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Anne Reinke joined the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) as president a CEO in October 2020. Prior to heading up TIA, Reinke served both as the deputy assistant secretary–congressional affairs and deputy assistant secretary–intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Transportation from April 2019 to October 2020. Her time in public service was immediately preceded by a 16-year career in the Washington, D.C., office of CSX Corporation, where Reinke ultimately became the vice president–government affairs, overseeing the federal, state government and community affairs departments. Before joining CSX, she worked at the Association of American Railroads and High Speed Ground Transportation Association.
Reinke is a Washington, D.C., native and graduated from the National Cathedral School. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rice University in Houston and a J.D. from the Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She and her husband have two sons and reside in Alexandria, Virginia.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 00:01
The rising levels of freight fraud. Prepping docks for colder days ahead. And the effects of innovation and emerging tech on supply chains.
Pull up a chair and join us as the editors of DC Velocity discuss these stories, as well as news and supply chain trends, on this week's Logistics Matters podcast.
Hi, I'm Dave Maloney. I'm the group editorial director at DC Velocity. Welcome.
Logistics Matters is sponsored by PERC, the Propane Education and Research Council. Propane is the safe, reliable energy for material handling. Propane-powered forklifts can improve air quality inside your facilities for a healthier, more productive workforce. See how propane can give your productivity a boost at propane.com/forklifts.
As usual, our DC Velocity editors will be along to provide their insights into important issues affecting our supply chains. But to begin today: transportation fraud is on the rise, with bad actors posing as legitimate freight brokers and carriers with the aim of taking payments for services they will never fulfill. What can carriers and shippers do to be sure they're staying away from fraudsters and selecting legitimate transportation providers? To find out, here's our senior news editor Ben Ames with today's guest.
Ben?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 01:28
Thanks, Dave. By many measures, we're seeing a sharp increase of fraud across the transportation sector nowadays. The trend is industrywide, so this affects shippers, carriers, insurance providers, of course, and many other parties. Here today to talk about the rising incidence of fraud in the logistics sector — and some possible advice for preventing it — is our guest this week, who is Anne Reinke. She is president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, or TIA, which is a trade group for 3PL providers. Welcome, Anne.
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 02:06
Thank you so much for having me, Ben. I appreciate it.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 02:09
Glad to have you here. To begin with, just so we can sort of get an idea exactly what we're talking about here, what kind of fraud is TIA seeing out there?
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 02:20
Sure. So, cargo theft, identity theft, and freight held hostage are the typical ones that we are seeing. And in fact, our friends at FreightCaviar have a report out today, informed by Scott Cornell. Some of you know him; he's a transportation lead at Travelers a terrific, terrific industry expert. He says that cargo theft is soaring to a 10-year high and a 57% increase from this time last year — Q2 last year. It's really astonishing how much we are seeing and the kinds of sort of bold criminal activity that are taking place.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 03:06
Astonishing is right with those numbers. Does TIA, Do you have any clues why we're seeing this increase? Now?
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 03:15
There are a couple of thoughts that we have. One is, as you know, there's always been some element of cargo theft or fraud in the marketplace. What makes this different is a couple of things. One is, over the last two and a half years during the pandemic, there was this meteoric rise in the freight volumes, and so a lot, there are a lot of new entrants in the space. So, now we're not in a meteoric rise anymore. We're their opposite. We're in a sort of freight slump, and so we have more people chasing less freight. I think that could bring out fraudulent elements in and of itself. But secondly, we have a much more digitized marketplace. So, 10 years ago, you know, we were conducting things by fax and phone. Nowadays, it's all over internet, text, et cetera. It is far easier to perpetrate fraud with that kind of digital footprint than it would have been back in the day, right? And I guess the last thing I'd say is, this is, unfortunately, an unenforced crime. We don't have any federal enforcement, we have very little state enforcement, and so these guys and gals who are conducting this criminal enterprise, really can get away with with the perfect crime, so to speak.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 04:37
So interesting. You know, people often see digitization trends as necessarily offering more security, but of course, in many places, we've seen that that doesn't actually happen. So, when we talk about that, this big rise, do you have a feeling for who's been hurt by this? Who pays the price, you know, when it's unenforced or enforced, when this type of fraud occurs?
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 05:01
Sure. So, look, the end consumer ends up paying the ultimate price, because we have an increase in prices, but directly you have the broker and the carrier, who face the most to lose, so to speak. So, the broker is contracting with who they think is a legitimate carrier partner, obviously not a legitimate carrier partner, but ultimately, let's just say that freight does get to a legitimate carrier partner. So then, in that situation, the freight broker has paid twice. Now, if it never does get to a legitimate freight-carrier partner, then the shipper says, Where the heck is my stuff? and the broker can lose a customer. Now in the situation with a carrier who ends up taking a load, with what they think is a legitimate partner on their side, they may end up never getting paid. So really, you have every part of the transaction potentially hurt, which then of course, affects the end consumer in higher prices.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 06:01
Yep, we so often see it rolling downhill that way, for sure. So, troubling stuff here, but let's talk about solutions. I know that just a few weeks ago TIA released the latest version of what it calls its Carrier Selection Framework. I guess to begin with, for our listeners who might not be familiar, could you give a quick description of what that Carrier Selection framework is, please?
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 06:24
Sure. So, when our members are selecting a carrier to use, oftentimes, if they are new to the business, or have not had that much experience, they're looking for models, or some suggestions and ideas to figure out what they need to implement for their process to select a carrier, and so this Carrier Selection Framework does that. It suggests some ideas and information that could be a set of tools that these TIA members use when they are developing their carrier selection policy. It's not intended to be an industry standard. It's not intended to be some sort of checklist, but it does provide some things to think about, and so it can be just from what FMCSA regulations are to the latest that we are seeing from, you know, our members on the ground. And so we've updated it to reflect, really, this fraud in the marketplace.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 07:23
That makes a lot of sense. So, what are those updates? How can the freight industry reduce fraud? I don't know if you have tips and resources that people need to know. What sort of steps can can they take?
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 07:35
Sure. And absolutely. And as I said, we're sort of, no one's coming to save us. So, we really have to save ourselves, and part of that is education. So, we put together, based on the white paper we released earlier this year, there are some red flags that you should look out for if you are putting together, you know what you think is the right carrier to choose. So what is that? For example, does this carrier have a business address or a Gmail address? We would suggest that it should have a business address. Has this carrier been in business for longer than six months? That seems something that would be more comfortable and secure, and things like that. Does it have a principal place of business that's is [an] actual, you know, facility, or is it just a PO. box? All of these things can determine whether you're making the right choice or the wrong choice, we turned those kinds of tips and tricks into an education course that's free for our members. And as we thought about it, we think, thought, we need to reinstitute our Fraud Task Force, which the last time we used it was back in 2012, when we were putting together sort of the legal definitions of a broker. And so, that Fraud Task Force is now thinking through, alright, are there other things that we can do? We know there's there's technology solutions that many of our members are using in terms of carrier vetting and other tools, but what other things can we as an association do?
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 09:06
So interesting. That sounds like really good, concrete steps for for everybody in this area here. And I really appreciate your taking some time to bring us up to speed here and share some good advice.
Anne Reinke, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association 09:18
Well, we appreciate it, and we're vigilant. We'll keep going.
Ben Ames, Senior News Editor, DC Velocity 09:22
Thank you. I'm sure. Our guest this week has been Anne Reinke, president and CEO of TIA. Back to you, Dave.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 09:31
Thank you, Anne and Ben. Now let's take a look at some issues affecting supply chains. And with me now as senior editor Victoria Kickham. Victoria, you're currently working on a story about prepping facility docks for winter weather. Can you explain why this is important for warehouses and transportation operations to address now?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 09:51
Absolutely, Dave. Yeah, it may seem early, but now is the time to start evaluating your loading docks to see if they're prepped and ready for winter weather — at least for those companies operating in northern climates, where snow and ice can cause safety and productivity challenges, as well as dampen the effects of energy-saving measures so many warehouses are focused on these days. I looked into this topic for an upcoming issue of DC Velocity and learned that late summer and early fall are the best times to take a close look at your company's loading docks to identify potential problems, perform any maintenance required to keep things running smoothly, and also keep it running safely and energy efficiently when those temperatures drop.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 10:32
Victoria, why is now the best time, and shouldn't companies actually be evaluating their docks pretty frequently anyway?
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 10:39
Yes. Well, to answer the second part of your question first, as I said, yes. Most companies will do regular dock inspections, and they can be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even a couple of times a year, depending on the company's needs and their business. But the experts I spoke to for this story said it's crucial to do a seasonal inspection ahead of the winter months, because those cold weather conditions can be especially hazardous on the docks, primarily because of the risk of slip-and-fall accidents. As you can imagine, those situations can be tragic and costly, so it's good to take a comprehensive look before winter sets in. And late summer early fall is the best time for a couple of reasons. First, the warm, sunny days of summer allow the best conditions for visual inspection of the docks, which is the first step companies should take. Managers and employees will be able to see sunlight coming through in gaps or openings around dock doors or shelters, for example, and those are things they'll want to seal up tightly to keep the bad weather out and the heat in. Second, starting now will allow companies time to arrange for repairs or order any new items they may need to shore up the loading dock. Lead times can be long, so you want to account for that if you need say, to replace a dock door or get new truck restraints or even light fixtures, things like that. I spoke to experts from manufacturers of loading-dock equipment and accessories for the story, and they gave a really good rundown of what to look for and how to tackle any problems that may arise. And as I think you said at the beginning or, may not, the story will run in our September issue, which will be available online and in print in just a few weeks.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 12:14
That's some very helpful information, and we look forward to seeing the full story. Thanks, Victoria.
Victoria Kickham, Senior Editor, DC Velocity 12:19
You're welcome.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 12:20
We're also joined today by Susan Lacefield, the executive editor of DC Velocity's sister publication, CSCMP’s Supply Chain Quarterly. And Susan, you're currently working on the Quarterly's Q3 issue, which focuses on innovation and emerging technology. Can you tell us a little bit about that upcoming issue?
Susan Lacefield, Executive Editor, Supply Chain Quarterly 12:40
Hi, Dave. It's so great to be on the podcast again. So, for your listeners who aren't familiar with Supply Chain Quarterly, we are associated with the industry association the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, and we publish thought-leadership articles from industry experts. So, for our Q3 issue, our cover story comes from Mark Dancer, who really bills himself as a supply chain activist and distribution futurist. And Mark has been doing a lot of thinking and writing around innovation in the supply chain recently. He has this kind of counterintuitive argument about innovation. He says that where a lot of companies go wrong with innovation is they focus on best practices and continuous improvement. Now, obviously, best practices and continuous improvement are not bad things, but they tend to focus on making small improvements over time, or doing what we're already doing, just doing it better. But when you're in a period of disruption and upheaval, like the time period we've just gone through, you often need to do things completely differently than how you've done them in the past, so you need different guiding principles.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 13:51
Susan, so how should companies approach innovation?
Susan Lacefield, Executive Editor, Supply Chain Quarterly 13:55
Right, so in his article Mark presents a number of very high-level concepts that can guide or jumpstart companies in how they're thinking about innovation, and one of these concepts is the idea of proximity, or using technology to shorten the time between the emergence of a need and the fulfillment of it. And one pretty obvious and concrete example of how companies could do this is through using 3D printing. Another concept — or, as Mark likes to say, North Star — is this idea of flourishing. So, Mark says when supply chain professionals are looking to transform their operations, they often turn to digital technologies. But he argues that the most consequential innovations come from focusing on helping your customers innovate or flourish. So, the focus for any innovation should be on how to help your customers do their work better or live their lives better or help their communities prosper. So, for example, instead of seeing innovation as simply implementing a new technology, companies should be focusing on how they can improve the lives of their customers, and the new technology would be the tool for accomplishing that innovation, not the innovation in and of itself.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 15:13
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So that will be part of the Q3 issue, and that will be coming out soon, right?
Susan Lacefield, Executive Editor, Supply Chain Quarterly 15:20
That's right, the, that issue comes out in October, but this article from Mark is already online, so listeners can find it at www.supplychainquarterly.com.
David Maloney, Editorial Director, DC Velocity 15:30
Thank you, Susan. We look forward to seeing more.
We encourage listeners to go to DCVelocity.com as well, for more on these and other supply chain stories. And check out the podcast Notes section for some direct links on the topics that we discussed today, including that article.
We'd like to thank Anne Reinke from the Transportation Intermediaries Association for being our guest. We welcome your comments on this topic and our other stories. You can email us at podcast@dcvelocity.com.
We also encourage you to subscribe to Logistics Matters at your favorite podcast platform. Our new episodes are uploaded each Friday.
Speaking of subscribing, check out our sister podcast series Supply Chain in the Fast Lane. It's coproduced by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and Supply Chain Quarterly. The current series is on transportation tech. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts.
And a reminder that Logistics Matters is sponsored by PERC, the Propane Education and Research Council. Propane is the safe, reliable energy for material handling. Propane-powered forklifts can improve air quality inside your facilities for a healthier, more productive workforce. See how propane can give your productivity a boost at propane.com/forklifts.
We'll be back again next week with another edition of Logistics Matters. Be sure to join us. Until then, have a great week.
Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:
- Transportation Intermediaries Association
- Supply Chain Quarterly article: Distribution supply chain innovation and a brighter future
- Visit Supply Chain Quarterly
- Listen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Quarterly's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcast
- Listen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcast
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