Recently I had a challenging conversation with a CEO who also happens to be a friend. He called to talk about the impact that rising freight costs are having on profitability. After listening for a while, I interrupted and said, "I get it. You're upset. But you need to stop blaming and start supporting your transportation people." In fact, I felt so strongly about this that I made it the topic in my recent “Note to CEO" blog post.
"Awesome! Exceeded my expectations!"
Last week, in my "What blew your freight budget?" blog post in Logistics Management we addressed the fact that a whole bunch of shippers are living with blown freight budgets in 2018. I think that is why I have received several calls/ emails from folks who are asking for help in gathering information to prepare their 2019 freight budgets.
Recently I've been getting calls from transportation executives who are putting together their transportation budgets/plans for 2019 and looking for advice. One told me he was concerned because his 2018 freight budget is so out of whack that if the same thing happens in 2019, he'll be calling me asking for help on how to write a better resume!
I love you but.... Have you ever had to have a difficult conversation with somebody about something that's really important to them and to you? I bring this up because I was recently expressing my concern to one of my associates about whether our message about the impact the Perfect Storm is having on your freight budget is getting through to you. Every CEO I talk to tells me that controlling their freight costs is really important to them. And they agree with what we've been saying about the importance of being a strategic shipper. But, truth be told, at the end of the day nothing changes! Their freight practices remain the same and that is why their budgets are getting blown to smithereens. This tells me that while CEOs say it is a high priority to control freight costs, they are not serious. In essence, they must be kidding. And that is the point I addressed in a new blog in Logistics Management: Note to CEOs (Part 3): Committed to reducing your rising freight costs? You must be kidding! Back to the topic of difficult conversations, my associate told me these situations can be made easier by starting like this: "I love you, but I got to challenge you." Here's my challenge to you: are you truly serious about reducing your company's freight costs? If so you need to take this quick quiz. In just a few minutes, you can find out where you are at on the scale from transactional to strategic shipper. Why is this important? Because as we all know, strategic shippers have an easier time finding capacity and get lower rates. Are you up to accepting this challenge? If so, why not give us a call to hear about our Rapid Assessment, which can specifically map out the changes you need to make to become a strategic shipper and outperform your competition. Call us at 630-833-0890 or send us an email. We’re on your team, here to help, and passionate about seeing you get ahead.
