LTL Re-engineers Customer Service for the “New Economy”
In this special edition, the editors of Logistics Management focus on the elements forcing the current shift in the shipper/carrier dynamic and how one carrier in particular, Saia LTL Freight, has taken a 21st century approach to re-engineer its customer communications to build more open, collaborative relationships with the shipper community.
As our recent reporting and research clearly indicates, we now need to usher in a new level of shipper/carrier relationships. The excess transportation capacity that shippers saw during the recession is drying up—in fact, demand for freight transportation is about to exceed capacity in several surface transportation modes, and forecasts indicate that this imbalance will only increase as the driver shortage continues to worsen.
And while the situation may sound dire, we’re happy to report that shippers and carriers are beginning to take critical steps to build more strategic partnerships that lead to operations improvement opportunities for both parties.
Savvy shippers are concentrating on serving up “friendly freight,” while leading carriers are breaking down communication barriers and offering a more data rich experience that streamlines processes and improves capacity visibility.
