One of the highlights of this year’s Surface Transportation Summit was the impassioned plea from Jacquie Meyers, President of Meyers Transportation Services, for shippers and carriers to collaborate.  This is not a new message.  In fact, it is a message I have heard many times over the past ten years.  The difference was the sincerity with which Jacquie communicated her message, the rationale for the message, the unique issues the transportation industry faces as we enter 2014 and the way her message resonated with the audience.  I have had the opportunity to read all of the completed post-Summit surveys that we received this year.  Jacquie was repeatedly singled out as one of the most important voices at the event. 

Trucking companies are not commodities

As we know, the pendulum swings back and forth over time between shippers and carriers.  When the economy is weak, shippers can play one carrier off against another as leverage to reduce rates.  When the economy is strong and capacity is tight, carriers hold the upper hand and can push through rate increases. 

One of the key messages that Jacquie made is that in recent years, shippers have tended to commoditize carriers.  The many shippers that have flooded the market with RFPs have tended to focus on price.  As several Summit speakers pointed out, some shippers send their RFPs to forty or fifty or more carriers.  Jacquie and others expressed the view that shippers often don’t take into consideration the range in quality from one carrier to another.  Quality is reflected in superior on-time service performance, superior customer service, late model equipment, strong safety records, excellent shipment tracking tools and low damage claims. 

This is a critical issue that seems to be ignored by some shippers.  Since a supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link, the use of low priced carriers can result in customer dissatisfaction and lost sales.