The Freight Shuttle
The Freight Shuttle is a privately funded project that applies existing technologies in a way that would change the world of logistics. This project came out of the Texas Transportation Institute, and the initiation of this project will also take place on Texas roadways. Four great promises of the Freight Shuttle is increased efficiency, green transportation, lower costs, and increased safety.
Efficient
We all know how much time can be lost on our way to work due to traffic and congestion. Since trucks hauling freight also face the same road delays, they are frequently running into congestion that hinders efficiency. The Freight Shuttles would not have to deal with typical traffic (although we still would have to as commuters) because the structures will be placed above the roadways where the shuttles will run on two tracks in both directions at a consistent speed of 60 mph. Since there are no delays to worry about, pickups and deliveries can always run smoothly.
Efficiency is also present in the Freight Shuttle transporters design. The design accommodates semi-trailers and containers as well as a way of easily loading them. A truck can simply back its trailer onto the Freight Shuttle, which twists to pick up cargo and then moves back into place to transport.
Green
The Freight Shuttle will run on emission-free, electric powered guideway systems that are designed to be efficient, green, and cost-effective. Also, the system draws from alternative sources of energy that are available such as biofuels, wind, and solar.
Cost Effective
Time is money so efficiency and predictability will save money. Personnel will not have to wait around for shipments due to accurate times of arrival, and load times are drastically decreased so that everyone can move onto other tasks. One of the other reasons that the Freight Shuttle will keep costs low it does not need a driver; and therefore, does not need to compensate for drivers’ salaries. In addition to these simple strategies, the Freight Shuttle utilizes a frictionless path that cuts down on electricity use, which means that cost of operation is significantly less than moving freight by trucks.
Safe
100% scanning is not currently used at ports and borders simply because the system could not handle that much volume; however, the Freight Shuttle has planned for specialized terminals that would scan freight without having to stop the freight or disrupt it. The Freight Shuttle system is also very safe for passenger and pedestrian traffic since it will be elevated above the roads and sidewalks. And the safeness of the Freight Shuttle can constantly be monitored by wireless communications, fiber optic channels, and GPS. These systems will keep up with operating conditions, location, and status.
Sounds great, but what about the difficulties of constructing this? The plans include building guideways in the medians of current highways and roadways. They claim that construction will not interfere with typical travel due to overhead construction techniques that will not close roads or cause congestion.
Are You on Social Media?
No business today is going to thrive by refusing to get on social media. Even if it seems like child’s play it is a tremendous business tool if used properly. That is no less true for a freight agent. However, just being on social media is one thing; knowing how to use it is another.
In the same way, understanding how and what to post on your different social media platforms is just as important as which ones to have. As a freight agent, certain types of social media sites work better than others.
To decide which platforms work best you must first think about the type of content that you have to share and which platforms cater to that content. For instance, on LinkedIn, you post your resume, you can create a blog on your LinkedIn page, and you can connect with past and current colleagues and associates.
Your posts will likely not be as regular as say on Facebook where nearly all of its more than a billion users login to their Facebook page every day. On that platform pictures and videos with a little bit of intro text get the most attention. Videos tend to produce more shares and shorts that include a trending hashtag spread the farthest. With that said here are the top social media platforms for freight agents:
Your Facebook page enables you to accrue a following that will likely follow you to your website. The trick is to post at regular enough intervals to keep your followers engaged but not to flood their newsfeeds with your posts. Your posts must also be succinct yet engaging enough to make your Facebook visitors click on the link to your freight agent website.
For businesses like a freight agency, Twitter is a great way to promote an event, promotion, or news release. Using a hashtag or linking your tweets to a trending hashtag is the best way to make sure that your tweet gets seen by a larger number of people.
When you want to network professionally, your LinkedIn account is the best place to show off your experience and expertise. Your resume highlights your past experience and your status updates can be used to keep people informed of what you are doing now.
A good tip for how to craft your posts on these different websites is to think about your audience first. Most Twitter users are between 18 and 45. Your posts should be targeted to be relevant to the crowd you are trying to reach. LinkedIn users are the oldest of all users and Instagram users are the youngest but the biggest sharers.
As a shipper if one of your pages gave people a place to vent, you could attract a lot of interesting traffic and it will help guide your thought process for future posts. This can help you craft the kind of content for your website that will attract new clients with this social media strategy.
LTL Rates Changing
If you’ve been in transportation or logistics for any length of time, you already know that nothing stays the same for long. Recent LTL rates and capacity levels have been below the historical levels we saw from 2005-2010. But that’s about to change, and it’s already started. Most general rate increases happened late last fall. They’re typically on an annual cycle, so we expected to see them come this fall. But they’re here already. The increases aren’t any larger than expected, but because they’re happening earlier in the year, they still add up.
While the autumnal general rate increases may be here sooner than usual, the shift isn’t exactly coming out of left field. Other aspects of the transportation industry face similar changes and challenges. Transactional truckload rates are also up rather substantially which may affect truckload efficiency later this year. These types of changes promote a lot of movement between LTL and truckload service.
There are probably an infinite number of reasons why we’re seeing LTL pricing changes, but we’ll focus on a top five, the reasons large enough to tip the scales for everyone, not just a specific company or industry.
1. There’s More Ecommerce, and It’s Changing the Game
With the advent of “free shipping,” consumers no longer hold their online order until they can justify the shipping costs. Since products sold online ship directly to consumers’ homes rather than to brick and mortar stores, there’s more emphasis on the final mile than ever. And all of these small shipments are adding demand in the LTL space and potentially lessening the demand for full truckloads.
2. Manufacturing is Growing Too
According to the ISM index, the manufacturing sector shows nine consecutive months of expansion. That means more transportation, for both the raw materials used in the manufacturing process as well as for the finished product that’s being moved to distribution centers and customers.
3. Carriers Are Using Technology to Price Better
Just as shippers use historical shipping data to improve their supply chains, LTL carriers are adopting technology that helps them be more efficient and better understand what freight is profitable and what freight isn’t. Dimensionalizers are just one example of the latest technology that carriers are using. Dimensioning machines can accurately calculate the amount of space a shipment needs within a trailer rather than rely on the National Motor Freight Classifications (NMFC). These tools lead carriers to be more accurate in allocating cube and weight, which can affect shared capacity pricing.
4. Driver Shortage
Even more pressing is the number of drivers that leave their driving jobs for construction jobs every summer. Combined, these situations are adding a great deal of pressure to the availability of drivers.
5. Operations Changes
While new LTL carriers rarely come on the scene, we do see acquisitions and consolidations among existing LTL carriers. This can cause capacity that was once readily available to leave the market entirely. In addition, several regional LTL carriers are adjusting their service areas, adding stress in the areas most affected by changing service boundaries.
LTL Liabilities and Freight Claims
To most shippers, an LTL carrier’s ability or willingness to cover the value of their product in the event of loss or damage, is secondary. Secondary, that is, to cheap rates, fast transit and/or great service (most LTL carriers are geared for a combination of two out of these three). However, somewhere in the race to find a low freight class for a product and the cheaper rates that go along with it, lost is the thought of checking the carrier’s standard liability coverage for a given freight class. The truth is, the lower the freight class, the less liability coverage per pound an LTL carrier will offer, so as to offset the cheaper freight rates.
Different carriers will have different brackets, most will start coverage with a maximum of $.50-$2.00 per pound for class 50 freight, then in a graduated fashion up to a maximum of $15.00-$25.00 per pound for class 500 freight. One thing they all share is a liability coverage of $.10 per pound for used machinery and equipment and most used articles that fall in the category of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
While thought of damage or loss is not foremost when negotiating rates with LTL carriers, a point should be made to check the liability coverage of a carrier against known value of expected future freight. If the LTL carrier cannot or will not cover the value of the merchandise (though most common carriers will extend extra coverage at rather high rates), outside cargo insurance providers will step in to insure such freight. If a company routinely sends out high value freight, the best thing to do is to seek an open cargo policy with an outside insurer that will automatically cover all freight this shipper has for full value. A 3rd party logistics provider usually borrows some aspects from both worlds. As a general rule, they bear no direct liability in case of damage or loss by carrier (unless gross negligence is proven), but most are able upon request to provide cargo insurance from outside insurers, at rates lower than common carriers would offer.
To sum it up, shippers have multiple choice to make sure their freight is covered for its full value, whether it be from the carrier directly, or by undertaking and maintaining an open cargo policy themselves with outside insurers, or by going through a 3rd party logistics provider who has established relationships with outside insurers. There should be no reason why freight should travel on a wing, a prayer, and two crossed fingers.
Thank You Zack!
Elite has been very blessed to say that over the last 4 years in our success. We have had our customers, vendors and most importantly our staff that contribute to the success of our company, which not many people can say has been true for all categories.
You always want to have a chance to contribute to something and make it better than it was when you leave, and we try to do the same here at Elite with our customers, vendors, and our staff. With sadness and happiness we wish Zack Singletary great success, today will be his last day with Elite.
Zack has contributed greatly to what Elite has built over the years, and has been a large component in our development of the company. He will leave us better than we were when he had joined as he moves on to another industry to expand his career. We hope we have contributed to him as well to carry forward in his growth beyond.
From the entire staff at Elite we wish a very good man nothing but the best in his future, we all thank you for everything you have given to Elite during your time here.
Automated Ships?
In a world where autonomous cars have become all the rage of the future, it may be easily overlooked how close the technology is coming to seaborne transportation. The world’s first crew less, automated cargo ship will launch in 2018, reports the Wall Street Journal, and is expected to be fully autonomous by 2020. The Norwegian-built Yara Birkeland will use GPS, radar, cameras, and sensors to navigate itself around other boat traffic and dock on its own. It’s anticipated to cost around $25 million, which is about three times as much as a standard container ship of the same size. But investors say without the need for fuel or crew, annual operating costs would be cut by up to 90 percent. The vessel will become autonomous in stages.
The 100-container Birkeland is being jointly developed by agriculture firm Yara International and technology company Kongsberg Gruppen. It’s been dubbed the “Tesla of the Seas,” and is scheduled in late 2018 to start delivering fertilizer from a production facility to the port of Larvik about 37 miles away. The vessel will also cut emissions, and the company plans to reduce air pollutants while improving rad safety by removing up to 40,000 truck journeys in populated urban areas.
Rolls Royce is another company strongly entwined in efforts to fully automate cargo ships in the near future, and they have revealed concept designs for an autonomous ship that could be managed remotely form a control center. Operators would be able to monitor vessels by a remote link, and they will be able to carry out diagnostics and deploy drones to perform further inspections.
There are many proposed benefits to autonomous shipping, including reduction in shipping costs by decreasing the number of human operators and labor, but ensuring the progress comes with heightened safety will be the biggest challenge. All the technological building blocks are in place to construct and control robotic ships. What could prove to be more challenging, though, are the regulatory changes required to allow such ships to operate. At the moment, global shipping regulations are unclear about whether these ships would be permitted, how they could be insured, and who would be legally liable in the event of an accident.
New Electric Semi-Truck
Elon Musk recently unveiled Tesla's new plan for the Electric Semi-Truck:
Tesla says the expected base price in the US for the Semi with a 300-mile range will be $150,000 and the base price for the 500-mile model will be $180,000. While the 300-mile Semi would be about $30,000 more than the upfront cost of a diesel semi, Tesla claims it also can offer substantial savings on operating costs, such as maintenance and fuel. Tesla has started taking reservations and although these are impressive statistics and claims, the question remains open as to when customers will be able to take delivery. Despite that uncertainty, it is reported that Walmart has already reserved 15 of the new Tesla semi-trucks.
Here are a few guaranteed statistics from the Tesla Website
• 0-60mph in 5 seconds
• 0-60mph in 20s with 80,000lbs in max gross weight
• 500 mile range at maximum weight and highway speed
• 4 independent motors and independent suspension
• 1 Gear – No transmission
• Fuel Savings over $200,000
• 400 mile range with 30 minute charge (also known as the Mega Charge)
• Auto braking
• Auto lane keeping
• Million mile guarantee
• Regenerative braking (brake pads last forever)
• $1.26 per mile Tesla Semi vs. $1.51 per mile diesel truck
What is Machine Learning?
For today’s logistics professionals, machine learning is more than a buzzword. If you’re shipping goods anywhere in the world, there’s a chance you’re already the beneficiary of machine learning technology – an innovation that is helping reshape the logistics and supply chain industry.
But you don’t have to be in the industry to experience machine learning. Every time you order from Amazon or watch a series on Netflix, you experience machine learning. Algorithms passively monitor your habits and serve up similar products and content with now familiar suggestions like “You might like this,” and “Recommended for you.” Machine Learning is the adaption of the computer or software to learn, without being directly programmed what to do.
Machine Learning Helps Shippers Make Better Decisions
In the logistics industry, we are using machine learning to make quicker and better decisions that help shippers optimize carrier selection, rating, routing, and quality control processes that save costs and improve efficiency. With its ability to gather and analyze thousands of disparate data points, machine learning can help you solve a problem you don’t know is there. Analytics based on machine learning can consider dynamic attributes like weather or traffic and self-evolve over time to recognize patterns that humans would not see.
The power of machine learning comes from leveraging data across multiple systems and data sets. We can combine all the data we have with outside data sources like GPS systems, historical pricing performance and FMCSA to help shippers more accurately predict demand, analyze trends in supply chains, monitor seasonal calendars, and track daily patterns within lanes. Overall, this intelligence can help shippers lower risk, optimize routes and even learn new lanes at lightning speeds.
Natural Language Processing Saves Shippers Time
Natural language processing, another form of machine learning, is also drastically improving the efficiency of supply chains by speeding up data entry and auto-populating form fields.
When integrated with a transportation management system and email, chat, text and voice communication, NLP systems monitor and learn from these exchanges. Over time, the system recognizes the behaviors of specific users and begins to anticipate what they want by auto-populating shipping orders, bills of lading, and other transactions, which saves the shipper valuable time.
The benefit of using natural language processing technology is that it’s always learning. This “unsupervised learning” also improves the classification accuracy of tracking status by analyzing inputs such as weather conditions and traffic patterns.
e-Commerce in the Holidays
It is estimated that Americans will spend $1.42 billion dollars online on Cyber Monday, which is a 14% increase over last year. These numbers show that E-commerce is a growing trend, and it is crucial for businesses to have customer-friendly E-commerce tools. Here are some facts that occur threw e-Commerce in the past few years.
Cart abandonment decreased by 53%. The number one reason for cart abandonment in E-commerce is the lack of shipping costs being accessible immediately. Our tools give customers real-time LTL quotes
Average sales increased by 40%.
Customers benefited from the Transit Time Calculator, which sets accurate expectations from the start.
Customers were able to track their shipments online, which has become an expectation rather than a luxury. Online shipment tracking also reduced inbound customer service calls by 30% – saving valuable personnel time.
Average customer satisfaction went from 7.2 to 9.4 (on a scale of 1-10) after establishing PNGLC’s E-commerce tools.