Today’s trucking market is characterized by high rates and constrained capacity; securing a truck at all can be difficult, and getting a decent rate can feel nearly impossible. Brokers and shippers should expect these challenges to continue well into 2022. To remain competitive in the new year, brokers and 3PLs need to focus on giving their carrier representatives the tools they need in order to stand a chance in rate negotiations.
Relying on a single data source to predict pricing is risky in the best of times. Right now, brokers and shippers are already facing high — and highly variable — rates. A lack of true insight in the mix only makes the situation more chaotic.
Brokers should focus on arming their carrier reps with as much information as possible, according to Sean McGillicuddy, Tai Software vice president of sales. One impactful way to do this is by combining insights from several rating tools on the market.
“You pay carrier reps for their knowledge of the market and their industry knowledge,” McGillicuddy said. “You definitely need that human being in there to make the negotiation, but if they are able to look at every type of datapoint right in front of them, they have the right information to know that they are getting on par with what the market is bearing.”
McGillicuddy recommends taking advantage of as many reputable rating tools as possible — from legacy solutions to newcomers focused on real-time spot pricing. When brokers choose to do this, however, they should ensure that their TMS is capable of showing all the information on one screen. Data becomes more or less useless when carrier reps have to dig for each piece of information during a phone call.
As all kinds of digital solutions evolve, the logistics industry is beginning to rely more heavily on integrations. This is true for rating and just about everything else. If a TMS is not able to provide seamless integrations with a multitude of tools, McGillicuddy recommends looking elsewhere.
“You need to look at your TMS as more of a core operating system that you can add apps to,” McGillicuddy said. “If your TMS is not able to handle integrations, it will be tough moving forward.”
Moving forward, brokers’ ability to aggregate all their tools in one place will be critical if they hope to compete with both large legacy brokers and digital brokers entering the scene with high-tech operating systems.