In a volatile transportation environment, a partner such as SEKO provides a distinct advantage, Yehia says. “They don’t react to the market; they are a key market player,” he says. “They give us visibility and help us through direct communication and the tools they provide so we can make the proper decisions by reading all the market data.” MORE BACKUP CARRIERS As geopolitical turmoil affects capacity and rates, so does turmoil within the trucking industry. “What if your preferred carrier all of a sudden is unavailable for service?” asks Rob Hammel, co-owner and managing director of KDL Logistics, based in Pittsburgh. “That has happened with a few major carriers.” Business closures and cybersecurity attacks sometimes knock carriers of ine abruptly. Carriers sometimes implement freight embargoes arising from natural disasters or just general overcapacity, making them unable to deliver service. “When I think of resilience, I try to look at all the angles of what could go wrong and whether we have
secondary and tertiary measures in place,” says Hammel. “Redundancies across the supply chain, including a shipper’s portfolio of carriers, are vital for business continuity in the face of unplanned events.” One way to make sure you can always nd capacity is to become a shipper of choice—one that collaborates so effectively with carriers that they offer you the best service and pricing, even when space is tight. KDL helps its customers become more attractive to a wider variety of carriers, giving shippers more exibility in transportation than they might have otherwise. “KDL helped us integrate with other carriers that we might not have used before,” says Glen Wegel, vice president of operations and IT at Kitchen Cabinet Distributors (KCD) in Raleigh, N.C. KCD manufactures wood cabinets in Asia and then ships them in at packs into four DCs in the United States. From there, it ships product to cabinet shops, contractors, and other resellers. When KCD improved its packaging to reduce the risk of damage in transit, KDL promoted that fact to carriers.
“They also provided us with feedback on things we could do to support carriers and drivers when they come into our facilities,” Wegel says. Those efforts helped KCD connect with carriers that otherwise might not have wanted their business. KDL has also helped KCD get better pricing. “Carriers traditionally look at a freight pro le and quote a price,” Wegel says. But once KDL points out how KCD turns trucks quickly and prevents damage in transit, carriers sometimes offer a better rate. In addition, KDL helps shippers collaborate with carriers by writing application programming interfaces
(APIs) that let data ow freely between shippers’ and carriers’ information systems. And KDL provides consulting
services, pointing out opportunities to increase pro ts, for example, by choosing different carriers, shipping from different distribution centers, or consolidating shipments to build more cost-effective loads. “We gather meaningful information, make informed choices, optimize processes, and improve ef ciency,” says Eric Elter, vice president of marketing and IT at KDL. Those services have played a key role in forming KCD’s logistics strategies. “When we looked at domestic freight planning, or bottlenecks, costing, or modeling, KDL was the go-to,” Wegel says. WHO ARE YOU? One big category of disruption on the radar screen at Jarrett, a 3PL based in Orrville, Ohio, is fraud and identity theft. Criminals who have their eyes on high-value shipments, or on less-costly commodities that are easy to resell, have found ways to pose as reputable carriers, pick up loads, and then drive off with them. “Theft is at an all-time high,” says Matt Wagner, Jarrett’s chief sales and marketing of cer. With so much information about carriers available online, thieves can easily pick up
Kitchen Cabinet Distributors tripled its warehouse and assembly space in recent years. Through a partnership with 3PL KDL, it improved how it delivers products to customers.
122 Inbound Logistics • July 2024
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