F or their considerable shipping needs in the United States, ZF, a Germany-based global automotive supplier with a large presence in North America relies heavily on a core set of contract carriers to transport their goods over the road. Leaning on core carriers provides an array of bene ts.
she says. “Your freight requirements will continually evolve, which will lead you to require services outside of your contracts. To work in the hybrid approach, a solid process and key triggers for moving freight between core carriers and load boards is necessary.” The challenge for shippers is to nd the optimal balance between core carriers and the spot market and to avoid disruptions in service and high rates for individual moves on the spot market. “Shippers should carefully consider and understand the role of load boards in their overall strategy,” recommends Greg Price, founder and CEO of Shipwell, a Texas-based provider of transportation technology solutions, including a TMS and private load board. Here are some key considerations for striking that balance. Large-volume moves vs. specialty moves. Shippers are determined to ensure large-volume moves go to core carriers, says Dean Croke, principal analyst, DAT Freight and Analytics, a Colorado-based freight exchange service that operates a load board. If they are forced to turn to the spot market in a crunch, he says, the price will be high and it will be dif cult to nd carriers for all their loads.
to the spot market and load boards to get their products and raw materials where they need to go. For that reason, most large shippers employ a hybrid approach that prioritizes a set of core carriers while integrating load boards occasionally either out of necessity or strategy. Smaller shippers, tend to depend more heavily on the spot market since they do not have the volumes to attract large core carriers. ONE SOLUTION DOES NOT FIT ALL A hybrid approach of using both load boards and core carriers is necessary for many shippers because “one solution does not t all freight,” Felton says. “The market is in continual ux and being able to ex between each solution will enable you to get the best results to meet shipment requirements,”
“Our full truckload sourcing is centered around core carriers to stabilize costs, enabling us to manage freight to our targets,” says Nichole Felton, vice president, materials management, Americas for ZF. “Core carriers are also connected to our transportation management system (TMS), providing valuable information to continuously develop and design our network to keep up with the changing environment,” she adds. “Finally, core carriers are connected to our billing process, minimizing manual efforts to audit and pay the carrier.” Large shippers such as ZF depend on core—or contract—carriers for the bulk of their transportation needs. However, core carriers rarely can handle all of a shipper’s freight volume. For a range of reasons, shippers occasionally must turn
Shipwell’s cloud SaaS TMS platform features a personalized, private load board for shippers, 3PLs, and carriers. Once shippers and 3PLs populate their load boards, they can then make them available to carriers who can bid on loads or instantly book shipments.
130 Inbound Logistics • January 2023
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