Dovgin
03/06/2020
Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers with Don Dovgin
Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers with Don Dovgin and discuss the advantages of building strategic partnerships with 3PLs and carriers. Shippers who develop strategic partnerships with 3PLs and carriers get better service and lower costs than shippers that switch from one carrier to another based on the lowest cost. About Don Dovgin is the Director of Engagements at Maine Pointe. Don was born and raised in the Chicago metropolitan area. Don started his career working as a mechanic at American Airlines. Don rapidly moved up the org chart at AA and eventually landed in the freight and cargo division where he learned first-hand about air freight, distribution, trucking, and supply chain management. Don earned both his undergrad in business and his masters degree at night school. Prior to joining Maine Pointe, Don held a series of positions with increasing responsibility at Accenture, Ryder, Transportation Management Group, and Roadnet/Omnitracs. About Maine Pointe is an implementation focused consulting company that specializes in procurement, logistics, and operations. Their goal is to accelerate measurable improvements in EBITDA, cash and growth across the plan-buy-make-move-fulfill supply chain to deliver the greatest value to customers and stakeholders at the lowest cost to business. The Consequences of Not Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers Service failures including shipments that are late, lost or damaged. No customization because neither the shipper nor the provider has invested in the relationship. Capacity and availability may become a problem in tight markets. 3PLs and carriers are always looking for business, but when capacity is tight, they will take care of strategic customers before servicing transactional customers. Cannot fully leverage technology and technology integration which leads to problems. If a shipper decides to use multiple 3PLs, rather than develop a strategic relationship with one, they may not be able to gain the full benefit of system integration. Shippers may find themselves using several different systems and processes. They may not be able to view and track all their shipments in one place. Additionally, KPIs and business intelligence must be managed internally because no one carrier or 3PL has all the data. The data harnessed and then harvested from transportation management systems is extremely valuable for insights and future carrier negotiations – trading these insights for a one-time lower price is short-sighted. Lack of account familiarity is a problem when a shipper uses a lot of different 3PLs and carriers. The 3PL/carrier never fully understands the shipper’s business requirements. The Process for Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers Select the right partner for your transportation and logistics business. Involve all internal stakeholders in the selection process to ensure the carriers and 3PLs ultimately selected can provide a world-class solution. Establish trust and mutual respect with your 3PL and carriers. Don’t wear out the welcome mat. As a shipper, become a shipper of choice. Expedites and special requests are a necessary part of logistics, however, shippers who plan and communicate better make better partners. Be patient and expect ramp-up issues at launch. The shipper, 3PL, and carriers should develop a launch plan that includes onboarding, training, system integration along with a regularly scheduled launch meeting. Even with careful planning, there will be issues. Encourage the 3PL/carriers to share the problems and solutions. Constructive feedback should be readily given and received. Make sure the partnership is win-win. Spend the time required to build the relationship. For the shipper, learn about the problems that your carriers and 3PLs have. Ask what you can do to improve your interactions and touchpoints. Become a shipper of choice. For 3PLs and carriers, learn about your customer's industry and their biggest problems. Focus on continuous improvement and customer experience. The Benefits of Building Strategic Partnerships with 3PLs and Carriers Improved service performance and cost reductions as the shipper, 3PL, and carrier network analyze and optimize the logistics and transportation function. Customized solutions that make shipping faster, easier, and less expensive. When a shipper develops a strategic relationship with a provider, it enables the provider to invest in developing a customized solution for a shipper. For shippers who don’t develop strategic relationships with 3PLs and carriers, they will not a customized solution or the results that come with it. Additional capacity and availability even in tight markets. Shippers who have strategic relationships with 3PLs and carriers typically do a better job forecasting demand, which makes it easier for carriers to support your business. Fully leverage technology and technology integration which streamlines the shipping process and provides invaluable insights, KPIs and business intelligence. Those insights will lead to service improvement, reduced costs and enhanced forecasting. Account familiarity which builds relationships, improves communication, speeds problem resolution, and a better understanding of your business requirements. Key Takeaways For shippers, build strategic relationships with 3PLs and carriers to ensure that your company gets world-class performance from your 3PL and carriers. For carriers and 3PLs, develop your people, service offering and technology so your company can become the type of service provider that top shippers want to partner with. Learn More The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , ,
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Why Logistics Companies are Upgrading to Mobile Payments with Robin Gregg
12/09/2019
Why Logistics Companies are Upgrading to Mobile Payments with Robin Gregg
[00:49] Please tell us about you and your company. I’m Robin Gregg, CEO of RoadSync. We are a payments company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Our goal is to make payments faster and simpler for the logistics industry. I grew up in West Virginia and went to Washington and Lee University. After, I got my MBA from Harvard Business School. My career started at Capital One and have worked with several fintech startups. I had been advising a company in Atlanta that was focused on helping warehouses invoice and accept payments from truck drivers. I saw the product and was struck by how paper-based the process used to be. There was a huge opportunity, so I rebranded the company and we’ve been growing ever since. [04:27] Tell us a little bit more about fintech (financial technology) in Atlanta. All the big payments processing giants are in Atlanta. 80% of payments processing is here. It’s a fantastic place to be in this business. The talent pool is excellent and there are lots of tax advantages. [07:45] While we were prepping for this interview, I said that I thought everyone was using some sort of technology or automation for payments, but you explained that is not the case. So, what’s so wrong about using a paper process? It’s a slower workflow because, for example, you might have to hand write things. It’s slow to process, and drivers can get stuck. There are more opportunities for errors. More opportunity and instances of employee theft/fraud. The extra work and disorganized process can cause cash flow problems Using paper can hurt your company’s perception because the industry is undergoing a technology makeover. Many carriers, 3PLs, and digital freight brokers have upgraded to faster, easier payments through technology. The technology products in the logistics industry have gotten a lot better over the last few years. The experience is much more user friendly, but that’s a relatively new innovation. [12:20] Why isn’t everybody just upgrading right now? There are so many challenges that companies in this industry are grappling with. Automating some of their business processes can’t always be the top priority because owners are focused on their main objective. [15:19] What is the process a warehouse or food distribution center needs to go through to get set up with RoadSync? We typically get them to see a short demo. This helps them internalize how they can use it and how it fits into their business process. We also configure the rate schedule based on how they charge for things, as well as setting up the desired payment methods. The system can be up and running in about thirty minutes. There is no crazy upfront charge; just a monthly fee and then a percentage of each payment. It’s easy to see a return on investment. We have clients who were previously losing 4-10% due to negligence. [19:59] I really like that you specialize in transportation and logistics. We think it’s important to customize our service offering towards logistics. This industry operates uniquely, and we think it’s important that the products which serve the industry understand that. Learn More: Robin Gregg LinkedIn profile: RoadSync: RoadSync on Twitter:
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4 Pillars to Future-Proofing Your Supply Chain with Yatish Desai
12/07/2019
4 Pillars to Future-Proofing Your Supply Chain with Yatish Desai
[00:41] Tell us a little bit about where you’re from and what you do. I’m Yatish Desai, managing director with KPMG. I’ve been with them for ten years. I’m also the US leader for their transportation, logistics, and distribution service offering. Our customers typically fall into one of four categories: industrial manufacturing companies, consumer and retail companies, pharmaceutical companies, and oil and gas/chemical companies. [01:56] What are the 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain? The 4 pillars to future-proofing your supply chain are visibility, managing the data, predictive analytics, and establishing and developing curated partner ecosystems. [02:54] Why don’t you get into visibility? It’s not about just looking from a functional perspective. We look at it end-to-end on the supply chain, not just “where are my trucks?” With a wide range of internal and external parties involved in the supply chain, a lot of managers have to constantly monitor every activity to ensure consistency. This calls for high levels of collaboration. It’s all about integrating cross-functional visibility across the enterprise. [05:04] What is the next pillar for future-proofing the supply chain? It’s managing the data. We live in a world where data is cash. Our clients struggle because they are collecting data but often not able to bring it all together to provide business opportunities. Collecting the data is one thing, but using it is another. It’s important to determine a few notable KPIs instead of getting caught up in analyzing as much data as possible. [09:58] The third pillar to future-proofing your supply chain is predictive analytics, so tell us more about that. This is becoming more and more important to a lot of clients. Traditionally, supply chains have been managed by people. In the future, a growing number of decisions will be automated. This will increase operational speed and free up supply chain professionals to focus on more complex decision making. This translates to a future where supply chains will be able to reduce waste, line shutdowns, etc. Control towers today are built around helping clients mine data, look at it, and recognize gaps. It’s a reactive system. Machine learning will provide you with real-time business insights to make better decisions proactively. [17:29] Let’s get into the fourth pillar. Successful businesses are moving away from traditional, asset-based supply chains to a managed services model. Capital-intensive capabilities, such as warehousing, are outsourced to partners. In the future, it won’t only be physical processes that are outsourced. As supply chain management depends more on cutting edge analytics, there will be a skill gap that is unable to be filled quickly enough. A curated partner ecosystem means you’ll have to tailor it to what fits your purpose; using just any partner will not work. You’ll build up a network of specialized partners who are within your supply chain and providing service to you. The specialized partners will be relied on to bring more innovation into the fold. [26:28] Tell us a little bit more about what you guys are doing at KPMG. We are helping clients in three different facets: clients that are hurting from their business being stagnant, clients that are growing and need help future-proofing, and clients who need transformational change to become a leader in their space. Our clients expect us to be thought-provoking for their business. They can’t afford to be stuck in the status quo. Learn More: Yatish Desai LinkedIn Profile: KPMG Advisory:
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A New Approach to Frozen eCommerce Fulfillment with Dan Gilland
11/28/2019
A New Approach to Frozen eCommerce Fulfillment with Dan Gilland
[00:49] Introduce you and your company. I’m Dan Gilland, and I lead business development for Schwan’s Home Service. We are based in Minnesota. I was practically born and raised on Schwan’s, so it’s fitting that I’m working here. Schwan’s has sold high quality, delicious frozen food direct-to-consumer since 1952. We deliver just about everywhere in the lower forty-eight states using our depots and trucks. The actual home deliveries are managed by our partner, UPS. [05:21] Tell us about Schwan’s model. Our typical model is delivering our frozen food direct to customers with our own private fleet of delivery trucks. We call our 3PL side Cygnus Frozen 3PL by Schwan’s Home Service. We wanted to establish that it is part of Schwan’s but differentiate it from our direct-to-consumer business. [07:37] What is frozen eCommerce fulfillment? Shipping online orders of frozen food direct to consumers’ homes. Most frozen food brands either don’t have the infrastructure or desire to fulfill their own orders. A lot of frozen foods being sold online today include meats, ice cream, smoothies, and frozen meals. eCommerce gives you the space to market your brand and tell your story accordingly. [12:01] What are the problems that companies who are trying to deliver frozen foods to consumers’ homes run into? Of all the product categories sold online, the degree of difficulty is probably the highest for shipping frozen food. Your mistakes are really clear and really frustrating to the customer. Food showing up in poor condition can damage the brand even though it may be the 3PL’s fault. [16:21] What’s the second big problem you see out there? Dealing with a 3PL that doesn’t specialize in frozen food and/or doesn’t specialize in direct-to-consumer or ecommerce. Frozen food needs to stay frozen throughout the whole process, so the 3PL must have experience in doing this. [19:22] What’s another problem you see in the marketplace? Slow shipping. Consumers expect one- to two-day shipping but getting that speed everywhere in the US can be a challenge. [20:51] Tell me a little bit about how Cygnus goes about frozen ecommerce fulfillment. The first thing that you must solve is getting within two-day shipping of all your customers. Another thing to do to reduce melting is to have a really clear packing process. [22:58] Explain the whole process from the time a company makes a frozen food item to when it gets to the consumer. You ship your inventory on pallets to our national distribution center in Minnesota. From there, Schwan’s would distribute your inventory to our ten fulfillment centers. Each of our ten centers get a replenishment every two weeks. We’ll integrate with your online order management platform so that we can see orders as your customers place them. UPS then comes by every afternoon and picks up all the orders shipping out that day. [26:51] This is a good opportunity for someone who is getting into the frozen ecommerce business to have a fulfillment partner who’s been doing it for seventy years. That’s why we thought that this segment makes too much sense for us not to engage in. We have the fulfillment network and that intersects with the growth of online grocery. [27:55] If someone wants to continue the conversation, how do they get ahold of you? You can go to our website to see more about how our process works through case studies. There’s a form that you can fill out to set up a free consultation. Learn More: Dan Gilland LinkedIn profile: Cygnus Frozen 3PL:
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The Number One Killer of Sales with Ann Holm
11/11/2019
The Number One Killer of Sales with Ann Holm
[01:10] So many people say coach, consultant, and trainer interchangeably. Talk about the differences between them and a little bit about your background in brain science. The value of working with a coach is not for that individual to be an advisor, but to help you get at the root of why you want to do something and how you will accomplish it. There’s lots of different roles people can play in your success. You can have consultants advise you about what to do. There are trainers that can train a particular set of behaviors. The difference is when you’re coaching, you’re trying to tap into your inner wisdom and create self-awareness. It’s in that self-awareness that you’re able to move forward. I worked for twenty-five years in brain science. It was a therapy role, but coaching was also required. [03:10] Can you talk briefly about Myers–Briggs? I use the Myers–Briggs personality test when I work with someone, along with the TypeCoach assessment. Our personalities are complex, but these tests are a good place to start understanding one’s personality. [04:50] What is the number one killer of sales? It’s procrastination. Procrastination shows up in a lot of different ways. Essentially, it all boils down to doing things that are either counterproductive or that distract you from the goals and tasks that you need to accomplish. [06:04] Is there usually an emotional component to that? There can be a fear of failure. “What if I put this all together and nobody is interested in purchasing it? What if it’s subject to a great deal of criticism from my coworkers or customers?” It can also be a fear of success. Sometimes you will be concerned about if you can complete the deal that you landed. There are also people who get a thrill from doing things at the last minute. [09:08] Let’s talk about what procrastination looks like in sales. Procrastination can be obstructive in many ways when trying to do lead gen. It’s a task that can be unpleasant to do because you have to put yourself out there, so you might feel a fear of rejection. You might experiment with too many ways of getting leads, and before you know it, you’ve tried all the ways but haven’t made a decision about what you will do. [13:17] What if we have important things that need to get done besides our top priority? Distraction is related to procrastination, which is finding things that will take our attention away from what we need to do. Another aspect is rationalization, which can be the strongest of all. When you’re looking at your tasks, it’s important to watch out for the rationalization component. [15:34] Let’s talk about strategies for getting around these horrible monsters. The first one is called “worst first.” This is the commitment that the very first thing you’re going to address is your priority. In the morning, your brain energy is at a very high level, so you can address something that is the worst. If you put it off until the end of the day, you may not have the energy to do it. Start to develop an awareness of if you are procrastinating and not addressing your top priority. [20:15] What’s another strategy we can use to kill these triplets? The next one is “mini milestones.” Some projects are huge, so setting a mini milestone can really be helpful. They help you focus on a small part of the big picture. [21:59] What’s another strategy for beating procrastination, distraction, and rationalization? I call it “the cone of silence.” This is the idea of creating a space where you have no other place to go. It’s about finding a way to eliminate as many distractions as possible. [24:27] What’s the next strategy? The next one is called “time boxing.” Time boxing is a pure output commitment. “I’m going to work for thirty minutes, and I’m going to do X, Y, and Z.” [26:30] Do you have any more strategies? One of them is just a reminder that it’s okay to do some daydreaming and things like that. Procrastination is not inherently bad all the time. People become more creative when they get up and take a walk, for instance. This is, again, where the self-awareness piece comes in. [28:50] What’s the last strategy? It’s the idea of partnering with somebody; having an accountability partner. Often that’s a role of the coach, but it could be someone you work with, a friend, or anyone that’s going to help you stay on task. If you want to have a little fun with it, you can throw in a vile disincentive to loosen the energy up. [33:15] Will you summarize this for us? The most important takeaway is to really pay attention. Develop self-awareness of what you’re doing and pay attention to those three brothers waiting to derail you. Learn More: Ann Holm's website:
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Why Marketing is Your Best Salesperson with Jim Bierfeldt
11/04/2019
Why Marketing is Your Best Salesperson with Jim Bierfeldt
[01:01] Tell us a little bit about you and your company. My company is Logistics Marketing Advisors. I started it in 2004 and we’re located in Connecticut. We help logistics businesses improve their marketing to drive revenue and profits. I’m born and raised in New York and got my master’s degree at Fordham University. In the late 80s and early 90s, I worked for a large advertising and public relations agency. One of our clients was a logistics company, and they hired me away to run their marketing. [03:59] Let’s talk a little bit about the problems we see in this space when it comes to sales. What’s the first problem you want to talk about? I think the way companies buy today is very different from how they bought twenty years ago, and I really don’t think the logistics industry has evolved with that. There’s so much information out there that wasn’t available before about how to solve certain problems and what providers can help. Buyers are probably 70% or more through the sales process before they talk to a salesperson. The solution is getting found by prospects you don’t know. If somebody does a Google search, perhaps you want them to be directed to a relevant article on your website. Marketing is a game of hide-and-seek in reverse, but some executives think about it the wrong way. [08:27] Tell us another problem that’s out there. Companies are asking salespeople to fill their own pipeline, as well as to work and close deals. If lead generation today is more about getting found, it requires more of a marketing skill set. A lot of logistics companies confuse what you have to do to get people to find you versus what you have to do to get people to buy from you. Once you get found, it’s up to the salesperson. When you ask a salesperson to generate their own leads in this day and age, that means being marketing savvy. To them, that’s foreign. They just know to pick up the phone and make calls. [14:40] Tell us about another problem you see out there. Logistics companies that I talk to want to move to lead generation before they nail the strategy. It’s really all about the strategy. A lot of logistics companies look and sound the same. That’s the kiss of death in an environment where decision makers are bombarded every day. A non-differentiated message just contributes to the noise level. Nailing your position, understanding what your niche is, and trying to speak directly to the people who align best with that niche is what you must do. Even the biggest brands in the world recognize that it’s better to have a big chunk of part of the market than to try to get the whole market. [20:42] Talk about another problem that you see out there. Getting budget support for marketing is always really hard. It’s viewed as an expense, not an investment. Companies that have marketing are their own worst enemy because they’re not measuring the ROI. For a boss wondering if he should spend more money on marketing or hire a salesperson, it’s easier for him to see the ROI on the salesperson. If you have the right CRM, you can do a pretty good analysis of what percentage of business is emanating from marketing. There’s always a sense that marketing investments will pay off immediately. [25:17] What’s another problem you see out there? I do research every couple of years where I go out and ask a whole bunch of buyers of logistics how they buy, where they go to get their information, and what frustrates them the most about the process. The number-one complaint is that people reach out to them and offer a solution with no understanding of their industry or company. “I don’t want to feel like I’m the twenty-third person on the call list” perfectly summarizes the attitude. You can make twenty phone calls in half an hour, but if you do the right research, you can probably make two or three that are quite valuable. [31:27] Give us a summary of this topic. Marketing is your best salesperson. That really says it all. It’s more about getting found; not the provider finding the shipper. They’ll find you, but you have to make it easy. [32:20] What are you doing at Logistics Marketing Advisors? Mid-market companies are our sweet spot. We come in and become their marketing department. We’re helping them with strategy and every aspect down to execution. We provide data that they can use to hold us accountable and see what kind of return they are getting over time. Learn More: Jim’s email address: Jim Bierfeldt LinkedIn profile: Logistics Marketing Advisors:
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Automating Cross-Border Transportation with Matt Silver
10/23/2019
Automating Cross-Border Transportation with Matt Silver
Automating Cross-Border Transportation with Matt Silver and discuss automating cross-border transportation between the USA and Mexico. [00:50] Introduce yourself and your company. I’m Matt Silver, Founder and CEO of Forager. We’re based in Chicago, and our primary focus is on building technology to automate cross-border transportation. I grew up in a logistics family and have been around it my entire life. I learned more about the industry by working at Coyote when I was 19, a company which was founded by my parents. We moved our first load at Forager in December 2018. [03:13] Let’s talk a little bit about the biggest problems you saw in cross-border before we get into the solutions. It all comes down to service and pricing at the end of the day. Service is anything from “where’s my load? What’s going on with it?” to “I don’t understand what’s going on with these emails because they’re in Spanish” to “I don’t understand the customs process.” I hear a lot of complaints about the spending. Bringing transparency to pricing is important to people in this industry. [05:24] You say that even though some companies don’t spend the majority of their time on cross-border, they spend a big chunk of their time working on it. If they’re grabbing the freight in Laredo after a pickup in Mexico, then sure, that was really easy for them. Still, if they’re only controlling the US portion, they still have the problems of not knowing when it will cross into the country. They run into capacity problems. There’s seven times more freight going from south to north than north to south. Drivers don’t like waiting, and if they get stuck somewhere instead of going home, you’re putting them in a really bad spot. [11:06] Are we going to talk about Canada also? When you talk about cross-border, Mexico and Canada kind of get lumped together. The reality of it is that Canada is almost like an extension of the US. There are a few differences, but it’s easy to pick up a load in Toronto and deliver it the next day in Chicago. Mexico is definitely more challenging. [13:00] Tell us about your hypothesis when starting your business. The whole reason we started was to service cross-border freight. That’s what excites me. There are so many freight brokers who specialize in domestic shipments. We wanted to specialize in cross-border and be different. [18:36] Tell us how you guys go about automating cross-border transportation. We’ve built a command center that allows someone to understand where their freight is at all times on either side of the border. People are very important in our business. To me, automation means not having to spend an hour figuring out how to price a load. About 70% of our freight can move through our system without human interaction. Sometimes, people really want to talk to a human and we provide that. The average transportation management system wasn’t built to manage cross-border freight. [23:14] Transportation management systems keep getting better, but a whole bunch of stuff ends up in notes. Things in notes can never be part of the AI learning. We have a notes field for now, but our plan is to eliminate it within the next year. The most important thing in this entire industry is data. The more data you can generate, the more you can make your customers’ lives easier. There are some companies trying to integrate emails into the data as well, which is very interesting. [28:01] I like that you’re a freight guy first and a technology guy second. So often, I run into people who are just one or the other. You’ve grown up with both. That definitely weighed into why we were able to raise capital. What’s most important is bringing in the right talent. Our team brings unique perspectives. Just building a TMS is not interesting to me. Developing game-changing technology is what I want to do. [32:01] Tell us about what you guys are up to at Forager. We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for people to move freight in and out of Mexico and Canada. In the next few weeks, we’re launching a portal for customers to log in, plug in an origin and destination, and get a rate back instantly. If customers want to talk to us, we’re happy to do that, but as more people from my generation are getting into this industry, they don’t want to have to talk to someone else all the time. They would rather log in and get a rate instantly. We are the experts in the technology, but we’re making it useful for everybody. [34:44] Any final thoughts? It’s been awesome talking to you. It’s really refreshing when I don’t have to explain logistics to who I’m talking with. Learn More About Automating Cross-Border Transportation: The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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The Hidden Solution to Most Supply Chain Problems with Ron Crabtree
10/14/2019
The Hidden Solution to Most Supply Chain Problems with Ron Crabtree
[00:37] Please tell us a little about you and your company. I’m Ron Crabtree, CEO and Founder of MetaOps, Inc. We are located in Metro Detroit. We specialize in providing interim and contract to hire talent at the highest level. I grew up near Kalamazoo and ended up going to night school for over seventeen years. Eventually, I emerged with an undergrad in organizational development. Before starting MetaOps, I had a career of about twenty years in supply chain. [05:18] Talk about the most common supply chain problems you encounter with MetaOps. Everybody’s got common challenges at the enterprise level. There’s pressure to bring new products and services to market a lot faster. Also, there’s unrelenting pressure on price because of globalization. More and more people are grappling about what to do about the carbon footprint, too. There are two major problems that I see at a tactical level day-to-day. The first isn’t about making or moving stock, it’s about information that has to be handled. The second problem is that you can’t solve today’s problems using the methods as yesterday. Supply chain is getting more complex every single day, and many companies don’t even know where to start. The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is happening. [14:23] What is the solution to most of these supply chain problems? Before I get to that, let me provide a few more case study examples. One challenge I’m working on now is with fresh produce. There’s an amazing supply chain behind all of that. Forecasting exactly when the produce needs to be packed in the field is a massive problem. Not having packaging at the right place and the right time isn’t an option, and having mountains of packaging lying around on the field isn’t an option either. 90% of the root cause of failure is not the physical movement, it’s having everything in the right place at the right time. There are challenges in military hardware, medical care, etc. as well. [19:33] The three solutions. If it’s a severe enterprise challenge, you might need an internally generated top-to-bottom assessment. This would involve leveraging industry best practices. The second big thing companies are doing is re-engineering their business process. If you’ve got the money for it and don’t have the skills internally, there’s nothing wrong with this. The third one is infusing the knowledge and expertise at the exact point that things are broken. This is a solution that MetaOps can provide. [24:42] MetaOps’ model is to bring in the guy who has experience and has actually done this. You guys aren’t coming from an HR or recruiting background, you’re coming from an operator background. Only about 5% of the people we look at make it through our vetting process. These are people who can absolutely go do the job, not just talk about it. [26:23] Tell us about what’s going on at MetaOps. In 2011, after many years of requests, we crafted the MetaExperts brand to get away from offering traditional consulting and training. That’s been continuing to grow and is the vast majority of what we do. A shift we’ve seen in the last year is that we’re getting to work with large and small consulting firms. We get to be a resource in the background that they can tap into for very specific problems. Learn More: MetaOps: Ron Crabtree LinkedIn:
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The Future of Inbound Lead Generation with Blythe Brumleve
09/24/2019
The Future of Inbound Lead Generation with Blythe Brumleve
[00:43] Please introduce yourself and your company. I am based in Jacksonville, Florida and the owner of Digital Dispatch. We help companies with their web and marketing problems. About ten years ago, I started working with a 3PL in Jacksonville. When my boss found out I was blogging on the side, he asked me to start doing it for the company too. I eventually got my own radio show. A lot of people make that natural evolution from content writing into radio. [07:18] Tell us a little bit about inbound lead generation. They key differentiator of inbound is that you’re creating content with your audience in mind first. A lot of what you see on the internet and in this industry is very self-promotional. People aren’t searching for that. They’re searching for solutions to their problem. Inbound is trying to introduce yourself and establish trust with the customer so that you can be the solution when they’re ready to buy. [10:51] Contrast inbound with outbound. Outbound is like interrupting someone’s personal space. We have all gotten emails that we know have been sent out to thousands of people. It’s not personalized at all. There are ways to make a cold outreach feel more personal, but it takes more time and that’s where a lot of companies struggle. [15:34] Tell us about some new ways that we can use to get inbound leads. Video and podcasting, but they are also the most intimidating. Often, people hate seeing themselves on video or hearing their own voice. They let their fear paralyze them when it comes to sharing their expertise. As long as you’re sharing valuable content, you’re heading in the right direction. [18:43] You have to get past fears if you want to be found as an expert online. Especially people who are first starting out. You’re not going to be an expert right away. Your first show will probably suck. You’re never going to get better if you don’t do it again and again and again. Keep thinking about it as having a conversation, and the intimidation factor will lessen a little bit. [23:07] Tell us about what a podcast should focus on. I think having a good balance of different categories you’re going to cover is key to any content plan. There are different ways to approach your planning, and it doesn’t have to revolve around one specific type of content. However, I do think it needs to start with SEO. A lot of people get stuck on just one particular type and roll with it. It gets boring after a while, and it shows in your work if you lose that passion. [28:38] Even for business podcasts, the personality needs to come out. There needs to be some context and humanity. Competitors may read a press release, but no one else will go to a website just to read a press release. Video is great, but podcasting is the least intrusive. It doesn’t interrupt the audience, because they can go about their day with a podcast on in the background. [30:49] Please summarize this topic for us. At Digital Dispatch, we focus on everything from cost effective solutions to completely custom web and marketing services. I love focusing on logistics because there are variety of different companies at a variety of different levels. It starts with a conversation. If the content is there for your audience, people will consume it. Learn More: Blythe Brumleve LinkedIn profile: Digital Dispatch:
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The Number One Reason Why People Buy with Steve Elwell
09/17/2019
The Number One Reason Why People Buy with Steve Elwell
[01:17] What is the number one reason people buy? A study on a huge sample size discovered that 38% of the sale is attributable to the salesperson; their behavior, expertise, and ability to provide a solution. [02:09] Talk a little about buying behavior before going further. The customer controls the sale. They’re going to buy or not buy based on a few things. These include the perception of risk to themselves and their organization, and the perception of potential gain to themselves and their organization. [03:29] What is it about a salesperson that makes a buyer want to work with them? The first thing is that they want the salesperson to be personally accountable for the customer’s results. If the purchase order is signed and the salesperson is long gone, that doesn’t go over well. They want you to understand their business. The salesperson should understand the industry, such as logistics, but also the dynamics that are unique to each individual company. Thirdly, the customer wants the salesperson to be on their side. If there are other needs, the salesperson should be willing to go back to their management and make headway. The fourth thing that customers want in a salesperson is for them to bring new things to the organization. It’s about having the mindset of thinking what a good fit for the company could be even if you’re not the one selling it. They want a salesperson who is easily accessible. There should not be any hassle when the customer reaches out to who sold them a product or service. [12:57] What are some more traits that buyers want in a salesperson? They want you to solve their problems. There’s a certain amount of expertise that goes a long with this, such as knowing how all the pieces fit together internally and externally. Number seven is that they want you to be innovative. It’s about being knowledgeable and experienced enough to reach the outcome in a variety of different ways. [17:13] You just gave us seven reasons why buyers want to work with a salesperson. Let’s go through the seven roles, and you can give us a bullet point about each one. The agent: makes sure that the customer gets the result they expect when they buy the product. The CEO: understands the customer in particular and in totality. The advocate/expediter: takes action within the selling organization and the broader world to make sure all the things that need to happen do happen. The consultant: looks at the customer’s business and says, “if I brought something new to that, how would they benefit?” The traveler: makes sure that they are readily available to the customer. The troubleshooter: a resource that helps customers solve problems. The innovator: understands the customer at a deeper level and looks for new ways to help them reach their goals. [19:33] Please put a bow on this topic for us. I’ve always said that sales is leadership. What you’re trying to do is take a customer to a new and better place. Paying attention to these seven traits fit into the four Cs: demonstrating your character, showing that you’re competent, demonstrating that you care, and communicating in a frequent and relevant way.
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Converting More Leads to Loads with John Simpson
09/10/2019
Converting More Leads to Loads with John Simpson
[00:33] Please introduce you and your company. My name is John Simpson. I’m the director of sales at Covideo. We’re an email, texting, video platform for salespeople. The company is based in Indianapolis. [01:14] Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m from Holland, Michigan and went to Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, studying political science. After graduating, I worked at a deli for a while. Then, I decided to go to grad school but dropped out. I drove to Chicago, lived on my friend’s couch for about a month, and then found a job with a logistics company. I didn’t know what logistics was at first, but I stayed there for ten years before joining Covideo. [03:24] When and why did you join Covideo? I joined in January 2017. I miss logistics, but a good friend of mine started Covideo and he needed somebody to help with the sales team. [04:37] In this business, good leads are hard to come by. Leads aren’t worth anything until you get the opportunity to talk to somebody. That’s when they become precious. The most important thing in sales is that people buy from people they like. It’s difficult to stand out, and you don’t want to just stand out, you want favorable attention. [11:22] How does Covideo go about converting more leads into loads? Covideo was built for salespeople, not for the marketing department, CEO, etc. We send personality through email. The logistics provider can call a company and leave a voicemail saying that they will send a video of themselves via email. It helps you stand out from the crowd. [14:03] Is there a problem making a video by myself on my phone? You’ll run into file size issues or end up in the spam folder. Our videos can also appear as an overlay on your website, guiding viewers to the next steps. You get to see analytics on all of this. [17:48] How long are these videos usually? Normally fifteen to forty-five seconds. The average person only reads the first sentence or two of an email, so we must follow the same rules and keep the video short. [18:06] How are these videos working for people in logistics? I heard from a sales rep that kept being ignored by a woman he was calling. Once he sent her a video, she let him quote three lanes that day. [19:24] We all need to up our game when it comes to sales, and part of it is using this kind of technology. For customers who are shipping one to ten loads per week, those are still great customers that you want. However, even they are getting pounded with phone calls. Covideo is a cost-effective way to show people you can be trusted. When you say something out loud and provide visuals, your message is getting across the way you intended. [23:48] Tell us a little bit more about Covideo. What are the next steps if somebody is interested? Visit out website or give us a call. We’ll talk with you and see if we’re a good fit. It takes time to get comfortable using videos, and it has to be part of your routine. Relationships are built over the phone, but introductions are made on video. [25:30] Is this hard to implement and expensive, or is it for everybody? If I can use it, anybody can use it. We’ve got customized packages for whatever your needs are. Learn More: Covideo: John Simpson on LinkedIn:
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Increase Your RFP Win Rate by Fixing the Bid and Tender Process with John Golob
09/02/2019
Increase Your RFP Win Rate by Fixing the Bid and Tender Process with John Golob
[00:52] Tell us a little bit about you and your company. I am a John Golob, Founder and CMO of Winmore. We are based in San Francisco. Winmore is bid and tender collaboration software for freight forwarders and brokers, providing visibility, efficiency, and process automation that helps our LSP customers lower costs and win more of the right bids. [01:26] Tell us a little bit about your background. I grew up in Los Angeles. Briefly, I worked in entertainment, which was my first introduction to supply chain. I quickly found myself working in sales, predominantly selling computers and software. [03:56] When and why did you start Winmore? We started in 2013, largely because of a conversation I had at SalesForce. They were concerned about industries such as logistics having a hard time using out-of-the-box CRMs. Logistics gets new customers through inbound RFPs, so we focused on the different marketing cloud approach it needed compared to other industries. [05:50] Let’s describe the problem a little bit. When we talk about the bid and tender process, what do you mean you say bid? A bid is, effectively, a response to an RFP or a tender. RFP is the term used in the US, while tender is used in Europe. About 60% of revenue for logistics companies comes through the RFP process. [07:20] What’s wrong with the bid and tender process? It’s broken in two areas. The first is the behavior on the shipper’s side. They increasingly send out Excel-based RFPs that have thousands of combinations. The second problem is that 3PLs today, in order to prepare an adequate response, must drive an enormous level of collaboration across many team members. They all have different agendas. 3PLs have to respond, and they’re doing that at a significant cost. [11:12] Once you’ve got an RFP in hand, who manages that in an average 3PL? Sometimes it’s under finance, sometimes it’s under marketing. We have found that there is no best practice for where the RFP process resides. It usually comes down to someone who has the best attention to detail. [13:29] There are usually a lot of emails and Excel spreadsheets around. Tell us about how that information gets managed. The first problem that people usually struggle with is finding what they priced something at in the previous year. This process is very broken and not well designed for a collaborative process. [15:16] What’s another reason that you decided to find a solution? There’s been a real toughening up on the shipper’s side. The mindset of being absolutely relentless with providers is holding true on the RFP side. They literally will not accept a bid if it comes in two minutes past the deadline. Understanding the pricing used to bid on business, even if it wasn’t won, didn’t reside anywhere in 3PLs. This further made us realize the opportunity at hand. [19:05] Six years ago, you had the idea that you could fix this process. Tell us what your thoughts were and what has changed over that time. Having a backer like SalesForce allowed us to start a lot of conversations. We were able to build some close relationships. We were among the few software companies that were starting to have a discussion around what analytics could do for commercial operations. The CIO role in an average 3PL has gone from a relatively insignificant role to a very important one. [21:53] How did you know what was broken and who were you working with? We quickly realized there were three areas that were broken. The qualification process. About 22% of RFPs are price checks, meaning that they’ll have no opportunity to be added to your top line. If you can qualify them right away, you’ll be one step ahead. We wanted to give commercial leaders visibility so they could have confidence in knowing that every step of the RFP process was mapped out. Finally, we saw that people were communicating in new ways. We had to build a new way for teams to work together. We tried to get the biggest names we could, so we worked with DHL and C.H. Robinson quite early. Our pricing is based on bid and revenue, which gave even the smallest of companies the chance to use our software. [28:18] You guys are almost like sales automation because you compress the sales cycle time. Is that right to say? Yes, it is. That process involves so many different functions, and we pull them all together. [29:27] Tell us about how you can help us close more deals. The numbers we’re hearing are incredible. There’s an average of 60% increase in the number of qualified bids that companies can respond to. The win rate is also increased by 12%. Our tool can help reduce employee burnout, too. [34:42] Give us some closing thoughts. We’ve had a great discussion, and I encourage anyone who’s interested to visit our website. Learn More: John Golob LinkedIn profile: Winmore:
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Managing Logistics for The World's Largest Company with Gary Sostack
08/29/2019
Managing Logistics for The World's Largest Company with Gary Sostack
and discuss Gary's experience with managing logistics for the world's largest company. [00:38] Please introduce yourself and your company. I’m Gary Sostack, President and Founder of ElementaLogistics LLC. We assist 3PLs with their bid packages to corporations, and we work with corporations who don’t see supply chain as their core activity. [01:20] Tell us a little about your background. I grew up in New York and graduated from the New York Institute of Technology. While putting myself through school, I got a part-time job at JFK airport which opened my eyes to logistics. Right out of college, I worked at a logistics company in Atlanta. Then, after a short spell in New Orleans, I moved to Houston to work with supply chain in oil and gas. At one point while working for a 3PL, I did a lot of work in retail. [04:37] Tell us about the world’s largest company. If you live in Houston, you know who it is. It’s Saudi Aramco. Add Apple, Google, General Motors, and Amazon together. Combined, they’re still not as big as Saudi Aramco. [06:32] What were some of the projects you worked on with Saudi Aramco? We found equipment and materials that can’t be sourced locally. Then, we buy and ship it to get oil out of the ground. The company searched for smart people who understand what the next new technology will be. We also searched for people with the best ideas and moved them to Saudi Arabia. I was involved with the procurement of equipment and materials. We once had to move a prototype oil rig from Texas to Saudi Arabia. It had 2,500 pieces. Instead of working with a 3PL, we hired everyone that we needed ourselves. [11:47] Up until July of this year, Saudi Aramco was their own 3PL. What happened? The business model changed. For example, all the hospitals that got supported with tens of thousands of purchase orders that Aramco was handling. Aramco went into a joint venture with Johns Hopkins, so all the hospital support disappeared. As globalization has taken place, more things can be sourced locally. The volume of purchase orders declined to where Aramco was no longer the market maker. [13:34] You had to choose a 3PL for the world’s largest company. How do you go about doing that? It took fifteen months and was a step-by-step process. I put together a team and we came up with forty-five items that needed to be outsourced. Next, we selected 3PLs that we wanted to consider. We wanted to find a company that could go global if needed. We invited all the 3PLs to come to a meeting, and the bid process was explained to everyone at the same time. Once we decided that we were going to go out to bid, the logistics team no longer contacted the 3PLs. It was done by the contracting department instead to avoid favoritism. Out of the eleven invited companies, eight responded to the bid. Their questions were graded and weighted, and team members then scored these individually. The team members all decided on the same four companies to move on. At this time, we conducted site visits. These were interesting, because anybody can just put something down on paper. One of the bidders had a very unorganized warehouse. We eliminated that one, and another company based on their hazardous material handling. With two left, only then were commercial proposals and pricing looked at. Then, it was clear: the lower bidder wins. [22:07] How close were the bids of the two companies? They were not close, so the winner was obvious. Someone from our finance department came in to run the numbers to make sure they made sense. The five-year contract was going to deliver millions of dollars of cost saving and initiatives, such as no longer needing to pay for one of our warehouses and some employees. [24:44] What happened next? Board approval was sought and obtained. We put together the original bid very carefully so that there weren’t any surprises when the time came. It’s painful, but a lot of contracts with mom-and-pop companies had to be terminated. [29:06] How did you manage your 3PL week-to-week, month-to-month, etc.? The expected metrics were part of the contract. We also had financial incentives for if they were exceeded. As you have mentioned, sometimes a 3PL in encouraged to skew numbers to get incentives. In our case, our system of tracking cannot be tampered with. After the first month, we had regular reports and meetings to look at performance. [36:17] Was this process your closing act with Saudi Aramco? It was. I retired from the company on July 31. Originally, I had planned to leave a year ago, but this project came up and I wanted to do it. [37:59] Tell us what you’re up to these days. For the last four years, I’ve been teaching at the University of Houston. The company I founded, ElementaLogistics, provides consulting to 3PLs and corporations. [41:11] Any closing remarks? Learn More About Managing Logistics for The World's Largest Company Gary's email address is The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Why Chattanooga is the Silicon Valley of Trucking with Craig Fuller
08/25/2019
Why Chattanooga is the Silicon Valley of Trucking with Craig Fuller
Today's topic is Why Chattanooga is the Silicon Valley of Trucking and I will be talking with Craig Fuller. Craig and his company, FreightWaves is one of the reasons, Chattanooga is called the Silicon Valley of Trucking. [01:04] Tell us a little bit about you and your company. I am Craig Fuller, founder and CEO of FreightWaves, which is based in Chattanooga, TN. I grew up in a trucking family and worked in my dad’s company. FreightWaves is the leading Freight Intel provider, offering current digital intelligence and context to the freight community on a central platform. [03:50] Your content at FreightWaves is so insightful. I’ve noticed that to write about logistics, you have to know logistics. We tried to get the traditional trucking press to write about what we were doing, but it was apparent that they didn’t understand the content. Out of frustration, we decided to write our own content. Our writer was on vacation, so I once wrote about a hurricane under his name. That’s when the site exploded. We actually do hire a lot of great writers that don’t have experience in the space and combine them with market experts. [08:54] Why and when did you start FreightWaves? The business started in 2016, but we didn’t get our first venture funding until 2017. I didn’t want to go back to work in the family business. I wanted to do something on my own. My brother is the CEO of that business now, but my father is still active in it. I’m sure that my brother faces difficulties because the vision was created for him. We have to report to our board, but they’re very supportive which gives us room to do things how we want. [15:05] Steve Case has a venture fund and tour called The Rise of the Rest. Tell us about it and why he named Chattanooga the Silicon Valley of trucking. His theory was that he could go find startups in smaller cities to pitch to touring venture capitalists. FreightWaves won the tour’s stop in Chattanooga. This city has more people connected to logistics per capita than any other city in America, so it was only natural that Chattanooga become the Silicon Valley of Trucking Steve wrote a book called The Third Wave which deals with a deep understanding of how industries work. At FreightWaves, we’ve combined our tribal knowledge with influencers who are connected throughout the industry. Creating credibility has been the key to our success. [21:27] We’re educating kids to leave our cities to go be successful in Silicon Valley. A lot of venture capitalists promote staying in your own city now. Money goes a lot further in places like Chattanooga rather than Silicon Valley. I think the next generation of venture capital will be in places like Detroit, Des Moines, Houston, Cleveland, etc. Investors are shocked that we pay our employees about the same as companies in Silicon Valley. It helps us attract and retain talent. We don’t have to worry as much about an employee leaving us in a few months to work for another company down the road. [27:48] For many generations, kids have gone to school in places like Chattanooga and then left to work elsewhere. Now, they don’t have to. 45 out of our 130 employees in Chattanooga have moved here from other cities. It’s great to have a combination of homegrown employees and ones that were willing to relocate. [30:00] You mentioned tribal knowledge, so expand on how it helped make Chattanooga the Silicon Valley of trucking. The machine that produces carpet was invented in Chattanooga and Dalton, Georgia (just south of here), and that carpet needed to be hauled. Those businesses created a lot of organic knowledge in Chattanooga, but they didn’t recycle capital. In the early 2000s, a guy at C.H. Robinson decided to build a brokerage business inside a brick business owned by the father of his frat brother. They founded Access America, and it grew to about $600 million in revenue in 2014. It merged with Coyote, and Coyote was acquired by UPS. A lot of the talent ended up leaving, but they were young. They started tech businesses and made investments. This created a lot of trucking companies. [35:41] Are there companies that are moving to Chattanooga because that’s where the logistics community is? FreightWaves started in Fort Worth, Texas, but we moved here. Others include WorkHound, Reliance Insurance, and Bellhops. There’s a ton of industry energy around the space that’s being guided by people who have a deep understanding of how the market works. [36:58] Is Tennessee a business-friendly state? It is. There’s no state income tax and the capital gains tax is being phased out. There are very low real estate taxes. I pay about one sixth of what I paid in Texas. The more money you can get into your employees’ hands, the better quality of life they’ll have. [38:44] In Michigan, we used to look down on The South because so many people moved away from it to work in Detroit. During the 1930s, people didn’t have electricity and plumbing until FDR created a new deal. That spurred the initial stages of economic development. The South and Canada have a lot in common; effectively the same population and economic size. That’s pretty astounding. [41:21] This has been great. Why don’t you give us a little summary? I love talking about these trends. Not because I think Chattanooga is the best city in the world, but there are things that have made us successful that can be applied in other places. We’ve got FreightWaves Live in Chicago in November. It will be a vibrant event with lots of really good speakers. We’re launching FreightWaves TV soon. Our spirit at FreightWaves is that if we do something, we do it well. [45:09] Tell us a little bit about your SONAR project. People call it the Bloomberg of freight. It is the leading freight market dashboard, aggregating billions of data points from hundreds of sources to provide the fastest data in the transportation and logistics sector. [47:10] Let’s say I’m a little trucking company or freight broker. What problem do you solve for me? If you’re a freight broker, it’s about price and capacity discovery. Also, identifying volatile markets. Most of the data that has been available to freight brokers is weeks old. We’re speeding that up. For trucking companies, it can let you know which markets to move trucks to. It’s bad to make decisions with data that is so old, and we fix that problem. Learn More: Craig Fuller LinkedIn profile: FreightWaves: FreightWaves SONAR: FreightWaves FreightTech Conference - Chicago: The Third Wave by Steve Case: Chattanooga is the Silicon Valley of Trucking:
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Cold Calling on Steroids with Brad Seaman
08/02/2019
Cold Calling on Steroids with Brad Seaman
[00:44] Tell us a little bit about you and your company. I am Brad Seaman, founder and CEO of MonsterConnect, which is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. MonsterConnect is sales enablement / lead generation service that help sales teams become 6-8 times more productive. [01:14] Tell us a little bit about your background. I grew up in Indianapolis. I went to Olivet Nazarene University in Illinois near Chicago to be a youth pastor. While I was doing some landscaping at the family call center business, they fired the chief operating officer and I got the call to run the place. [03:01] When and why did you start MonsterConnect? The family call center business did lead generation for a mortgage company. Before the housing crash, we started seeing the writing on the wall, so we diversified the business. We brought in a new guy to build a new division. We eventually spun that out from the business, but it became difficult to staff and hire with our quick growing rate. Two things gave us the idea for Monster Connect: the difficulty in scaling and the subjectivity of the business. This made me immerse myself in call center technology, and things changed in the industry to allow our business model. With our software, our agents navigate through phone prompts and gatekeepers. Then, when the prospect answers, the salesperson is connected. [09:20] Cold calling is still used a lot in logistics, but it is much maligned today and there is a lot written about the end of cold calling. Please tell us why cold calling still works. The more effort you put in, the more results you get. Very rarely do you see a strong effort followed by a lack of results. There’s a tendency to lean into either inbound or outbound, but I think you need to do both. I understand why cold calling gets so much negative press. It’s tough work. Prospects are harder to reach now because they can screen their calls and there are a lot of robocalls that nobody wants. Salespeople have always wanted to find better ways, but if you need to sell something today, the phone is still the best tool. The web has brought a lot of great ways to get sales leads, but they take time. Ultimately, the salesperson who talks with the most prospects sells the most. [14:50] To be a good cold caller, what do people absolutely need to do? The first thing is that you need to have good contacts. There are tons of tools that exist to do that. At MonsterConnect, we even search on job boards for companies that are looking to hire people to make outbound phone calls. Then, we already know that our technology would be useful for them. You need to have a good message; some type of differentiator. It needs to be compelling. The phone gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with someone. Some brokers get phone calls from different people who deliver the exact same message. [20:41] What else do people need to be successful at cold calling? Discipline and focus. Specifically, I know someone who landed a huge deal because he was religious about prospecting regularly. He dedicates one or two hours per day to cold calling. One day, he was about to log out but decided to do one more call instead. The rest is history. It’s a lot like working out. Doing it regularly is very beneficial. Lack of lead gen typically comes from a lack of effort. [27:23] If the only things people need to be successful at cold calling are great contacts, great messaging, and discipline, why do so many people struggle? I think it comes down to it being inefficient, difficult, and unpredictable. If you remove the inefficiency of dialing and not getting somebody on the phone, that can really impact your success. When you get one or two people on the phone each day, that’s not very productive. It’s also natural for salespeople to turn down their lead generation efforts when they land a few clients. It’s unpredictable. Building and maintaining a good prospecting team is a constant challenge, since sales is so volatile. [32:31] How can your company help with these three issues? The first thing is we have some built-in accountability. You have a scheduled time on the platform, and we’ll help you make sure that you show up. It’s efficient because there’s no delay. We’ll connect you to a prospect that is ready to talk. [34:58] How many hours a day do people work with your company? It depends on their desire. Some people think they’ll use it for eight hours a day, but really, that would be like going to the gym for eight hours a day. It’s hard to do. Somewhere between one and four hours is ideal for most people. In J.B. Hunt’s first week with us, they saw a 900% increase in productivity. [36:06] A lot of companies are now moving to sales development reps. How would you guys compare to them? We can be a great help to SDRs. We don’t replace them, we make them more productive. Learn More: MonsterConnect: Brad on LinkedIn:
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5 Biggest Mistakes Sellers Make When Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) with Ephraim Ausch
07/27/2019
5 Biggest Mistakes Sellers Make When Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) with Ephraim Ausch
[00:52] Please introduce yourself. I am VP of Sales at Tactical Logistic Solutions. Tactical has locations in New Jersey and California, and I’m based in New Jersey. Tactical is an end-to-end provider of supply chain logistics. We go from our client’s overseas manufacturing location via air, sea, and land to their warehouse, our warehouse, or to Amazon's warehouse. [01:36] Tell us a little bit about your background. I grew up in a Monsey, New York, a small town in Rockland County. I attended high school in Monsey and Israel. I'm a husband to a wonderful wife and father to two beautiful children. [02:10] What was your first job? My first job was working as a customer service representative for a bulk candy company that had an online store and 4 retail locations in New York. The candy company had previously sold candy on Amazon, but they were unhappy with the results I was given to opportunity to relaunch candy sales on Amazon and after a few struggles, we reached $1,000,000 per year in sales. After my success with selling candy on Amazon, I launched a gift basket company which has done very well. [04:21] When did you join tactical? Since my gift basket business was seasonal, I outsourced the fulfillment, which gave me a lot of free time. I realized that I had the opportunity to help more people, so I joined Tactical in 2017. I had two goals: 1.) share my Amazon knowledge and experience with Amazon sellers and 2.) open a new service offering, Fulfillment by Amazon within Tactical. [06:41] Explain what Fulfillment by Amazon is. When you buy something with Prime on Amazon, 99% of the time that’s a product that has been shipped right from an Amazon warehouse instead of from the seller. About two thirds of products on Amazon are FBA. Using FBA allows you to offer quicker shipping to the whole country without destroying profitability. It was a piece of cake to sell on Amazon in the early days, but now it’s getting harder and harder. [10:51] What is the first mistake you see from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon? A lot of sellers don’t realize that every single space in the warehouse is allocated. I always tell FBA sellers to get their suppliers to do the labelling for them instead of doing it themselves in the US. You can even get your freight forwarder to do it, because some sellers are afraid of their supplier becoming a competitor. [14:53] What is the second mistake you see from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon? When you use Amazon-partnered carriers, it’s very appealing because they’re crazy cheap. When you do that, it takes two or three days for Amazon to pick it up from your warehouse. They then schedule a drop off time that is chosen by Amazon. The problem with that is Amazon will only accept deliveries during the daytime. I recommend getting a 3PL or local trucker to deliver your shipment to Amazon. [21:16] What is the third mistake you see from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon? There’s a lot of sellers that import product from China that have it palletized. They think that if they don’t have it palletized, it will get damaged. In my experience, very few cartons get damaged because they make sure to fill the container to capacity. You lose roughly 30% of space if you put your product on pallets. It’s a little bit more expensive to deliver, but it’s still way cheaper than using pallets. [24:21] What is the fourth mistake you see from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon? In the last two years, Amazon has really decided they’re not in the storage business. They’re in the selling business. If you don’t sell, they make you get out by charging additional storage costs after certain periods of time. Keep your stock in your own warehouse until it needs to go to Amazon. Replenishing monthly is a good approach. [28:00] What is the fourth mistake you see from sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon? Amazon has a performance index that goes from 0 to 1000. Under 350 is in the red. If you go below 350, you get limitations of what you can send to Amazon. The factors that affect your score are excess inventory, sell through, stranded inventory, and in-stock inventory. These affected me because I’m a seasonal seller, and my score would be red when Christmas came around. I went to Amazon to discuss alternatives. [34:03] Any closing remarks on these topics? If you’re worried about damage from not palletizing in China, you can get insurance for very cheap that will cover you. If you do everything correctly, you’ll be on the fast track to sales. Learn More: Ephraim Ausch LinkedIn profile: Tactical Logistic Solutions website:
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5 Keys to Effective Expediting with Alex Pavlovic
07/27/2019
5 Keys to Effective Expediting with Alex Pavlovic
[00:37] Please introduce yourself. I am head of the department of expediting at Virnich Corporation in Chicago. It’s a full-service 3PL and carrier company. [01:01] Tell us a little bit about your background. I grew up in Serbia and I earned a mechanical engineering degree before moving to the USA. I never used that degree, because shortly after graduating I moved to Alaska to be a cook in a national park. When the season ended, I decided to move to Chicago and my friend suggested I become a truck driver. [03:36] When did you become a broker? After three years of driving, I was burnt out. I was thinking about working as a dispatcher, but I wanted more of a challenge. I approached the company that I’m still part of and they taught me how to be a broker. [04:40] What is expediting? It’s a branch of logistics where shipments need to be picked up and delivered as fast as possible. [05:36] What kind of equipment do you use in expediting? The most common assets being used in expediting are straight trucks and Sprinter vans. Smaller box trucks and Sprinters are not regulated, but it’s still important to use teams and be safe. Straight trucks start at 12 feet and go up to 26 feet. [08:45] What is the first key to effective expediting? Carrier vetting. In recent years, we’ve seen a huge growth of carriers in the expediting market. When I started, companies didn’t have to be as competitive. There was more honesty and integrity. We see a lot of things to be careful of, like underbidding. Some companies will do anything they can to get the load even if they can’t fulfill the promise. [11:49] What is the second key to effective expediting? Communication. It’s a pretty broad term. Here, I mean paying attention to details. I see a lot of companies that will do anything to not communicate with the driver. I always communicated with brokers that reached out to me when I was a driver. It’s good to under promise and over deliver. [17:27] What is the third key to effective expediting? Knowledge of assets, such as expediting equipment. A lot of newcomers in the industry haven’t been trained or haven’t had a chance to feel the equipment. You always want to work with someone who has a history of dealing with assets directly. A lot of companies say they’re an expediter, but they’re trying to be a jack of all trades. [20:50] What is the fourth key to effective expediting? Having personal values. It’s about how people perceive you besides as having great customer service. We always do the right thing for the customer. That involves saying yes when we can and no when we can’t. I see a lot of people taking freight without even thinking about if they can make it happen. [23:06] What is the fifth key to effective expediting? They are even more important in expediting than in the regular truckload business. It’s very efficient when you know what the customer wants before they even tell you because your relationship is so strong. Using the same drivers and equipment is important. [26:46] Do you have any final thoughts? If you’re looking for an expediter, my advice is to take your time in choosing the right one. Focus on building a relationship. I’ve realized that being an expert in all fields makes you an expert in nothing. Learn more: Virnich Corporation: Alex Pavlovic LinkedIn profile:
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5 Ways to Bring Your A Game to Sales with Ann Holm
07/15/2019
5 Ways to Bring Your A Game to Sales with Ann Holm
Ann, please give us the Cliff Notes (condensed) version of your career Ann has been an executive coach for the past 10 past years Prior to beginning her coaching practice, Ann was a speech pathologist who worked with brain injured patients for 25 years Ann earned her bachelors and masters in speech pathology at The University of Michigan Ann and Joe Lynch have a sales coaching/training program that helps transportation and logistics professionals sell more services Please explain the term “bring your A game” The term “A game” is typically used in athletics and it means bring your best game, the right attitude, a winning, focused, positive mindset “A game” is now used broadly and refers to the attitude, effort, and skills required to slay the moment What is the first way to bring your A game to sales Leverage your experience with similar clients / similar type of companies Specialize in a certain market segment like e-commerce or hazardous materials transportation, which will make you an expert in the industry Research a specific industry and build your knowledge base so that you can feel very confident and comfortable when calling on someone within that industry What is the second way to bring your A game to sales More opportunities/more sales leads create a feeling of abundance and confidence Lots of sales leads helps salespeople feel like they are “on a roll” (positive momentum) Lots of opportunities brings a certain swagger to a salesperson Fill up the pipeline and you will feel like you have a margin of error Having lots of sales leads is like “fresh air” – another chance to make a sale What is the third way to bring your A game to sales? Knowing your blind spots – areas of low awareness that may trip you up Understanding your blind spots is important, but even more importantly, you must have strategies for addressing your blind spots Strengths and weaknesses are often very closely related People often have a weakness that is the flip side of their strength Example: Joe is a good communicator which is helpful (strength) unless he talks too much which becomes a problem (blind spot) Strengths will get you most of the way there and blind spots will prevent you from winning What is the fourth way to bring your A game to sales? Being aware of your emotional state and how it is affecting you positively or negatively is very important People wrongly assume that emotions can be ignored or buried, but your emotions will impact your sales performance so it important to get in touch with your emotions, especially the negative ones When you recognize the underlying cause of the emotion, you can take action to address the problem or at least accept/cope with it What is the fifth way to bring your A game to sales? Get comfortable (and prepared) when you are not “feeling it” - when you feel tired, uninspired, fearful, intimidated or overwhelmed In difficult moments, athletes rely on what they practiced, soldiers remember their training and good salespeople will follow their process (if you need a process call Joe Lynch at 517.375.0631 😊) Waiting for the right moment, when you feel fully inspired and brilliant is a recipe for failure If you want to feel confident, act confident and your heart and mind will follow your outward actions Ann, any final thoughts on ways to bring your A game to sales? You must find ways to act even when you are not feeling confident and positive Your A game doesn’t come like a lightning bolt from the sky, you must learn to create your A game when you need it Learn More: Ann’s Twitter: Ann’s website: Joe Lynch’s LinkedIn:
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Improving the Driver Experience using Technology with Joshua Walls
07/09/2019
Improving the Driver Experience using Technology with Joshua Walls
Joshua, please introduce yourself I am a Joshua Walls, co-founder of Truckpark.com, a phone app that helps drivers find a safe, secure place to park. We developed our phone app as a tool to help truck drivers find safe and secure parking. Ideally, our app will improve the driver’s experience and quality of life. Please tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? Go to school? What was your major in college? Grew up in Chicago and I am a big Chicago Cubs fan Earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Trinity International University Earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership, training and development from Lewis University What was your first job out of school? Neiman-Markus tasked with customer experience/customer engagement When and why did you start TruckPark? My partner, and I became interested in truck parking because we both had family members in trucking who complained that is was sometimes difficult to find safe and secure parking Joshua, today’s topic is “Improving the Driver Experience using Technology” so please tell us a little about the driver experience Joe, I am not a driver so I can’t fully describe all the issues facing drivers, but I can tell you what we have learned from talking with hundreds of drivers Also from talking to friends and family who are drivers. My brother is a driver so I have learned a lot from his experience The driver experience is a difficult one There are many challenges facing drivers both professionally and personally All of us worked to achieve a good work/life balance, however drivers have a much harder time because of the long hours on the road Joshua, let’s first talk about the professional issues drivers face On the professional side, drivers are also confronted with some unique challenges: First, they must cover a lot of miles – every time I travel any distance by car, I am reminded that drivers do this every damn day Secondly, they must conduct their business from the road Providing updates to dispatchers/brokers Coordinating with shippers – pick up and deliveries Finding their next load Invoicing, accounting, sales, etc. for owner operators Routine maintenance, fuel, etc. Traffic – very unpredictable, yet they must keep on schedule / be on time Weather – rain, snow, dangerous roads, extra time Lastly, they must comply with local, state and federal regulations Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Hours of Service / Electronic Logging Device We all try to follow rules, but when you are a driver, not complying means you could lose your livelihood Obviously, the rules are in place to protect the drivers and the general public, but some of the rules like ELD have some elements that are very difficult to manage Joshua, let’s first talk about the personal issues drivers face On the personal side they live on the road, which means: Time away from family – getting home for your daughter’s game or the school play is a real challenge Living a healthy lifestyle – finding affordable, healthy food, exercise Sleeping in an unsafe/unsecure location Fatigue – not getting a good night’s rest for a variety of reasons like Difficult work schedule – fighting their body clock Getting loaded/unloaded late Traffic – running late and running out of hours Can’t find a place to park/sleep If you work in an office, being tired is no big deal, but for drivers, fatigue is a life and death problem No wonder there is a driver’s shortage, the driver experience sounds rough Personal and professional blurs when you are a driver There are real quality of life issues that must be addressed or the industry will continue to have a driver shortage So, please tell us a little about the apps that drivers use on their phones and tablets First off, drivers are tech savvy, because of their lifestyles, they are connected via tablets, smart phones, laptops, CB radios (?) Productivity tools like email, texting, Voice activation applications are growing GPS, routing software, ELD Matching software to help them find a load home to avoid driving empty miles Tell me about your truck parking app From talking to drivers and our research, we have learned that driver: Spend 54 minutes per shift looking for parking 85% of drivers have experienced theft in a parking lot Our app Reserve spot in real time Safe/secure spot where you can actually sleep (peace of mind) Rating locations – amenities good/healthy food, truck wash, maintenance, etc How do truckers sign up? How much does it cost? The app is available for download from the Apple Store or Google play The app is free to download, and drivers do not pay extra to reserve parking Free to download – free to use Joshua, thank you so much for sharing your expertise, any final words? We need to improve the driver experience, to make it easier on drivers to put in those miles, otherwise the driver shortage will continue Trucking is the backbone of our economy and we need to respect the people who drive those trucks – improve their quality of life Apps like our can lighten the load for drivers, which in turn will increase productivity, safety and profits Learn More: Joshua Walls LinkedIn profile: Truckpark.com app:
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Five Keys to Cold Chain Success with Tyler Hildebrand
07/07/2019
Five Keys to Cold Chain Success with Tyler Hildebrand
Tyler, please introduce yourself (your title / company / location) I’m Tyler Hildebrand and I am an account executive at Reliable Transportation Solutions in Cincinnati, OH Please tell us about your background. Where did you grow up? Go to school? What was your major in college? Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH Growing up I worked in lots of warehouses and was very interested in art Attended college at in Sarasota FL, where I studied illustration You have had an interesting career path, tell us a little about your story Owned and operated an art gallery As an artist, I was commissioned to create artwork for some iconic organizations like the Chicago Cubs, Notre Dame football, etc. As a freelance marketer, I often worked closely with clients in the transportation and logistics space, so I began to understand the business I joined a university as an art professor, was promoted to administration and was even considered for the president of the university Transitioned to transportation and logistics when a recommended me for an opportuniy Before we dig into the “Five Keys to Cold Chain Success”, let’s cover the basics. What is the cold chain? A cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain for perishable food products, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals in order to maintain their quality and increase their shelf-life A cold chain is essential because it: Reduces food loss due to spoilage Enhances food safety and quality Balances and manages the supply and demand of food Talk a little bit about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Biggest overhaul of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in history Signed into law Jan. 4, 2011 Ensures safety and security of the food and feed supply to protect human and animal health. Significant impact to the food supply chain FSMA applies to: Food transported in bulk, where the food touches the walls of the vehicle (Example: juices) Packaged foods not fully enclosed by a container (Example: fresh produce) Food that require temperature control for safety (Example: beef) Tell us about the cold chain infrastructure It’s a lot more than just reefers – the cold chain starts in the fields and ends when the consumer buys it -- Precooling facilities. Precooling is the removal of heat energy from crops after they are harvested. Precooling reduces spoilage and slows ripening. Refrigerated storagerefers to the storing of goods in a reduced temperature atmosphere. Heat is removed from the storage container or room to help keep goods cold. Refrigerated transportis a form of climate-controlled transportation which is designed to maintain a cool or frozen temperature. Packaging is another key component of the cold chain. Cold chain packaging is specifically designed to help maintain a reduced temperature. Cold chain packaging is sometimes insulated and or thermal. Information management systems are transforming the cold chain through: Route optimization WMS, TMS, documentation Hardware - scanning equipment, phone apps Business intelligence & KPIs Real time monitoring and alerts for non-compliance Now that we know the basics, what is the first key to cold chain success? Creating the Right Culture Continuous improvement Risk management Chain of custody Problem resolution Root cause analysis What is the second key to cold chain success? Develop a food safety plan - FSMA Requires it FSMA in a Nutshell Process Summary Written food safety plan Identify potential hazards / risks - Document every potential risk to food safety Implement a preventive control that will minimize or eliminate every risk Monitor controls to ensure they are done Training Documentation The food safety plan should be created with input from the extended team (suppliers, carriers, team members, experts and customers) The food safety plan is a living document that should be updated on a regular basis PROCESS/HAZARD/CONTROL/MONITOR What is the third to cold chain success? Leverage technology To ensure food safety and comply to FSMA, companies should try to use technology to monitor temperature control Real time monitoring and alerts for non-compliance The technology needs to be calibrated / updated Technology doesn’t quit or call or sick What is the fourth key to cold chain success? Cold Chain Transportation that is sanitary (regardless of mode – air, road, ship, etc..) Appropriate temperature control during transport. Sanitation, including: Monitoring and ensuring the sanitation and condition of transportation vehicles is appropriate Pest control Sanitation associated with loading & unloading procedures Clean out Prior loads Appropriate packaging/packing of food products and transportation units (e.g., good quality pallets, correct use of packing materials). Good communications between shipper, transporter and receiver. Employee awareness and training. What is the fifth key to cold chain success? Choose supply chain partners who are FSMA compliant and who value food safety as much as your company does Partners should have all appropriate certifications for their industry Update procurement and carrier agreements to include FSMA provisions The FSMA raises the bar on monitoring, data management and processes. Software can make these activities easier. If possible, use sensors and electronic alerts to monitor important functions like temperature, testing and process compliance. Tyler, thank you so much for the education – really good stuff. Please wrap it up for us To ensure that the food supply chain is kept safe, you must do the work There are no short cut in FSMA compliance What’s new over at Reliable? Reliable Transportation Solutions is an asset based 3PL specializing in refrigerated food transportation Centrally located in Cincinnati OH In addition to our own fleet (reefers/dry vans) we also have a full service brokerage To Learn More: Reliable Transportation Solutions: Connect with Tyler on LinkedIn:
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A New Model for LTL Shipping with Keith Farnsworth
06/23/2019
A New Model for LTL Shipping with Keith Farnsworth
[00:20] Opening / Introduction [00:39] Can you tell us a little bit about where you work and where you live? I am the Senior Director of Carrier Development at MyCarrierTMS. We’re based out of Scottsdale, Arizona. [01:12] Tell us a little bit about how you started your logistics career. I started at an LTL carrier working on the dock. I got to see how the operation works from the ground level. Over the years, I grew with LTL companies and took on different roles. I joined a startup that grew to about $80,000,000 in ten years, and then I went back to the asset-based side. [03:15] Can you explain what LTL is? LTL is less than truckload. They pick up a variety of shipments and handle them multiple times throughout their network. It gives customers a cheaper option when they’re shipping less than a truckload. It’s a lot more complex than just going from point A to point B, but it offers the customer value. [07:12] Tell us about the market leaders. They include FedEx, YRC, and Old Dominion. Seven companies represent a large chunk of the market. Technology plays a huge role in helping carriers to optimize their linehaul. [09:30] Describe the innovative new model that you like. The current model is that you can go to a 3PL and use their services or go direct to the carrier. We’ve learned that the average LTL shipper uses 2.4 different web-based platforms to manage their transportation. It’s not very efficient. The model that we’re working with is using API technology to speed up the process. They can connect to carriers in a matter of seconds. [11:36] Let’s say I’m using a 3PL. If I were to use your model, I wouldn’t necessarily need to use a 3PL. What would that look like? If you’re a small-to-medium sized shipper right now, you don’t have access to cost effective technology. In the new model, carriers are offering to license this technology on behalf of their customers. [13:32] In this new model, will it be the same operationally? It will be very similar. Obviously, there’s not going to be a middleman. You’ll be able to interact directly with carriers. [15:09] How can a small company get good pricing with an LTL company? A lot of times, the 3PL has the buying power that a small company doesn’t have. We’ve found that the system and how it connects the carrier and shipper has so many efficiencies built in that the carriers are competitive with pricing. Trust plays a large factor. Usually, you have to trust the 3PL and the carrier. If you go direct, you only have to trust the carrier. [17:16] Describe the new scenario if as a small company, I now go directly to the LTL carriers. Let’s say I’m working with five and going into each of their systems individually. This technology allows them all to tie their direct pricing into one clean system. You can bring in any carrier and still have direct rates. [22:56] Describe your solution one more time so we have a good sense of how it works. Our partner carriers are offering free technology to their shippers and are licensing the cost of that technology on their behalf so that they can continue to strengthen the direct shipper-to-carrier relationship. You can manage all your tracking in one convenient location. [24:45] Any final thoughts to wrap this up? It’s exciting to see how quick this technology is being adopted. These are really exciting times. Additional Information Keith Farnsworth LinkedIn profile: MyCarrierTMS:
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