Riverside Logistics

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If I were making decisions regarding my Company’s Logistics functions and my Supply Chain, what would I do now?

The current logistics environment and the status of the Supply Chain are very confusing right now….for everyone. One minute capacity to move shipments is scarce and expensive, the next moment its loose (available) and less expensive. Container rates are thru the roof, then they’re not. Warehousing space is unobtainable, a lot more expensive, and the options are fewer and far between.

Let’s first look at some of the key drivers affecting the Supply Chain and the Logistics community.

  1. Cost of Capital

When money gets more expensive and harder to get investment goes down. This means carriers begin to extend their equipment life cycles, cut back on new equipment investment, and generally hold off on growth plans. The net-net of this is that your access to capacity, warehousing and such becomes harder and more expensive.

  1. Labor Resources

Logistics as an industry is a touch and feel type of environment. Most of Logistics Labor  consists of drivers and warehouse workers and both must be physically on the job to perform their work. In addition, even pre-pandemic, both were in short supply. Now that demand for these roles has increased back to pre-pandemic levels, they are still a scarce resource. This translates in two ways. First it causes upward pressure on labor rates to keep workers from leaving. Second, it puts downward pressure on Logistics Providers ability to grow their operations to meet demand.

  1. Inventory Levels

Due to the pandemic, increases in demand and the length of the supply cycle inventory levels were increased dramatically. All the inventory had to go somewhere so it sucked up available warehouse space, containers, and trailers. Turns out the demand for goods tapered faster than anticipated and now inventories are too high and sitting too long. This means that space is at a premium, containers and trailers used to store product are not achieving good utilization rates and combined, these factors raise costs and lower service levels throughout the supply chain.

To encapsulate the main two sides of the equation, Supply is too few and Demand is too high. The Supply Chain functions most effectively when these two factors are closely balanced. Conversely. If they get out of balance,  life in the Supply Chain is “difficult”. Like the last 2 years.

What I would do if I were you…run and hide. No, seriously I’d wait it out. I’d use the information I have at hand to build a plan on what you want to achieve with your supply chain and how you think that can be accomplished. The market is in transition right now. Rates are moderating, truck capacity is loosening, international volumes are dropping as are international container rates. However, a potential railroad strike is looming which could at the very least result in rail delays, which in turn become truck and container delays.

Now let’s talk about relationships. As a 3PL we (Riverside Logistics) get to see and interact with a lot of different supply chains handling a lot of different products and running on different criteria for execution. This means we have a pretty good thumb on the pulse of the supply chain. The overall Supply Chain can swing one way or the other, dramatically, and quickly. You must be nimble and have options available to you to handle these machinations. One very capable way to prepare for Supply Chain shock is to partner with a 3PL and to build a relationship of trust with that 3PL. When you do that, you get the benefit of their expertise as well as insight into the logistics markets. This can be a powerful tool for you to use when competing in the marketplace. 3PL’s usually have access to a substantial portfolio of carriers and modes. They know how and when to use them to execute competitively. That’s their business. They also in many cases have knowledge and capability in the warehousing space. They can tell you what market occupancy rates are like in the markets they play in and can help you find and manage space that meets your needs in the markets they serve.

So, lets recap. Right now, there are a substantial number of headwinds and tailwinds impacting the Supply Chain. To sort them all out will take some time. It behooves a company to sit back and let the leaves fall out of the trees a little more so you can see what’s coming next. It is also a good idea to try and build a strong working relationship with a 3PL to let them assist you by applying their expertise in the logistics markets.

It’s a little scary in the supply chain right now. If you try and “Time The Market” you’ll probably fail. Just like with the stock market, timing is not a good idea. Taking a long view is a better strategy and one that should pay dividends in the long run. Hope this advice helps set you on a path that provides your company with a good competitive posture in todays supply chain.

 

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BUILDING A RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN

Best advice I can give is to Start from the bottom.

In today’s Logistics environment, building a resilient supply chain is more critical than ever. No sure way exists to overcome all the risks that comes your way. Things like the Ukrainian war and the lingering effects of the pandemic have had severe impact on just about everyone’s supply chains. Product lead times are double or triple what they used to be, and that’s if you can get the products at all. The cost of freight, raw materials, labor and finished goods have skyrocketed. Both the International and domestic US transportation systems are a mess. There are containers sitting that can’t unload, there are warehouse shipments loads that can’t be picked up, shipments are taking twice as long to deliver than before, there is a lack of warehouse capacity to store goods, and overall prices for freight, fuel, labor, and just about everything else have gone up dramatically.

Considering this decidedly negative environment, and the uncertainty of how long current conditions will last, what can you do to make your Supply Chain more resilient. Here are some suggestions.

  1. Increase your base of supply. Go from a plus 1 supplier base to a plus 3 base. Extend the geographic base as well. Keep one area from controlling and hurting your supply chain.
  2. Make and get commitments from your transportation providers to provide enough equipment to meet your extended needs. Contract for this capacity and take a “now is better than later” attitude.
  3. Expand your inventory levels and buffer safety stock levels to compensate for longer lead times. Make sure your Min/Max system is reset for larger inventories and longer pipelines.
  4. Lower both your and your customer’s expectations for OTC cycles. Product will take longer in the pipeline. Get used to it and make sure your customer acclimates to the new “normal” as well.

There are three key drivers to establishing better resiliency. “RFC” , “R”edundancies, “F”lexibility and “C”ulture change.

Increase redundancies. Hold extra inventory, increase your supplier base, and lower capacity utilization levels. By being redundant, you are giving up efficiencies. Inventory is cash, unused or not-working cash. This is the tradeoff made when carrying more inventory than your normal model requires.

Added Flexibility. Adopt standardized processes. This lets you switch production across your manufacturing network. Make it easy to substitute your production across the various sites in your network. If they handle the work in a standardized fashion then you can bounce your production and distribution around as conditions dictate, without skipping a beat.

Put key functions in sync with supply chain demands through a centralized organizational approach. Plan to postpone. Give yourself the ability to wait and develop more WIP goods that can be finished in a variety of ways. Align your procurement strategy with your suppliers. Make sure that your supplier relationships are deep and long. Don’t get caught short handed when one of them goes out of business or has a catastrophic event that impedes their ability to supply you.

Cultural change. Have processes that provide for continuous communication across the enterprise, inside and outside the building. Distribute the power for making decisions. If the power is concentrated in a few hands your organization won’t be able to handle disruption well. Those closer to the fire know how to handle it best.

Condition your teams for disruptions, how to handle them, and what the protocols are to fix them.

There are five pillars of supply chain resilience

Vulnerability

Management Culture

Procurement

Operations

Demand & visibility

Vulnerability. Assess your organizations weak links. Where are you most at risk? Shore up as best you can these points of weakness. Make yourself as bulletproof as possible. There are tradeoffs in this process. It is not cheap to build in redundancy and mitigate vulnerable spots in your supply chain. It is better to know and mitigate them on the front end than suffer the consequences on the back end. Almost a “you can pay me now or pay me later” situation.

Management Culture. Management must be fully on board to support the changes necessary to make your supply chain more resilient. They will understand the picture if you provide the correct model of the monetary costs to do nothing vs the upside if you take the right steps…NOW.

Procurement. How you buy, who you source your buys from, and where are extremely important factors in supply chain resiliency. Let’s face it, if you single source in today’s environment, you are in big trouble when that source falls down. You must investigate and understand your alternative supply sources  and put in place a blueprint of how you need to use them.

Operations. There must be a clear level of communication between the operations teams and the procurement teams.  Management must make sure that they are exchanging forecast and plans in a way that produces a clear path forward in dealing with shortage, delays, and cost increases. It is not unusual for Ops and Sourcing teams to have different sets of metrics and drivers that they use. It is extremely important that these teams operate in sync with one another. Otherwise, the results will be very disappointing.

Demand & Visibility. Not enough can be said about making the Demand mechanism as clear as possible throughout the organization.  The more visible the demand signal is, and the more time spent on how to meet it, the better the results will be. Demand signals and forecasts are difficult during normal times of stability. In today’s less stable environment the whole supply chain can get whip-sawed around by the market forces in play today. It is therefore of extreme importance for the organization to put the time in to dial in the organization to demand signal.

Making your supply chain more resilient is extremely important to the overall effectiveness and health of your organization. Spend the time necessary to align your organization on what’s needed to make it as bulletproof as possible. If you do, the reward will be substantial.

Riverside Logistics Consulting does this (supply chain analysis) for a living and would be happy to take a hard look at your individual supply chain and make recommendations on how to shore it up. This process can pay high dividends in a short period of time. If you need more information, contact Jim Durfee at 804-474-7700 extension #4. We’re here to help.

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When should I consider using a different mode for my domestic freight?

First, let’s go over what the domestic modes of transportation are. In commercial transportation there are 6 modes of note: Truck, Rail, Water, Air, Pipeline, and Intermodal. In this article we will be discussing all of them except pipeline.

Domestic Water and Rail transport usually revolve around bulk commodity movements.

Water/Barge traffic moves commodities like sand, coal, paper, lumber, stone, chemicals, and ash. Rail does too. Rail moves a significant amount of coal and other mined products. Most railcar fleets consist of flatcars, hopper and tanker cars used for handling chemicals, wood, stone, coal and mined product, dimensional lumber, and timber. Very little rail traffic is in boxcars. In fact, the railroads are not really building or leasing any new boxcars for their fleets. They have determined that the money is to be made in bulk commodities, particularly coal. Domestic water traffic handles (mostly) bulk commodities as well. Both Rail and Barge traffic are usually used when the commodities being handled are low in value and in bulk form. Tradeoffs between water and rail depend a lot on access to each mode, and whether time in transit is a concern. In addition, seasonal factors can come into play.

Water

Domestic water traffic shuts down when their bodies of water freeze or flood. There is uncertainty in delivery times attached to the water mode at certain times of the year, primarily during winter and spring. These can be disruptive to travel schedules. So, if consistency of delivery throughout the year is a concern, then waterborne traffic will be problematic during certain times of the year. Water has some inherent advantages over other modes. It can handle significant weight with little change in operating cost. The added cost of another barge in the tow is minimal. Water can charge extremely low unit costs for transportation. Their costs per ton mile as a unit of measure are the lowest across the modes (except pipeline, which we won’t discuss here). If you have access to water transport and produce a bulk commodity, such as those listed above, then it is a viable form of transport and should receive consideration. If you would have to truck product to the on-load and off-load sites to use water transport, then those costs must be factored into the equation, as does the cost of managing multi-modal interchanges to get product from A to B.

Rail

Rail on the other hand, doesn’t have a seasonality issue like water. It does have an access issue, in that, without railroad spurs at your Distribution Center (DC) or your manufacturing site, you would have to move product to and from the rail siding by truck. That also holds true for the delivery sites as well. Once again, a potential added cost that needs to factor into the equation. Rail moves, steel wheels on steel track, is much more cost effective than trucking when you consider the length of haul. The rule-of-thumb is over 1000 miles rail is much more effective than truck. One rail car can usually haul as much product as 4 trucks. One train can usually carry the equivalent of 400 trucks. Rail is the cheaper alternative on land versus trucking. However, trucking can pickup anywhere and deliver anywhere. Rail cannot. Trucking can also move product faster than rail. For example, a typical coast to coast shipment will take between 7 to 10 days via rail. That same shipment will take only 4-5 days by truck, even faster (2-3 days) if team service is used. Truck has a decided advantage over Rail for time sensitive shipments and on movements of perishable goods. Since truck is faster, the integrity of the movement will be better as well. Less opportunity for shrinkage or damage than rail. Rail can’t compete with truck for short hauls of less than 500 miles. Truck can’t compete with Rail for bulk goods and long-haul freight that is not time or travel sensitive. There is an alternative in the middle. It’s called intermodal, and simply put, it takes advantage of the best of both modes.

Intermodal

A truck picks up the load, it then goes to a rail yard and the contents (usually a container) are then loaded onto a rail flatcar designed for this purpose and moved close (as close as possible) to the destination, where the contents are then put on a truck for final delivery. One key factor is how close the rail pickup and delivery sites are to the actual shipping locations. The closer the more competitive intermodal becomes to truck.  This mode is perfect if you want to move product faster than normal rail, since intermodal trains are typically setup to run thru the system faster, and if you want overall costs lower than pure truckload. Intermodal looks like trucking to the shipper and to the receiver but utilizes the advantages of rail for the largest segments of the movement. One caution with intermodal is that you can’t stop an intermodal shipment while it is on the rail. So, if you change your mind or need to re-reroute it, you usually can’t do that until it completes the rail segment of the journey. With truck you don’t have that issue, it can be re-routed or stopped at any time.

Air Freight

The last mode available is AIR freight. Air freight is the most expensive mode; however, it is also the fastest mode from point A to B when the distance is over 500 miles. If time is the enemy for your freight, then air freight makes sense. Usually, products that are most conducive to air freight are high value, time sensitive products that must be at the destination as quickly as possible. Think computer parts as an example. Air freight movements are not usually large either. Typically, one to three pallets.

Mode Mix

When considering your mode mix you are basically balancing time and place utility against cost. When comparing modes make sure you look at total cost, which includes cash cycles due to terms of payment. Truckers are more lenient than railroads for example. Also look at damage and loss factors, inventory requirements, reliability, and flexibility.

Parcel Ground vs LTL vs Truckload

I will now take a deeper dive and compare Parcel Ground vs LTL vs Truckload. There are some key considerations to make in these evaluations. Ground parcel has what’s known as hundred weight programs for shipping amounts over 150 lbs. These programs make a competitive run at pure Less than Truckload shipments in the 200 to 500 lbs. range. After that, LTL usually is cheaper and a better choice. At the same time, LTL has what’s known as volume rates for shipments over 6 pallets that allows them to try and compete with truckload when the shipment size goes above 10 pallets. In most cases, if you are shipping over 12-13 pallets you are better off cost-wise to use truckload service. There will always be exceptions to the above, so use these as general guidelines only. However, it is important that you explore your options and use those options that provide the best fit to your shipping needs.

How a Third-Party Logistics Company (3PL) can help.

One alternative to making your own selections is to let a 3PL, like Riverside Logistics, handle your shipping needs. They have the tools and experience necessary to make optimum routing and mode selections for any client. Their Transportation Management Software allows for efficient and effective routing applying cost and service parameters geared specifically towards your business model. If you would like more information regarding what Riverside can do for you, please call us at 888-999-0734 and a Logistics Management Consultant will be happy to assist you.

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What Supply Chain Problems should you be planning for in 2023?

Here’s my list of the top 5, the no-fail 5 for Logistics

  1. Rate increases- you can bet that in 2022 rates will continue rising. These (freight rates) however have already shown tapering in May of 2022. Will it continue or is it just a lull in the action? Base rates have reached a level that is just not sustainable in the long term. My advice is to send out RFP’s and RFQ’s in late third quarter or early fourth quarter  to take effect in the first quarter of 2023. Keep a close eye on the drivers for rates, labor cost, equipment cost, fuel costs and borrowing costs. As these stabilize and maybe even start to recede, it will be time to initiate the requests. You should try to avoid the spot market by signing long term contracts that lock in your rates for at least a year. This way you can predictably plan for your logistics cost for the whole year.
  2. Capacity- Trucks have been tight all year. We are starting to see some improvement in the last 30 days. Will it continue? Probably, but do you really want to run your business on a maybe? Capacity will ease in 2023 especially if a recession hits. However, don’t you think that it’s best for you to do something to ensure an adequate supply of trucks or railcars or intermodal containers, to keep the business running? If capacity loosens up, your access to it will improve. But you are still at the mercy of a significant event. A pandemic, a war, a recession. Your best strategy in 2023 should be to partner with someone who can guarantee a steady supply of quality transportation assets. If you are a smaller business, with 100 million dollars or less in revenue, then you should take a hard look at partnering with a third-party logistics company (3PL) to protect your access to capacity.
  3. Service Levels- in addition to higher rates and less trucks, we have seen a serious erosion in service levels over the last 12 months. This is due to several factors. A primary cause in the LTL markets was their inability to attract and maintain labor pools necessary to handle freight at their terminals. On the truckload side, drivers were quitting or retiring in record numbers and that left it hard to find and run trucks. The entire logistics network went out of kilter. This caused severe backups at ports, terminals, warehouses, and manufacturing sites. It can be described as a domino effect. When one piece of the supply chain puzzle defaults, it affects other pieces, which in turn affect others and so forth and so on. If you want or need to improve your service levels, without risking cost inflation, I suggest that you consider partnering with a 3PL who can help find both adequate and reliable transportation for your goods.
  4. Inventories- with all the recent out of stocks (OOS), companies have increased their inventory levels significantly. With inflationary pressures and a possible recession looming, it may make sense for you to anticipate needing a lot less inventory to run your business in 2023. Pay particular attention to the carrying cost of your inventory and the turns associated with it. You need to carefully manage it in 2022 and develop a plan to be able to reduce it in 2023 if a recession hits. Inventory is idle cash. If sales volumes go down, that means more inventory related cash is tied up in inventory and is not helping the business.
  5. Customer expectations- your customers, like you, are weary of the pandemic related supply chain issues. Just like your ability to serve them has degraded, so has their ability to serve their end users. All in all, expectations have come down to earth, hard and fast. Currently, when you explain that a shipment or order won’t be getting to your customer as fast as they would like, its easier now for them to understand. This condition will change, more than likely it will happen faster than you think and require major adjustments to how you go to market. Be prepared to change your service model metrics. By change, in 2023, this will require much more stringent on-time delivery performance, less out of stock situations, and probably lower costs.

Right now, understanding the supply chain in 2023 is a crapshoot. Sitting back and taking a wait and see approach will not help. You must plan for what you think will happen, as well as, at the same time bullet-proofing your logistics network as much as possible. One key facet to this process should be taking a hard look at using a 3PL to enhance your logistics network.

Riverside Logistics is a 3PL with 25+ years of experience in warehousing and logistics. We have both the experience and know-how to help you “bullet-proof” your logistics network. We would love to have an opportunity to discuss this with you. We can be reached at 888-999-0734. One of our Logistics Management Consultants would be happy to help you.

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How would a strike at the West Coast ports impact us in 2022?

A potential strike at the West Coast ports  appeared imminent on July 1st but was averted,  for now.   The West Coast ILWU, International Longshore, and Warehouse Union had a contract up for renewal (July 1, 2022). They argued that since the Steamship lines have raised their rates significantly, and the port operators have made exceptional profits, that they should also share in the profits.  Not unreasonable.  Fortunately, as of this writing, it looks like an agreement was reached.

But what if the strike had happened? Below is a likely scenario….

First, the west coast would back up until long after the strike. Second, the east coast would get overloaded, very quickly, either due to sympathy work slowdowns or significantly increased workloads that exceed the east coasts port’s ability to unload and process containers. It would be a mess. As shippers re-route or diverted their shipments to the East Coast to compensate for the strike, the East Coast logistics networks would suffer. Instead of traffic coming from the west to east, those lanes would shut down. The capacity in the west would have less freight flowing back to the east coast so there would be a general lack of trucks to handle long haul freight, in either direction. The trucking network would be negatively impacted and take a long time to sort out. Intermodal movements would suffer as well. This would impact drayage carriers, produce container shortages and result in higher rates.

To summarize, everybody would suffer if the strike had happened, whether or not you ship internationally. The logistics network would be  out of balance, so costs would rise, service levels would drop, and every shipper would be miserable. Remember that it’s a network, with lots of moving pieces. When these pieces don’t move like they’ve been designed to, the network starts to fail. That failure is painful to everyone.

If the Federal Government had stepped in it would have tried to avert the strike. If that happened, then there would still be consequences. The West Coast ILWU could show their ire through work stoppages, slowdowns, sick calls, and any number of methods to slow the flow and impact as many people as possible to demonstrate their worth and power.

What should you do as a shipper to prepare? Here are 3 recommendations to try and protect your margins and maintain your logistics costs at a reasonable/workable level:

  1. Try partnering with a 3PL to lock in rates and services. 3PL’s have multiple contracts with carriers and these can help you manage your costs and protect your service. If you’re a medium to small sized shipper, this type of relationship can really help you.
  2. Pool your resources. Try to concentrate your business into larger pools of freight and sign annual contracts to lock in rates for at least a year. Don’t play the spot markets. You’ll lose in the long run.
  3. Have a plan. Determine what you will do if a strike happens, and you still have trouble shipping to customers. Be transparent with your customers. Make sure that they know what you’re experiencing, what you’re doing about it, and set reasonable expectations with those customers so they can plan accordingly. Make sure you re-visit your plan periodically and adjust it as the picture changes.

It’s not a good time right now for the logistics community. There are several potentially bad environmental factors hitting all at the same time. However, if you plan, partner with a 3PL (a good one) and pool your resources, you stand a much better chance of maintaining your relative competitive position in the marketplace.

Fortunately, a west coast port strike was averted.  But risks still exist in the supply chain.  The government can’t afford to let that happen, neither can the steamship lines or the port operators. A strike was either delayed or pushed off. However, can you afford to sit back and do nothing? It would be wise to discuss and plan for potential disruptions in your supply chain. Hopefully, you’ve weathered the Pandemic related supply chain woes and now this next potential disruption is no longer imminent. At the very least, if you are a small to mid-sized firm, try exploring the possibility of partnering with a 3PL to can help you navigate these tricky logistical waters. There isn’t any downside risk to looking into a 3PL partnership, and there’s a lot of help to be had by doing so.

Riverside Logistics would be happy to help you plan your logistics network, bulletproof your carrier base, and keep you competitive in the marketplace by providing cost effective solutions to your warehousing and transportation needs. After living through the pandemic and the effect it has had on your supply chain, you understand how fragile the network is and how impactful changes to it can be. Don’t be a victim of your supply chain without at least looking into a 3PL relationship. We are here to help and would be very willing to consult with you on potential opportunities to shore-up your network.

Riverside Logistics can be reached at 804-474-7000 Option 4. Ask for a LMC consultant and get started on being proactive towards your supply chain.

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