One of the things that we encourage shippers to do is look to the future and connect the dots on things that are likely to have an impact on freight costs. In that spirit, we're bringing you updates on three major items that will impact your bottom line:
- Wal-Mart’s On-Time / In-Full (OTIF) program begins this August. Under this program Wal-Mart can fine suppliers for arriving too late—which is expected—or too early or incomplete. If you don’t have any shipments to Wal-Mart, you’re not off the hook—other retailers and other large volume shippers are likely to follow suit in the foreseeable future.
- Surprise inspections of commercial vehicles indicate tight capacity in the near future. Last month, Nebraska inspected many of the commercial vehicles passing through certain parts of the state. What is alarming is the percentage of trucks that were taken out of service for all kinds of reasons, and the volume of fines that were issued. If this is indicative of what we can expect to see when the ELD mandate starts to be enforced in 2018, we could see major issues with capacity.
- Many shippers have no idea what the National Motor Freight Traffic Association does, but they have responsibility for determining the classification of your freight. That is why we encourage shippers to pay attention when the NMFTA meets because it usually involves the reclassification (to a higher class) for the freight being reviewed. This regularly happens as carriers petition the board to review shipments. Many shippers don’t take the time to understand the National Motor Freight Classification standard they produce, but with dimensional and density based issues becoming so important, their decisions could have a significant impact on your freight costs in the future.
Now if you’re wondering how to get in control of your freight costs, a good place to start is to benchmark your rates.
If you’re interested in a deeper dive, take a look at our Rapid Assessment, give us a call at 630-833-0890 or send us an email.
We’re on your team, we’re here to help and we’re passionate about seeing you be successful.
