How to handle the trucking capacity crunch

Many organizations, whether you realize it or not, rely on the trucking industry in order to function. However, there is currently a trucking capacity crunch that will have wide reaching effects if it worsens in the months and years ahead.

A recent article from Cerasis article examined the current landscape and offered some advice for companies to improve their overall operations.

According to the article, shippers that have adopted a tactical, rather than strategic mindset are more likely to have difficulty obtaining the needed capacity.

"These shippers share several traits that carriers view as red flags: They switch back and forth between carriers in search of the cheapest deal, they confine the topic of carrier discussions to rate matters and they ignore carrier complaints about service issues such as long loading and unloading times, and freight that is difficult to handle," the article reads.

The tips offered in the article are things that all companies should be focused on regardless of the crunch. Being consistent, flexible, automated, open to collaboration and acting professional should be staples of all companies that want to be successful. Some of these can be improved with the use of transportation management systems which can be used to monitor any transportation and logistics practice.

Following these strategies and partnering with third party logistics providers that follow this path will make it easier than ever for organizations to improve overall operations. This is compounded if these 3PLs are comfortable with the latest technology and are not afraid to try out new solutions.