The U.S. less-than-truckload (LTL) industry has made little headway converting to a density-based pricing model from the traditional rate-setting formula based on commodity classifications because current Transportation Management Systems (TMS) may not be able to rate cubic dimensions of palletized shipments, according to a top carrier pricing executive.
Todd Polen, vice president of pricing for Old Dominion Freight Line Inc., said in an e-mail last week that Old Dominion has made density based pricing available for about eight years, but has had little luck persuading customers to use it. "Cube based pricing, in terms of shipments or revenue, is negligible at this time," he said.
The reason, according to Polen, is that present day TMS' may not have the capabilities to price based on a shipment's cubic dimensions as tendered to the carrier, to incorporate differing mileage tables, and to implement dimensional pricing schemes where shipments are priced differently if they fall outside of a "DIM factor" which sets rates based on specific dimensional calculations.
Part of the issue stems from the fact that the legacy TMS' were originally designed to produce rates derived from the decades-old system of "class rates," and then incorporating a carrier discount, according to Polen.
Though there are likely TMS systems with cube rating functionality, they usually can only support pricing at the carton level because most shippers have cube characteristics loaded in their systems in that manner, Polen said. Dozens of loose cartons will cube out differently when stacked on a pallet--depending how well they cover the footprint of the pallet--thus making the actual density less than the sum of the carton cube loaded in the computer, he said.
As a result, neither LTL carriers nor shippers have the immediate clarity they need to properly perform cube based pricing of palletized shipments in real time, Polen said.
Carriers like Old Dominion are paid by audit firms electronically, so when the rate shown on the carrier invoice does not match the rate set up in the customer's TMS system, it is kicked out for "manual review," Polen said. This can result in delays in timely payment, he added.
Old Dominion believes density based pricing is the simplest and most accurate way for carriers to rate their shipments in accordance with their true costs, according to Polen. He said cube based pricing at the pallet level would eventually become a reality as TMS functionality improves, carriers do a better job of updating cube and weight in real time to customers' legacy systems, and as the cost for capturing cubic dimensions in real time from a handheld device comes down.
Thomasville, N.C.-based Old Dominion's pricing acumen is well known, and it has been a key part of its stellar outperformance over the past decade, a period of extreme turmoil for an industry that, ironically, often suffered at the hands of pricing recklessness.
In a statement, Monica Wooden, CEO and Co-Founder of MercuryGate International Inc., a TMS provider based in Cary, N.C., said its systems have "supported cubic capacity for years." As LTL carriers adopted density based rates, MercuryGate modified its rating structures and contracts in its TMS engine to allow for the alternative form of pricing, Wooden said.
LTL carriers have been looking to move towards density based pricing as they grapple with more bulky traffic that occupy a disproportionate amount of trailer space, and distort their pricing schemes. In late June, ArcBest Corp., which operates LTL carrier ABF Freight, said it will roll out density-based pricing on Aug. 1 as an alternative to the commodity classification system.
Fort Smith, Ark.-based ArcBest said it would apply minimum charges based on a shipment's cubic dimensions if the traditional class-based pricing does not produce higher charges than when the freight is cubed out. The unit will continue to offer rates through the traditional class system.
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.