While carrier pricing is stable for the time being, there are signs that the rest of 2019 could bring about a different reality. Even a perceived loosening of freight rates is a signal to transportation buyers throughout the supply chain. If Old Dominion customers are currently finding carriers willing to use higher discounts to attract business, other carriers are also seeing the same from LTL shippers, and this means a significant trend might emerge. SMC³ has also witnessed an increase in LTL bid activity generated through its Bid$ense product.

Volume LTL is a valuable feature of today’s supply chain because it fills the gap between LTL and truckload transportation. It can really be looked at as a mutually beneficial arrangement among shippers and carriers. These shipments can move in a carrier’s backhaul or chronic empty lanes, helping to balance the carrier’s network. The pricing is derived from transactional spot-market rates, which are often lower than contractual rates, saving shippers money.

Bid$ense helps customers automate transportation purchasing within their overall procurement process, a crucial step when looking for a competitive edge in the fast-paced supply chain arena. The automated procurement solution, which provides immediate access to more than 500 carriers, leads to quicker RFP turnarounds, standardizing carrier responses to shipper inquiries and streamlining the entire process.

SMC³ carrier member Daylight Transport’s average haul length (2,000 miles) and transit time (three days) “allows for businesses to compete in markets they may not otherwise be able to and allows goods to get to end users faster.” The carrier’s vice president of sales and marketing recently spoke with SMC³ about how Daylight leadership sees the 2019 supply chain and logistics arena and how the company uses logistics transportation technology products to create value for customers.

During his 34 years at SMC³, Danny Slaton was lucky enough to experience seismic shifts in the logistics and supply chain industry – first on the front lines of the computerization of the supply chain and then as an executive making sense of a post-deregulation transportation world. Slaton retired from his career at SMC³ following the Jump Start 2019 logistics conference, and in his three decades at the company, he saw a lot of change.

The SMC³ team has been hard at work cooking up numerous automated messaging options for shippers and 3PLs. Learn more about SMC³’s cornucopia of APIs.