How Shippers Can Prep for Hurricane Season

Extreme weather events were named the No. 1 transportation challenge for the next 12 months, according to a 2024 report from Breakthrough. With a bad hurricane season looming, shippers must prepare for how service disruptions will impact their long-term sustainability strategies. We spoke with Jenny Vander Zanden, Chief Operating Officer at Breakthrough, about what shippers can do to prepare for the upcoming barrage. 

Supply Chain 247: This upcoming hurricane season is expected to be a bad one. Are you seeing companies take the necessary precautions in their supply chains to be protected, and if not, why?

Jenny Vander Zanden: Transportation’s vulnerability to disruptions poses several challenges for companies. Disruptions, such as extreme flooding or snowfall, can have ripple effects on shippers' ability to move goods. Although some companies are actively implementing resilience measures – like market-based fuel reimbursements to pay carriers the real-time, lane-level price – others may be slower to adapt. 

SC247: What are three proactive strategies shippers can take to build more resilient networks?

JVZ: First, shippers should conduct trial runs with their teams to prepare for various scenarios, ensuring a swift response and clear expectations during a disruption, particularly if that part of the network is highly vulnerable. In this process, shippers should revisit and analyze their internal and external communication plans with their teams and external carrier partners and suppliers to ensure seamless continuity and agility through disruptions. 

To keep abreast of changing market dynamics, shippers should identify a trusted and credible source of transportation insights and benchmarks. This source will enable them to understand how the disruption is impacting their network and adapt their strategies for effective execution. 

Jenny Vander Zanden

Finally, shippers should implement programs that provide visibility and transparency, particularly in times of disruption. Examples include implementing market-based fuel reimbursement programs that account for fuel price exposure at a lane level and understanding how linehaul rates are affected in specific geographic areas in near real-time, rather than relying on national averages. Weather can have one of the most notable impacts on fuel prices and even just the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes can reduce supply, as oil rigs and platforms are evacuated temporarily in anticipation of a storm’s arrival. These events can have a significant influence on a shipper’s bottom line, adding uncertainty to the volatility of fuel prices and linehaul rates.

SC247: Can you provide an example or two of a company that is doing it correctly and building up the proper resiliency in its supply chain?

JVZ: While I can’t name specific companies without approval, I can say that the companies that are ahead of the curve are focused on building resilience holistically throughout their entire transportation network. Specifically: 

• Leveraging a trusted and unbiased transportation management advisor’s market expertise to navigate disruptions with data-driven insights
• Accounting for fuel market dynamics and disruption by implementing market-based fuel reimbursement
• Using a near real-time linehaul rate benchmarking tool to view what is happening in specific geographies compared to initial market reactions 

More Ask an Expert

 

Ask an Expert: The Benefits of Manufacturing in Malaysia

As the U.S. and other countries start to move their manufacturing away from China, there's an opportunity for other countries in Southeast Asia to capture a piece of the market. We spoke with Richard Barnett, Chief Marketing Officer and SaaS Sales Leader at Supplyframe, to discuss Malaysia’s role in filling that gap and becoming a leader in the supply chain sector.

Download

 

SC247: What role can technology and AI play, if any, in improving the resilience of shippers against extreme weather?

JVZ: Technology can improve visibility and provide near real-time access to information, empowering shippers to make informed decisions quickly. With accurate data on linehaul rates, capacity, and fuel market dynamics, shippers can proactively adjust their operations, reroute shipments, and optimize logistics to minimize the impact of extreme weather. 

SC247: I read that 2023 will become the eighth consecutive year of above-average hurricane activity. With this increase, do you foresee any long-term, strategic changes in the industry?

JVZ: I predict that shippers and carriers will establish stronger partnerships in response to extreme weather events like hurricanes. We’re already seeing that 51% of transportation professionals are prioritizing shipper-carrier relationships to help alleviate supply chain constraints. Strengthened relationships help enhance supply chain resilience and minimize the impact of disruptions on transportation operations. 

Subscribe to the Supply Chain 24/7 Newsletter and get supply chain, warehouse, and transportation news delivered directly to your inbox.