As the trucking industry navigates rates, inflation, and an impending recession, running your business by the numbers has never been more important.

Over the last twenty years, I have worked with carriers to develop strategies for an array of market conditions in my role as TCA Profitability Program’s (TPP) managing director. I have been able to see first-hand the fluctuating cycles of the market and the consistent challenges to the carrier business world.

My current read on this market is simple—major shippers are trying to pare down their transportation budgets leading to challenging rate discussions, carriers are facing the highest inflationary costs I have seen in the past 20 years, and the economy is facing an impending recession, which I feel perhaps has already arrived. Adherence to a strong business strategy inside the carrier depends on their attention to the core “blocking and tackling” that has been successful in the past.

My suggestions of “blocking and tackling” are:

1. Carrier service will be critical.
2. Keep an open line of communication with your core shippers. Sharing ideas that will aid both sides and tackling inflationary costs that are outside both party’s control.
3. Asset-based logistics can be a win-win to aid both sides in providing some solutions for the shipper and the carrier.
4. Watch your numbers – a weekly operating control report and routine meetings with your leadership team will be crucial.
5. Empower your people to stay tuned in to where the shipper is looking for trucking expertise to help collaborate to gain tighter transactions, and aid drivers to get their maximum driving time; and
6. Watch your costs. We need to make sure we are behaving in the best manner possible to reduce fuel costs, get all our assets seated, make sure trailer pools are effectively being utilized, safety is still the main goal to stay away from any unforeseen costs that we can prevent.
7. How can your “Asset-Based Brokerage” facilitate a successful customer driven solution.

If you have an interest in helping your business run by the numbers, but aren’t sure how to take the first step, TPP is taking its highly successful program on the road in the coming months.  I urge you to carve out time in your schedule to attend one of these informative sessions as they’ll be very beneficial and well worth your time.

TPP’s Program Manager and Group Facilitator Shepard Dunn and I will be at each event, sharing further details on the operational benefits of participating in TPP. In addition to spelling out the benefits of the TPP for the carrier leadership, attendees will hear first-hand case studies from long-time benchmarking participants. We’ll also provide details on proven solutions for the topics highlighted above.

We’ve invited our seminar sponsor, FleetOps, to join us during the events to describe how their solution may fit in any organizations way of managing and tracking their own numbers.

View the seminar agendas and register today: www.truckload.org/events.

See you on the road,

Jack Porter