Transportation Budget Tip #4 – The Oh Shucks Factor

Over the last three weeks, we have shared how you can build an accurate transportation budget for 2017. In previous weeks, we offered three important tips:

• Tip #1 – Look at the economy
• Tip #2 – What are you willing to change as a company?
• Tip #3 – Be aware of carrier changes

Here's our fourth tip: the "Oh shucks!" factor. I've given many talks on budgeting. When I do, people consistently come up and tell me that they are under enormous pressure to provide the lowest possible budgets, so they make a critical assumption--everything will go perfectly. There’s no "Oh shucks!" factor. In real life, we all know that things don't always go according to plan.

If you are looking for a recent example look at what happened when Hanjin filed for bankruptcy a couple of weeks ago; almost immediately other ocean carriers raised rates because there was a lot less than capacity in the marketplace--and that's just one example. There are many more, so I encourage you to make this a priority.

If you’re wondering how much of a factor to build in to your budget, or how to lessen your risk, get in touch with us about conducting a rapid assessment. This process helps you identify your vulnerabilities quickly and easily.

As with each and every Two Minute Warning we like to remind you: we're on your team, we're here to help, and we're passionate about seeing you be successful. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at 630-833-0890 or at solutions@tranzact.com.