The 2:00 Minute Warning

A lot of great logistics conferences are taking place this month. This week we have a team at RILA LINK2025, which is one of the best conferences for shippers in the retail industry. Last week I attended a Stifel conference where I met with executives from the carriers, 3PLs and shipper communities. And in ten days, I’ll be at the Journal of Commerce’s outstanding TPM conference where the focus is on ocean issues and really understanding what is happening with import/ export and nearshoring/ reshoring initiatives.
 
If you’ll be attending TPM and would like to connect, I’ll be giving a presentation on Tuesday afternoon, March 4 called “Supply Chain Disasters: How Can you Plan for the Unthinkable?”

In line with the topic of the “unthinkable,” in our weekly Two Minute Warnings we work on highlighting important items you may not have thought about so you can plan ahead. Lately, one of the things we’ve noticed from the conferences is that a lot of shippers are thinking about rate increases and how much their freight costs will be going up. After all, when you hear executives from the TL and LTL carriers talking about rates “firming up” in 2025, or the financial analysts discuss how UPS and FedEx are increasing their rates, it’s logical to ask: “Do I need to revise my freight budget for the year?”

Although that makes sense, we’ve had some great discussions with shippers about shifting the paradigm to “thinking the unthinkable.” Specifically, think about how your company can actually lower its freight costs even when rates are rising! Not surprisingly, when we raise this possibility, we can see the look in a person’s eyes that is wondering: “How is it possible to lower your costs when rates are going up?”
 
If you are interested in taking on that challenge, here are three questions to consider:

• Are your shipping practices and processes that impact a carrier’s cost to serve (CTS) based on facts or assumptions?
  
  
• Is your company willing to change internal practices and processes that create waste and inefficiencies in your logistics operations that drive up a carrier’s cost to serve you?
  
  
• Is your company willing to commit to a strategic “Manage From Within” program that works collaboratively with your carriers to lower costs and improve service?

If the answer to these three questions is Yes, Yes and Yes, then I have great news! You can in fact lower your freight costs by as much as 10% in many cases. In fact, that’s going to be the topic of a new resource we’re launching called TranzAct Live – an interactive webinar with a limited group of attendees.
 
The first TranzAct Live session will take place on March 18 at 11am Central and cover three proven strategies that can reduce waste, improve your efficiencies and cut your supply chain costs by as much as 10%. The session is for shippers only and we encourage you to sign up before it fills up.
 
One of the reasons this session is so important is that we’re going to be focused on practical solutions – not consultative, theoretical, abstract ideas. Instead, you’ll hear actual proven strategies that you can use to lower your costs.
 
If you’re interested in learning more about this session or want to reach out about anything else, call me, send me a note or let’s meet via Calendly. Let’s work together and make the unthinkable become a reality by improving your logistics operations and lowering supply chain and transportation costs.

BY MIKE REGAN, CO-FOUNDER OF TRANZACT

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