“Improved visibility for last-mile delivery service is vital for customers who want real-time updates and accurate delivery time windows,” says Jeff Bailey, CEO of ORTEC Americas. “Companies that still rely on outdated systems for route planning, order management, and communication are falling behind in efficiency and customer trust.” On the ocean shipping side, the days of memorizing paper sailing schedules are long gone. Instead, optimization tools analyze data for possible alternative routes and pricing, and present the best options based on speed or price. “Humans are great thinkers, but machines have a better memory by a longshot, so we balance the strengths of one versus the other to weigh the options,” Heimbeck says. “A machine can tell you what’s available, but the human has to make the decisions.” inland waterways for the win One increasingly attractive alternative transportation strategy is to move containers on barges along inland waterways. The Port of New Orleans, for example, is home to one of the most successful container-on-barge (COB) operations in the country; it logged more than 20,000 container moves in 2023.
With load planning technology, alternative options arise at the granular level of individual crates and pallets, enabling users to analyze shipment weight and dimensions to stack as much merchandise into trailers as possible without causing damage or reaching overweight status. Using load planning tools, companies can group products on the right truck to ensure the most efficient delivery route. Averitt also uses the latest routing technology to optimize urban logistics by routing around traffic tie-ups and short- term road closures to ensure drivers stay on schedule in busy cities. “These tools can change everything in a fraction of a second,” Mason says. Similar tech is available for last-mile parcel delivery, enabling drivers to adjust pickup and delivery windows on the go in order to avoid disruptions. Software firm ORTEC’s last-mile delivery solution, for example, considers inputs such as traffic patterns, delivery windows, vehicle capacities, and real- time updates to dynamically adjust routes to minimize delivery time and cost while maximizing labor and fuel efficiency. With these kinds of solutions, shippers can offer real-time visibility and tracking capabilities to monitor delivery status and provide customers with accurate ETAs.
Stress on the global roll-on/ roll off (RoRo) fleet and a shortage of multi-level rail car capacity has many automotive shippers looking for alternative solutions. Global forwarder D.P. World has developed a new technology that can help alleviate some of these concerns by shipping a greater volume of finished vehicles in fewer containers. Traditional 40-foot containers typically hold three vehicles at most. D.P. World designed a new “cars in containers” program for 53-foot containers that can hold up to five cars. The multi-level intermodal containers transport autos from assembly plants in Mexico via rail to destinations such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto. Transitioning vehicles to containers can help alleviate the capacity shortage, although the per-unit price is higher for containers compared to more traditional modes of moving automobiles, says Christoph Seitz, global vice president, finished vehicles for D.P. World. “We anticipate the 53-foot solution will enable an additional 30,000 vehicles to be moved between Mexico and the United States/Canada, at a time when RoRo and multi-level railcar capacity is constrained,” he says. Automotive Innovation
Averitt uses AI-enhanced decision-making technology to help shippers make rapid, network- wide adjustments and select alternative options in response to disruptive events.
August 2024 • Inbound Logistics 39
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