How to be shipper of choice in carrier market

AFN national account manager explains how shippers, trucking carriers and 3PLs can work together to boost supply chain efficiency.

   As tight truck capacity across the nation continues to challenge supply chains, it’s important for shippers, carriers and 3PLs to work together to keep goods moving.
   Freight transportation intelligence firm FTR’s March Shippers Conditions Index, its most recent, reflected a continued tough environment for shippers, with the index’s reading remaining in double- digit negative territory at -10.5.
   “Conditions remain highly unfavorable with tight capacity and rising rates in both truckload and intermodal sectors,” FTR said near the end of May.
   Maggie Turner, a national account manager at Niles, Ill.-based 3PL AFN, discussed with American Shipper how to be a shipper of choice in a carrier’s market, as well as how 3PLs can help shippers handle challenges associated with the increasing strain on truck capacity.
   With the driver shortage, shippers are trying to become more enticing to secure capacity with carriers, she explained.
   Shippers are more appealing if they can provide easier parking solutions. Truck parking is a huge issue in America right now — and not just in major cities, Turner explained, adding that truckers are getting parking tickets because they are having to park in unauthorized areas.
   The truck parking shortage “has been exacerbated by the increasingly strict delivery parameters put in place by major retailers,” she said. “Avoiding costly parking tickets while ensuring that loads are delivered on time can sometimes require creative solutions and collaboration between the shipper, carrier and 3PL.”
   3PLs use carrier knowledge to save shippers’ bottom lines amid shifting market conditions by advising on driver break locations to avoid incremental costs like parking tickets, implementing drop- trailer programs to save drivers time and working with shippers to reduce wait times at the dock, with tactics like preloading trailers and planning around peak loading hours and dock capacity, Turner explained.
   “The increasing strain on capacity and resulting burden on shippers’ bottom lines is here to stay,” she said. “3PLs are using creative tactics to ease the stress on shippers, like advising on how to be a shipper of choice in a carrier’s market, sourcing key information like capacity trends, and providing OTIF/retail compliance support.”