Today it seems like e-commerce giants are taking over the industry. It is possible for small and mid-sized companies to compete with these e-commerce companies with a little bit of creativity, a strong supply chain and great customer service. Companies like Amazon can often seem difficult to compete with, but following these helpful tips can help your business stand out among these companies and bring in customers.

We have previously discussed a few things shippers should understand when they start shipping truckloads. Unlike LTL, the full truckload world is characterized by a very large number of carriers. They come in all shapes and forms, from a one-man operation to a large carrier with thousands of company trucks. What does it mean for shippers and/or brokers?

Truck Driver Shortage Spurs Rising Prices A rise in prices is the result of this blunt reality: there aren’t enough truck drivers delivering goods to stores. The shortage of truck drivers is not only raising freight costs, but retail costs as well. This is nothing new, as the driver shortage has been going on for years due to baby boomers retiring and very few millennial’s wanting to be away from home weeks at a time on transport. To read more about the driver shortage and rising prices, click here.

Globalization is not just a commonly-used term, it’s our reality. The world is becoming “smaller” and much more interconnected than ever before. People are involved in the events unfolding not only in their own country but across the globe – we travel, we move and we interact. Many companies today are no longer limiting their operations to one country and are going global.

After this years hurricanes, the new ELD mandate and the ongoing driver shortage, the trucking industry is facing a capacity crunch. The capacity crunch is creating a drastic increase in freight rates. The trucking capacity crunch is making it harder and harder for both shippers and carriers to survive in the industry. Although the higher-than-average economic growth is a good thing, it is causing manufacturers and suppliers to do more business than before, making it difficult to secure carrier capacity. Shippers and carriers need to work together in this time of need to keep costs low while serving customers efficiently.

LTL (Less-than-truckload) and full truckload shipping are obviously very different. It’s impossible to say which option is “better.” It depends on your company needs, freight type, requirements and a variety of other factors. It’s important to evaluate pros and cons and decide which option is the best fit for your shipping needs.

Small businesses often have limited human resources and have employees in charge of a wide array of different tasks. If the business has the need to ship certain products occasionally or on a regular basis, one of these tasks is managing its supply chain. It’s quite easy to make supply chain management mistakes.

Basically, the whole idea of LTL (less-than-truckload) shipping is to save money and only pay for the space you use instead of paying for the whole truck. The transit will be longer, but it will be much cheaper than moving a smaller load as a truckload. LTL shipments seem easy to arrange and handle perfectly on your first try, but are they?

E-Commerce Trends E-commerce is constantly changing the way consumers communicate with businesses all over the world. 74% of shoppers said that they prefer free shipping over fast shipping. This statistic can help companies, especially small and mid-sized businesses, gain an understanding of what promotions or offers to run to keep customers satisfied with shipping options. 1.7 billion people said that they shopped online in 2017. With e-commerce becoming to prevalent in today’s society, this number is expected to rise in the coming months of 2018. To read more about e-commerce trends, click here.

Having damaged freight can cause anyone to get frustrated. Filing a freight claim can even be more frustrating to someone who is not familiar with the process. There is a lot that goes into the freight claims process and it is important to know that damaged freight isn’t the only type of freight claim you may encounter. We will go over what freight claims are, how to properly file a freight claim and the do’s and don’ts when it comes to the freight claims process.

Self-driving trucks have been the topic of the year for 2018 so far. With last year’s announcement of the Tesla Truck, it has only grown in hype. Uber and Tesla have been front running the autonomous market for some time and are in competition to have the first truck on the market. But there are other companies around the world as well in regions such as Asia and Europe. The concept of a self-driving truck has been around for years, so why all the commotion about it now?

We are two weeks away from one of the most discussed dates in the transportation industry this year. Carriers were given a grace period between December 18 and April 1 to ensure ELD compliance. The soft launch was intended to facilitate the transition. Despite the push-back from carriers and attempts to overturn the new regulation, FMCSA will begin full enforcement of the ELD compliance on April 1.

The FMCSA issued hours of service (HOS) regulations for truck drivers that limit the maximum time that can be driven in a period. Recently in the transportation industry, the OODIA made a petition to the FMCSA to create more flexibility for drivers so that traffic, weather or dock delays don’t impact their drive time availability. They are requesting that drivers who fall under the HOS regulations are given a rest break (up to three hours) once for every 14-hour duty. This rest break would be to stop the continuous 14-hour window drivers are given to operate. However, this would not eliminate the consecutive 10-hour off-duty break that is required before each shift.