As we enter 2025, a major challenge confronting the industry is the likelihood of shifting freight trends due to the relocation of production and manufacturing facilities worldwide, as companies strive to enhance cost-efficiency, manufacturing speed, and inventory management.

Often, data science is misunderstood as a specialized application of various tools and technology. But as Martin Ryan, vice president of pricing at XPO, emphasized in a recent SMC3 session, the real power of data science lies in knowing how to ask the right questions.

At its best, the carrier-shipper relationship is a close collaboration, with both parties working to build shared priorities around getting freight delivered on time and in one piece. But this ideal is not always realized, and carriers and shippers often remain at odds with one another. How can carriers strategically approach relationship-building with their customers? What does true collaboration look like in LTL?

Increasingly, data can tell sophisticated stories that help businesses improve their operations. But all data isn’t created equal. How can LTL leaders know whether they’re asking the right questions? And how can they make sure that the questions they’re asking aren’t limited by a myopic perspective?

Sometimes, technology alone can be the fast fix for improving business outcomes. More often, the difference maker is technology delivered and backed by a true business partner, a partner who supports business functions and is invested to ensure their solutions perform and directly contribute to improving LTL transportation management. This is especially true in LTL, where digitized execution, visibility and optimized efficiency are key to customer service.

A recent webinar hosted by SMC3 and the Truckload Carrier’s Association focused on cost clarity as a critical factor for making better business decisions. While cost clarity comprises many related ideas, at root, it’s about developing an increasingly granular understanding of what your costs really are—and through that process, improving your profitability.