Every year, more shippers implement increasingly complex and comprehensive computer systems to handle freight planning, tracking, and payments. The business world has come to rely on computers to reduce paperwork and staffing and to automate repetitive tasks that do not necessarily require constant human intervention. In the process the potential for errors has been eliminated. Or has it? Even if computers perform perfect calculations all the time, that still leaves a big hole for errors: the data may not be perfect from the beginning. Perfect calculations on imperfect data still lead to erroneous payments.
Read More
The recent news regarding ILWU Labor negotiations sparks further examination. Shippers have moved up orders, asked customers to take on more inventory, and routed cargo through ports in Canada and the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts. According to a Journal of Commerce survey, two thirds of shippers who participated plan to divert some cargo away from the U.S West Coast ports to avoid disruption that could emerge from contract negotiations. The majority of those planning on making changes stated they will ship through East or Gulf Coast ports, with others using ports in Canada and Mexico. The risk of disruption is just too great. But when these changes are made, will the overflow to other ports cause even further problems with service?
Read More
A new article at Logistics Management outlines some significant changes to how shipments are rated and priced.
This year, UPS and FedEx have begun billing ALL ground shipments based on dimensional weight. Some experts are also predicting that shippers will soon be asked to disclose freight dimensions on all LTL bills of lading. Contracted discounts and FAK exception rates are driving carriers to renegotiate pricing to more accurately reflect the associated costs of moving shippers’ freight. These significant billing changes will undoubtedly cause confusion and leave a great deal of room for error, particularly as the “kinks” are being worked out of carriers’ systems.
