Transportation Insight Resources

Blog

Disruption – Not Necessity – Is the Mother of Supply Chain Improvement

Perhaps you’ve heard the famous proverb: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” The saying becomes particularly popular when companies look for ways to overcome natural business barriers and deliver the products and services their customer...

Webinar

Talking Logistics – Supply Chains for a Better Tomorrow

Listen to our Supply Chain Master John Richardson as he discusses how moving to a supply web mentality instead of a traditional network approach can accelerate customer service, support disruption management and improve cost control.

Blog

How E-Commerce is Driving the Supply Web Evolution

We are living in a rare and significant time in human history. Anyone alive in 2020 will always remember COVID-19. When we speak of these days, we will remember the uncertainty, the “Stay at Home” orders, our cohorts in isolation, and what ...

Guide

Your Supply Web. Mastered.

Our latest workbook, Evolution of the Supply Web, gives you the tools and insight you need to start transforming to a supply web. From thinking about the challenges e-commerce brings, to understanding what analytics will guide future direction, this resource will put you on the path to mastering your supply network.

Blog

Parcel Volume Caps Emerge Amid Retail Slump

While a historic drop in April’s sales numbers revealed pain experienced across the retail sector, record parcel volumes indicate that “essential” businesses are still sending an overwhelming volume of shipments through the parcel networks....

Blog

From Micro to Macro: The Effect of Social Distancing on the Supply Chain

As the nation begins the process of reopening after the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a lot to look forward to. Friends will assemble once more, and we’ll be able to gather at our favorite places to eat, drink and socialize. One challenge in a...

Blog

5 FAQs: Understanding Your 3PL’s Business Continuity Strategy

As Transportation Insight representatives talk with shippers across the country, we see some common threads in the questions they ask. They're interested in our plans for disaster recovery, business continuity, data security, and how we're ...

Blog

E-Commerce Delivery Burden Emerges for UPS, Amazon

The financial impact of COVID-19 in the parcel networks is becoming increasingly clear.

Blog

Serve Customers With a Personalized Supply Chain

Consumers have steadily been shifting to a more customized shopping experience in recent years. This shift went into overdrive as effects of the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the globe, and traditional shopping methods were cut off.

Webinar

Balancing Customer Choice and E-Commerce Profitability Amid Uncertainty

Parcel experts Robyn Meyer and Read Jacob joined PARCEL Magazine to discuss how Transportation Insight is helping our clients evolve their supply chain to meet booming e-commerce demand without sacrificing service or cost.

Webinar

Is your Data Ready for Emerging Technology and COVID-19 Recovery?

Listen to our Supply Chain Master, John Richardson, as he shares with Talking Logistics Host Adrian Gonzalez actionable tips for senior leaders responding to disruption and advancing strategies to protect business performance in the future.

Blog

Road to Recovery: Looking Forward in Trucking Beyond COVID-19

It’s no secret that the outbreak and spread of a novel Coronavirus has upended the way we work, conduct business, and even enjoy leisure activities. This applies to the truckload transportation industry as well, and it can be a great barome...

Blog

Master Omnichannel Fulfillment, Enhance Experience

In the 1980s, Service Merchandise was a retail force. The “catalog showroom” shopping experience attracted scores of customers. Beyond the “touch and feel” aspect of products on display, the retailer evolved forward-thinking fulfillment str...

Blog

Cyber Security Best Practices for Business Continuity

According to the Department of Homeland Security, the globalization of supply chains represents a significant vector for cyber attacks. Using the complex web of contracts and subcontracts for components, services, and manufacturing, bad act...

Blog

COVID-19 FAQ: 6 Transportation Questions

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to emerge in myriad of ways, none more pronounced than in the evolving buying behavior of consumers. Prolonged periods of self-isolation, shelter-in-place and quarantine practices is driving histori...

Guide

Q2 ChainLink 2020: COVID-19 Edition

Combining unrivaled industry experience with trend analysis and forecasts in one resource, we’ve created a Q2 report to help enhance customer experience, manage transportation budget and master your supply chain.

Blog

Building a Sustainable Supply Chain Beyond the Second Quarter

The first three months of 2020 presented a challenge that nobody in the world could have foreseen. The COVID-19 crisis forced the United States to move from a steadily growing economy to one that slowed significantly nearly overnight.

Blog

Control Fulfillment Fate Without Amazon

COVID-19’s global impact quickly became a significant disruption to North American supply chains. For many small package shippers the emergence of a global pandemic only exacerbated a storm brewing for several years.

Blog

Postal Service Forecast Bleak

The COVID-19 crippling of some transportation networks is driving the already struggling U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to a perilous brink. An organization facing enormous liabilities, significant net operating losses and failing business prac...

Blog

Truckload Rate Drops Spur Strategic Procurement

The opinion in the truckload and intermodal industry is that the COVID-19 pandemic will have an ongoing impact on North American domestic transportation, from shippers to carriers to brokers alike. Not all of that impact will be negative.

Blog

Is Your 3PL Prepared For A Cyber Attack?

It's not a matter of if your supply chain comes under attack; it's a matter of when. Cyber defenses are only as good as their weakest link. That may be a network-connected device with a default password or a customer service rep who thinks ...

Blog

Parcel Service Environment Evolving to Meet Demand

As COVID-19 shelter-in-place and quarantine guidelines drive a spike in residential deliveries, parcel carriers’ commercial volume is plummeting. Those carriers are taking on additional cost in the support of service that is far less profit...

Blog

International Logistics in Q2 2020: Short-Term Volatility Towards Long-Term Stability

The outbreak of COVID-19 has taken an immeasurable human toll around the world, while supply chains went dark seemingly overnight. On an international scale, the novel Coronavirus is creating a challenge we have never seen before.

Blog

Driving Cost Optimization Throughout 2020 in the Less-Than-Truckload World

In the midst of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, logistics has taken a center stage in the American lifestyle. Less-Than-Truckload logistics is moving much of the food and essential supplies we need to stay safe during the situation.

Blog

Truckload Procurement Management Drives Cost Benefits

One of the prevailing outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is a renewed priority on strong supply chain networks supported by transportation service providers ready, willing and able to move freight at the most advantageous cost.

Guide

Operation Data Security: A Playbook for Business Continuity

We created Operation Data Security to highlight some of the business continuity threats facing your supply chain organization, and best practices to prepare for an event. Read the Guide today to make sure your supply chain is prepared to withstand disruptions from any corner.

Blog

Indirect Supply Management Matters in Today’s Environment

As companies adjust to life altered by the novel Coronavirus outbreak, manufacturing is one of the hardest-hit sectors of the economy. In addition to being asked to adapt their assembly lines to produce personal protective equipment, their ...

Blog

Insight From Supply Chain Technology Matters

Across the country, essential businesses and processes are on the front line of combating the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Countless doctors, nurses and first responders are working around the clock to preserve lives and help us e...

Blog

Driving Optimization in the Supply Chain to Balance Cost and Risk

As we continue to face uncertainty in the supply chain, it’s natural to worry about financial viability. On March 30, PwC published a survey that revealed 87 percent of businesses said COVID-19 created a potential for significant impact to ...

Webinar

Market Update: COVID-19 Current Impacts

Listen to the webinar to get the latest multi-modal information about the global supply chain impact of Coronavirus and learn how you can adapt your practices to keep your freight moving.

Blog

Volumes, Rates Complicate International Transportation

Overseas shutdowns caused by COVID-19 continue to affect North American supply chains. Just as some domestic transportation rates continue to plunge, strategic capacity reductions by ocean-going vessel operators combined with record air fre...

Blog

Blockchain Data Sharing is Caring – Can You Trust Your Partners?

Supply chain strategies after the COVID-19 disruption will likely be significantly different for many organizations. Those new strategies, like the old, will be built on data, but it, too, will be quite a bit different. Information that dro...

Blog

Supply Chain Professionals Mobilize for Rapid COVID-19 Changes

Today’s special article comes from Client Solutions Director William McCallum, who works with Transportation Insight clients daily to navigate market changes and drive solutions. The information and solutions come from clients he has worked...

Blog

Examine Indirect Spend to Drive COVID-19 Cost Savings

In times of crisis, immediate challenges that jeopardize your ability to operate and serve customers deserve your central focus. While apparent pain points get quick reactions, the underlying business activities that support your ability to...

Blog

Being Productive Partners in the Global Supply Chain

Concerns about the global supply chain weigh heavy on everyone’s mind. Because China was hit hard at the beginning of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, production lines throughout the country were severely disrupted, leading to blank sailings...

Blog

COVID-19: Multimodal Changes Complicate Planning

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create widespread volatility across almost every aspect of the global economy. As the virus affects business civilizations in broad and over-arching ways, individual street-level scenarios in a new crisis ...

Blog

Managing Deliveries to New York in the Coronavirus Emergency

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect cities and states, forcing governing officials to make emergency decisions. While the federal government is calling for social distancing through Apr. 30, many states are issuing “Stay At Home” orde...

Blog

Overseas COVID-19 Disruption Spurs Domestic Shipping Challenges

As North American supply chains adapt to expanding state and federal COVID-19 shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines, the effect of overseas disruptions continue to create new challenges.

Webinar

Uncover Indirect Spend and Reclaim Lost Profit

Director of Sourcing Solutions Gene Smith shares his insight on how to identify and control areas of indirect spend that can consume almost half your expense budget.

Webinar

Achieve E-Commerce Fulfillment Excellence

Are you a manufacturer focused on improving direct-to-consumer service? Our supply chain experts offered best practices for manufacturers who are expanding their service to online buyers. Watch the recording to learn more.

Blog

Open for Business: LTL Carriers Moving Freight Where Possible

COVID-19 conditions seem to spur daily changes in regulations, carrier practices and available lanes across the trucking marketplace.

Blog

Is Your Logistics Network Built by Ants or Grasshoppers?

Most people know the Aesop’s fable about the ants and the grasshopper. The ants quietly work through the summer to sustain themselves for the winter, while the grasshopper plays music when the season is good. Before the winter, the grasshop...

Blog

Parcel Carrier Cuts Guarantees, Essential Workforce Supports Supply Chain Demands

Although many logistics businesses are adapting their processes in the face of the global Coronavirus pandemic, activity across the transportation lanes feeding North America’s critical supply chains illustrate a determined focus on powerin...

Blog

Omnichannel: 3 Ways Service Merchandise Got it Right

In retail, timing is everything. Deliver what consumers want where and when they want it, and you can carve a success path that lasts until consumer preferences change or another company performs your functions better. A lesson learned by r...

Blog

COVID-19 Parcel Delivery: Challenges and Solutions

Across the logistics world, everyone is feeling the pressure of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The parcel world may be affected the most. As more individuals practice social distancing, orders are increasing online – which means...

Blog

Logistics Mastery Despite COVID-19: Why America Keeps Running

One of North America’s greatest strengths is the logistics network. The U.S. rail system has 140,000 miles of track for transferring goods from origin to destination, along with over 2.7 million miles of paved roads that help move freight t...

Blog

Monitor, Pivot, Perform: Strategies for Unexpected Parcel Delivery Peaks

It seems a perpetual peak season is rapidly becoming the new norm in small package shipping.

Blog

Supply Chain Risk Management Lessons from the Military

John Richardson is Transportation Insight’s Supply Chain Master. For more than 20 years, he has turned the design of complex logistics strategies into an artform by helping companies craft supply chains that deliver optimal performance.

Blog

Coronavirus and the Opportunity for Supply Chain Correction

With every passing day, the effect of the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve. Thousands of lives worldwide have been disrupted, and there’s no way to measure the human toll. 

Guide

Prime Before It’s Time: The Service Merchandise Experience

In today’s omnichannel retail environment can you deliver the same innovative fulfillment performance? “Prime Before It’s Time: The Service Merchandise Experience” offers guidance on enhancing the experience your customers have been primed to expect. Download the guide today to learn how to effectively balance your omnichannel strategy with customer demands for service.

Guide

AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning: Is Your Data Ready?

We created AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning: Is Your Data Ready? to help you make sure your supply chain organization is prepared to adopt these emerging technologies – and generate operational improvements that deliver ROI. Inside we offer best practices for collecting, sharing and analyzing the information you collect.

Guide

Start the Cart: A Manufacturer’s Guide to Achieving E-Commerce Fulfillment Excellence

To help manufacturers meet the expanding service needs of their existing customers – and drive profitable direct-to-consumer growth, Transportation Insight offers Start the Cart: A Manufacturer’s Guide to Achieving E-Commerce Fulfillment Excellence. Inside we explore the intricacies involved for manufacturers serving their customers’ evolving e-commerce needs.

Guide

ChainLink 2020 – Forecasting Industry Trends to Control Supply Chain Costs

Released quarterly, Transportation Insight’s Industry Forecast provides timely information that empowers shippers to evolve their transportation strategies to protect performance and achieve competitive advantage. Download the Industry Forecast now to access experience-based insight that helps shippers anticipate and react to supply chain changes driving cost increases in the transportation marketplace.

Guide

Transportation Rates 2020 Guide

In this 2020 Rates Guide, we discuss the most important points that should go into every transportation plan, show you which charges are most likely to impact your budget, and explain how working with a seasoned, tech-savvy logistics provider can give you the ammunition you need to win in 2020.

Guide

Managing the Risk of Racing Amazon

Transportation Insight’s retail supply chain experts are helping shippers identify key areas of risk that exist in the e-commerce transportation realm. “Managing the Risk of Racing Amazon” offers actionable insight to help shippers make strategic, financial and operational moves that protect profit and enhance customer experience.

Guide

2020 Parcel Rate Impact Analysis Report

Transportation Insight’s 2020 Parcel Rate Impact Analysis identifies the most important points that should go into every parcel shipping plan. It shows you which hidden charges are most likely to impact your budget. Our Experts leverage decades of parcel experience to share strategies that will help you better manage your parcel shipping costs. Their actionable tips for 2020 can optimize your shipping performance and improve your profit.

Guide

Control Costs with Strategic Sourcing

Defining Indirect Spend costs can be a challenge, but Transportation Insight’s 30-year veteran of sourcing and procurement offers guidance on practices that help identify and control these expenses. Download “Uncover Indirect Spend: Control Cost with Strategic Sourcing” to achieve savings through actionable steps shared by Transportation Insight Director of Sourcing Solutions Gene Smith.

Blog

Data Analysis: What is Your Data Trying to Tell You?

The drive for visibility across the supply chain is based on the assumption of accurate data at every step. However, as the flood of data collected in the supply chain grows, it's becoming more difficult to manage and analyze it for strateg...

Infographic

The Ins and Outs of Free Shipping

Free shipping has become a common practice in the e-commerce world. Companies vying for more market share through an omni-channel shipping strategy are employing free shipping programs to drive online sales and keep precious website visitors coming back. How can you implement a free shipping program that is beneficial to your customers and your bottom line?

Infographic

Parcel Program Powers Customer Satisfaction

As e-commerce continues to expand, organizations increasingly require on parcel shipping processes that fulfill client delivery demands and provide transparency. In this infographic, Transportation Insight offers small package shippers guidance on how parcel program investments can reduce bottom line costs, accelerate delivery and, ultimately, create better customer experiences.

Blog

The Service Merchandise Experience: Omnichannel in the ‘80s

Knowing that customers flocked to its stores to “experience” a select number of products, and willing to test out new technologies and retail strategies, Service Merchandise nailed fulfillment and omnichannel in the 1980s with its showroom-...

Blog

Where is zip code 99999? A Piece of Clean Data Makes a Big Difference

  Has your company ever shipped a product to the 99999 zip code?  Of course not. It doesn't exist. In fact, the highest real zip code is 99950, for Ketchikan, Alaska. Still, if you scour your database, there's a good chance you'...

Blog

What Do We Do with All These Returns? E-commerce and Reverse Logistics

  Consumer products manufacturers’ e-commerce operations need a reverse logistics process that can handle a high volume of returned merchandise efficiently and effectively.  That’s because consumers return goods bought online mo...

Webinar

Guide to Manufacturing E-Commerce Fulfillment with Talking Logistics

Transportation Insight Senior Vice President of Solutions Engineering Sophie Dabbs joins Talking Logistics and Adrian Gonzalez to share tips for manufacturers pursuing e-commerce fulfillment.

Blog

Brexit and Coronavirus: Two Disruptions Affecting Your Supply Chain

Supply chains are fragile in nature. When a world event disrupts the movement of goods, it creates a domino effect that stops factories from producing, keeps products off retail shelves, and keeps cars from coming off the assembly line.&nbs...

Blog

The Logistics of Valentine’s Day: Signed, Sealed and Delivered

  Signed, Sealed and Delivered: The Logistics of Valentine’s Day February 14 marks the most romantic day on the calendar: Valentine’s Day. It’s certainly not a cheap endeavor: The National Retail Federation estimates Americans will s...

Blog

Delivery Speed Drives E-Commerce Fulfillment Success

  "I feel the need . . .  the need for speed!" Today’s online shoppers certainly agree with the sentiment of Tom Cruise’s character in the 1986 movie “Top Gun.” Thanks to the “Amazon effect,” consumers have a nearly insatiable ...

Blog

Parcel Spend Management Clouded by Uncertainty

  Parcel carriers continue to evolve their strategies to protect profitability and meet the demands of consumers seeking shorter delivery times. Shippers racing to meet the needs of their own customers easily get stuck in the middle, ...

Blog

Drop Shipping: The Path to E-Commerce Growth for CPG Companies

If your well-established Consumer Packaged Goods company is like many legacy brands, e-commerce is in your future - if it’s not part of your strategy already.  We can thank brick-and-mortar retailers for some of this. Many now require...

Blog

Trade with China, UK Tariff Threats and Rising Rates

  Volatility has become a norm in the International transportation marketplace. Rising rates combined with a fluid environment of tariffs and international trade agreements mean that marketplace currents will not calm any time soon. ...

Blog

Improve E-Commerce Experience Without Sacrificing Profitability

In 2018, U.S. consumers spent $517.6 billion online, up 15% over the prior year. E-commerce represented 51.9% of all retail sales growth that year, with much of the profits going to Amazon, an e-tailing giant that many companies are hotly p...

Blog

Jan 2020 National Motor Freight Changes: Will it Affect Your Company?

Every quarter, the National Motor Freight Transportation Association meets to discuss changes to National Motor Freight Classifications (NMFC). While many of these changes are benign, some could see your shipping bill go up at the start of ...

Blog

5 Ways to Build an E-Commerce Engine that Wins

In an era where delivery choice and speed are becoming fundamental expectations for everyone, companies across most industries are rethinking how they receive, fulfill and ship customer orders. 

Blog

Reverse Logistics: Charting a Course to Protect Profit

In today’s marketplace, more of your customers are purchasing products online. Through the trust built by e-commerce giants, consumers are happy to purchase their products “sight unseen” with the assurance the right product will be delivere...

Blog

Transportation Management in 2020: 5 Trends to Watch

Tariffs, hidden charges, rising fuel surcharges, and increasing accessorial rates can all add up to substantial cost increases for companies that rely on the transportation industry to get their products from Point A to Point B. Because the...

Blog

Parcel Agreements: Reading Between the Lines

Parcel shipping volumes continue to hit new highs. That drives a continuous evolution of small package shipping networks. Both carriers and shippers are working to find advantages that support their financial performance.

Blog

5 Red Flags for Retailers Racing Amazon

Consumer expectations are fueling retailers’ response to service demands. Organizations working to improve e-commerce performance face hurdles that impede the path to profit.  

Blog

7 Pitfalls Imperil Indirect Spend Management

Indirect Spend presents complex challenges but brings opportunities for increased efficiency and cost control. Managing this expense area becomes more difficult due to the nature of indirect sourcing: smaller average supplier spend, more su...

Blog

2020 Parcel Shipping: 5 Trends to Watch

A major component of any shipper’s overall operating budget, transportation provides the critical connection between a company and its suppliers and customers. With a small number of national parcel carriers to select from, shippers that ar...

Blog

International Trade Market Victim of Global Trends

Political trade dialogue between sovereign nations continues to influence international shipping organizations and specific shipping lanes. The effect of lingering tensions between United States and Chinese governments become apparent looki...

Blog

Factors Affecting Transportation Cost Weigh on SNAC members

SNAC International’s recent Executive Leadership Forum (ELF) delivered economic insights and unique perspectives from snack industry and retail leaders. Among these, one recurring topic focused on transportation disruptions that are impacti...

Blog

Indirect Spend: Harvest Savings, Improve Competitive Advantage

Profit hides in Indirect Spend. When it comes to finding and protecting that profit, there are two challenges. The first is recovering profit from under-managed spend. The second: creating a competitive advantage from the strategic manageme...

Blog

Parcel Audit Services Power Network Optimization

Large volume parcel shippers have a huge transportation budget laden with line items. Often, this spend goes unmonitored due simply to the sheer amount of work required to track significant quantity of invoices, payments and claims.

Blog

Enhance Customer Experience with Evidence-Based Decisions

Shippers striving to meet customer expectations for service, cost and choice face increasingly complicated challenges. In the ever-changing modern transportation marketplace, game-changing solutions require analysis of transportation inform...

Blog

Why are You Paying these Hidden Parcel Rate Increases?

Here are three hidden parcel rate increases that impact all parcel shippers, as well as some tips for responding to them.

Blog

Avoid Delivery Disaster with Actionable Intelligence

Customer experience increasingly relies on an organization’s ability to provide seamless product delivery. Disruption anywhere in the order-to-cash cycle sparks negative consequences. If calamity occurs at points closest to the end consumer...

Blog

China Tariffs Drive Need for Mindful Trade Compliance

Right now, there are tariffs in place or pending to December on about $500 million in annual U.S. imports from China. The United States-China trade dispute escalated in August with an increase in existing and future tariffs on Chinese impor...

Blog

Supply Chain Optimization Empowered by Analysis Tool

Retailers and e-tailers are racing to meet customer demands for improved delivery. End consumers seek shipping options that fulfill expectations for speed, convenience, and cost. Achieving these service goals – and maintaining customer expe...

Blog

Parcel Shipping for the Holidays: Tips to Remember

As increased volume burdens national parcel carrier networks, shippers relying on small package shipping service face added complexity every holiday season. That’s especially if success depends on delivering a five-star customer experience ...

Blog

Diesel Price Headlines Don’t Have to Become Bad News

Disruption in the global oil supply chain sends shock ripples across the energy economy. Explosive attacks on Saudi Arabian oil refineries spur fluctuations in oil prices, just as hurricane season threatens North American energy production....

Blog

Trade Compliance Process is Critical in Volatile Marketplace

Talk of tariffs and trade wars between the U.S. and its trading partners – especially China – continues to capture headlines across the international trade landscape. While this is not a completely new development, the volatility in the tra...

The Game Has Changed – Time for a New Playbook

Vice President of Supply Chain Analytics John Richardson discusses the necessity for constant strategy calibration driven by evolving e-commerce service and profitability expectations.

Data Management Drives Omnichannel Supply Chain Planning to Meet Evolving Customer Demand

Vice President of Supply Chain Analytics John Richardson discusses the importance of relying on prescriptive analytics and to gain improved data visibility, understand real-time supply chain dynamics and make response-focused decisions.

Blog

3 Alternative Ways to Reduce Parcel Shipping Costs

Shipping cost management challenges are second nature for many businesses. Optimizing vendor management, carrier relationships and total resource use for shipping is an incredibly complex process. Raw data and input from diverse stakeholder...

Clearing the Last Mile Hurdle Raises Prospects for Profitability

In this article, Transportation Insight Vice President of Parcel Operations Todd Benge offers his insider-level strategies for controlling final mile shipping costs.

Blog

Using Lean to Reduce Trucking Costs and Freight Rates

The U.S. trucker shortage has been ongoing for years. As the situation has evolved, many expect trucking costs to increase as freight service providers work to adapt to the new challenges that come with managing, retaining, and recruiting s...

Blog

Logistics Disruption at Center of Manufacturing Trends for 2019

The manufacturing sector has been going through a period of frequent, disruptive changes in its attempts to recover from the economic recession of the late 2000s. Gradual recovery has hit a tipping point into growth, but 2019 could end up s...

Blog

Exploring the Importance and Challenges of Secondary Packaging

The e-commerce explosion is leaving retailers scrambling to differentiate themselves through excellent customer experiences. Think about it. In a traditional store, a brand that focuses on offering deeply personal, nuanced services can do s...

Blog

What Did Omni-Channel Retailers Learn From the Peak Holiday 2018 Season?

In the aftermath of the 2018 holiday shopping season, it is clear that the move toward omni-channel experiences is fueling change in the supply chain.

Case Study

Bundled Technology Solution Enables Nonprofit to Refocus on Serving

Understand how a nonprofit organization collaborates with Transportation Insight to improve transportation processes, increase employee productivity, add service flexibility and earn U.S. EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership certification.

Case Study

Engineering a Predictive, Consistent and Efficient Shipping Solution

A global manufacturer experiencing inconsistent inbound, outbound and intra-company shipments implemented Transportation Insight’s Enterprise Logistics solution to improve visibility, reduce cost and accelerate profitability.

Case Study

Logistics Solution Uncovers Efficiency Gains for Large Nutrition Manufacturer

Learn how Transportation Insight uses deep industry knowledge, Insight TMS® and data-driven supply chain analysis to help a nutritional supplement manufacturer optimize network design and improve transportation cost management.

Blog

4 Reasons to Modernize Logistics Management Practices

Shipping and logistics management have long been segregated into disparate categories, creating an illusion that these areas of operation are highly divided in nature. In practice, shipping and logistics processes are heavily dependent on o...

A Balancing Act: How to Best Manage Omni-Channel Growth and Mitigate Associated Risks

In this article recently published in PARCEL magazine, Vice President of Client Solutions Rick Brumett discusses critical strategies that omni-channel shippers must implement effectively to thrive in today’s rapidly changing global business environment.

Blog

Top 5 Insights for Parcel Logistics in 2019

Parcel shipping continues to claim a larger share of the transportation market as manufacturers and retailers respond to consumer demands. Globally, annual volume could exceed 100 billion parcels by 2020. More companies are coming to unders...

Blog

Road Ahead is Bumpy, but Outlook is Strong for Transportation Equipment Makers

New cars and trucks, heavy equipment, aircraft, ships and other transportation modes rely on a complex international supply chain that's unpredictable even in the best of times. Despite  uncertainty, the outlook is strong for manufactu...

Blog

Manufacturing Moves the Nation

Even with the growth in technology and service sectors, manufacturing contributes $2.33 trillion to the U.S. economy. Many other critical business sectors, from mining to finance to supply chain partners, rely on the success of the manufact...

Blog

Tackle Global Trade Uncertainty With Enterprise Logistics Solutions

With tariffs and the threat of trade wars looming, global commerce has never been more uncertain. Moreover, the pace of change will only accelerate with unrelenting pressure to develop agile and responsive supply chains to support domestic ...

Infographic

Transportation Insight Parcel Solutions for Enterprise Shippers

Transportation Insight's audit, engineering and advanced analytics solutions help small package shippers execute a program that can exist on its own or as part of an integrated multimodal Enterprise Logistics solution. The Insight Parcel team leverages proprietary auditing and analytical technologies, along with decades of insider-level expertise, to build solutions that empower shippers to achieve cost savings, reduce cycle times and improve customer satisfaction.

Blog

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old; One is Silver and the Other Gold

That old scouting song has something important to tell us about relationships with Enterprise Logistics Providers. No one knows your business better than you, especially when it comes to servicing your customers. So why should you compromis...

Blog

Automotive Supply Chains Poised for Top Speed

In 2016, the U.S. auto industry sold a record 17.6 million vehicles – down slightly to 17.25 million in 2017 – with incentives such as rebates and low-financing packages driving much of those sales. Those packages can cost up to $3,000 per ...

Blog

TFTEA Compliance Poses New Risks and Rewards in Apparel and Footwear Industries

February 2018 marked the second anniversary of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) that has reshaped international trade for importers and exporters.

Blog

On-Demand Shipping is Disrupting the Retail Supply Chain

For consumers, the purchasing experience continues to merge the digital and physical, and retailers are adapting to keep up. Now, the supply chain extends beyond the store shelf, connecting to consumers' mobile devices and computers. Buyers...

Blog

How Long is Your Last Mile?

No one ever said consumer behavior was logical. Research shows consumers want fast shipping, but they also want it for free or at minimal cost. That can make your last mile ─ which is usually longer than a mile ─ very expensive.

Blog

Free Shipping Isn’t Free for All

Everyone knows there's no such thing as a free lunch, but shoppers have come to expect free shipping for their e-commerce purchases.

5 Things You Should Know about Corrugated Packaging

A thorough assessment of your corrugated packaging program could pay tremendous dividends across the enterprise. This infographic shares five good reasons that you should take a deeper dive into this integral component of the end-to-end supply chain.

Case Study

Client Packaging Success: Furnishing Savings and Innovation Solutions

Learn how this rapidly growing home furnishings manufacturer leveraged Transportation Insight’s packaging experts to streamline its existing program and rapidly implement another one to support a new imported product line in short order.

Case Study

Client Packaging Success: Keeping the Lights On

Learn how an electrical component manufacturer worked with Transportation Insight’s packaging solutions team to assess the company’s total packaging program and implement a corporate consolidation strategy to realize double-digit savings across all of its facilities.

Capacity Insights

Like many sectors of the economy, the transportation industry is going through a transformation of its own, with new regulations, new technologies, an aging workforce and increasing demand from consumers for more delivery options among the factors in play. Watch this short video to gain a clearer understanding of where the industry is, where it’s going and how you can position your company for successful carrier partnerships.

Blog

Rethinking Network Flows to Survive – and Sustain – in a Capacity Constrained Environment

A robust construction market and increased regulatory requirements are combining to squeeze domestic transportation capacity. The American Trucking Association has reported that Q2 2017 driver turnover jumped 16% (to 90%), and in Q3 2017 it...

Accelerate Breakthrough by Helping Human Experts

In this KnowledgeBase, Transportation Insight Founder and Chairman Paul Thompson posits that while machine learning and predictive intelligence will shape the era of supply chain innovation, creative companies that value collaboration, human expertise and servant leadership can change the game.

Blog

In the World of Global E-Commerce, Rules Rule

E-commerce continues to increase in material importance for U.S. companies as markets expand throughout North America and the globe. As global trade is increasing, vendor partners are sourced virtually from any geographic location, thereby ...

Case Study

Sourcing and Scheduling for Success

Learn how this client leveraged Transportation Insight’s logistics expertise, technology and capacity solutions to reduce logistics-related costs, improve supply chain visibility and raise its overall productivity levels.

Blog

E-Commerce Insights for Today and Tomorrow: The Beat Goes On

Shoppers increasingly want their orders delivered promptly to their homes, but many don’t want to pay for shipping, and an increasing number are seeking similar treatment on product returns. Retailers, wanting to meet customer expectations,...

Blog

Consumers, Cash and Carbon: A Challenging Balance

Last Sunday, I pulled into my neighborhood behind a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) delivery truck. It stopped at one of eight houses on my short street to deliver one package that the resident had likely ordered from Amazon. This event brought ...

Smart Change. Smart Engineering. Smart Supply Chain.

How can you thrive in this ever-changing environment? Charles Moore, our Vice President of Parcel Solutions and a 2017 Pro to Know, recently addressed this topic in an article that appeared in PARCEL Magazine.

Sweep the Dock for E-Commerce Insights

Multi-modal expertise delivers transformational insight to e-commerce shippers desiring to drive supply chain agility, enterprise profitability, and five-star customer service.

Examine Potential High Risk Areas within the Auditing Process

Outsourcing the audit and payment of your parcel shipments requires a very high level of trust. Here are four areas in which your partner should follow business best practices to ensure the security of your company’s money and information.

Case Study

Omni-Channel Accessory Retailer Refines Online Shopping Experience, Transforms Financial Outlook

Learn how an omni-channel retailer implemented innovative parcel logistics solutions to reinvent itself as an retail and e-commerce powerhouse, successfully adapting its supply chain to serve rapidly changing consumer shopping demands.

Case Study

Worldwide Distributor Restructures Its Network to Reduce Transportation Spend by 18% and Win More Business

Read how a distributor supplying time-sensitive supplies to retail store locations partnered with Transportation Insight to implement a phased multi-modal Enterprise Logistics Solution.

Case Study

Warming to the Challenge: Leveraging Technology and Expertise to Wow the Customer

Learn how Transportation Insight helped this manufacturer of cutting-edge climate control components strengthen its market position by implementing a bundled logistics technology solution.

Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) Compliance Overview

Learn how Transportation Insight works with importers and exporters to help them understand trade regulations, identify gaps in compliance and implement strategies to protect their goods and their shipping privileges.

How to Navigate Risks in Your Supply Chain

This article explores the many risks facing North American shippers as they manage increased global supply chain complexity and dynamic customer demand that has fostered the development of omni-channel delivery options.

Shaking Up the Brown Box: Big Winners in Supply Chain Evolution

As e-commerce fuels increasing consumer demands on product fulfillment and last-mile delivery, and digital technology becomes a catalyst for business improvement, Transportation Insight Founder and Chairman Paul Thompson shares his perspective on the supply chain’s digital evolution in this Knowledgebase.

Case Study

National Retailer Expands E-commerce Business Model, Realizes Operational Savings and Positions Itself for Long-term Growth

Read how Transportation Insight helped a national retailer expand its e-commerce business model, while realizing operational savings and setting up the enterprise for long-term growth.

The International Compliance Evolution: Enhanced Enforcement Creates New Risk

Learn how a proactive compliance mindset can help shippers avoid penalties from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol that could include hefty fines, shipment restrictions or even potential revocation of import/export privileges.

SmartWay® Excellence: Transformational Impact

The Ins and Outs of Free Shipping

Free shipping has become a common practice in the e-commerce world. Companies trying to compete in the omni-channel world are employing a free shipping strategy to drive online sales and keep precious website visitors coming back.

Leverage Data to Navigate Uncertain Times

The following Knowledgebase article by Chief Operating Office Laura Easley examines the mounting need for data-driven supply chain strategy.

Mitigating Potential Risks Within Your Parcel Program

Learn more in this article how you can reduce risks in your enterprise by working with a partner that operates a closed-loop parcel solution thoroughly and regularly vetted by an independent audit of processes, service utilization and parcel data.

Adapters Win in the Multi-Modal, Omni-Channel Fast Lane

In this Inbound Logistics Knowledge article, Rick Brumett talks about the race to adapt to the growing need for speed, choice, precision, agility and visibility required to satisfy end customers.

Optimize Your Parcel Operations

This article discusses how companies can achieve an optimized parcel solution through a “diagnose first, prescribe later” team approach. Learn about best practices that can drive maximum service with minimum disruption.

How Advanced Parcel Solutions Enhance Enterprise Logistics

Vice President of Parcel Operations Todd Benge, a 2016 Supply & Demand Chain Executive Pro to Know, explains how a well-engineered parcel program can optimize processes, improve productivity and support enterprise business strategy.

Case Study

Global Omni-channel Retailer Realizes 18% Savings Across 27 Locations

Learn how our team of parcel experts helped this global omni-channel retailer to reduce its transportation budget by 18% across 27 locations in only six months.

Parcel: Drive Success through a Proprietary, Proven Process

Short description

What is Cost to Serve?

Cost to Serve is the analysis and quantification of all the activities and costs incurred to fulfill customer demand for a product through the supply chain.

Think Outside the Box, but Don’t Forget about the Box

To build an optimized corrugated packaging program, it helps to have a strategic partner that understands how the industry works and can use that expertise to your advantage. General Manager and Director of Operations Gene Smith writes about the importance of implementing best practices in your packaging program as a key component of an Enterprise Logistics platform.

Case Study

Tackling Runaway Supply Chain Costs and Complexities: National Sports Retailer Takes the Challenge and Automates Transportation Network

This case study focuses on how automating transportation tasks and reducing complexity achieved rate reductions, overcharge corrections, and audit and payment time savings.

Case Study

An Industry Leader in Industrial Coating Maximizes Cost Containment by Integrating with Insight TMS®

TMS technology applications provide routing optimization, rate reduction, rate increase avoidance, time and administrative savings.

Case Study

Supply Chain Excellence Pumps Up Control: Nationwide Pump Manufacturer Experiences Significant Savings With a Strategic Logistics Partnership

This case study focuses cost savings from rate reductions, route optimization, rate negotiation, overcharge corrections, and freight audit/payment services.

Case Study

An Air Filter Manufacturer Reduces Freight Spend and Improves Delivery Time Through Optimal Origin Analysis

This case study focuses on optimal routing and distribution networks as well as automating the optimal sourcing points.

Case Study

Increased Control Improves Freight Flow: Air Filter Manufacturer Reduces Damage Claims

This case study is about providing service improvements to reduce the frequency of damages as well as to quickly resolve claims.

Case Study

Supply Chain Makeover: Health and Beauty Aid Supplier Reduces Costs and Improves Operational Efficiency

Freight savings, metrics and financial forecasting, freight pay & audit services for a health and beauty distributor are the focus of this article.

Case Study

World’s Largest Equipment Rental Company Saves Millions

This client found a way to manage a complex shipping network that included thousands of moves between more than 1,500 branch locations and hundreds of original equipment manufacturers.

Case Study

Dedicated Fleet Delivers Scalable Solution

A leading consumer electronics distributor recognized that many of their smaller retailers were facing stiffer challenges when competing with big box retailers.

Case Study

Valdese Weavers: Extended LEAN® Increases Velocity to Competitive Advantage

This case study details how the Extended LEAN methodology saved Valdese Weavers millions of dollars.

Case Study

LEAN Assessment Improves Flow

A leading wood flooring manufacturer brought a challenge to Transportation Insight’s LEAN supply chain consulting team to eliminate waste from its operations.

Case Study

Snyder’s-Lance: America’s Favorite Sandwich Cracker Brand Celebrates 100th Anniversary with Supply Chain Excellence

This case study is an excellent example of how an enterprise logistics solution helps companies grow faster than their competition.

Case Study

DSI Systems: Understanding and Managing the Cost to Serve

This case study details how DSI Systems shapes its supply chain for long-term success.

Case Study

Siegwerk: Visible Ink: See the Supply Chain, Serve the Customer

Siegwerk's success story about gaining supply chain visibility, reducing costs and improving service.

Case Study

Rotary Corporation: Leveraging Enterprise Improvement to Mow Down the Competition

How Rotary Corporation leveraged a complete Enterprise Logistics solution to broaden the gap between itself and its competition.

Case Study

Transportation Insight Client Dials into Vendor Compliance

Vice President of Logistics Operations Clay Gentry and longtime client Rotary Corporation are interviewed for Inbound Logistics magazine.

Enhance Granularity of Visibility in the Food Supply Chain

Jim Taylor, Vice President of Information Technology, discusses how track and trace technologies can help food manufacturers pinpoint developing problems immediately and ensure a safe food supply for all consumers.

Optimizing Your Supply Chain Network To Reduce Freight Costs

How do North American ceramics and glass manufacturers expand into their desired future state and increase economic profit?

The Evolution of Enterprise Logistics

This piece by Founder Paul Thompson describes how enterprise logistics solutions providers have evolved their service offerings to meet customer demand for expertise across the supply chain without disrupting existing client platforms and customer and vendor relationships.

Case Study

LB Foster: Building a Bridge to Continuous Improvement

L.B. Foster sites the dynamic effect of our LEAN expertise on their logistics and transportation processes.

The Marriage of LEAN and Supply Chain Analytics

VP of Supply Chain Analytics John Richardson focuses on the integration of the Extended LEAN® continuous improvement methodology with supply chain data.

10 Tips to Cutting Costs While Delighting Customers

Vice President of Client Solutions Sophie Dabbs offers shippers a brief list of ten ways they can reduce costs while creating more customer value.

The Rise of Enterprise Logistics: How to Remove Roadblocks and Get to Market Faster

VPs Rick Brumett and Eric Lail discuss how an Enterprise Logistics Provider can help shippers remove roadblocks and get products to market faster.

Knowledgebase: Accelerating Enterprise Logistics With Top-Tier Multi-Modal Solutions

As published in Inbound Logistics by Vice President of Enterprise Business Solutions Ken Wacker

Solve It Now: Quick Help on Pressing Challenges

Need some quick help on pressing challenges? This article shares the pros and cons of investing in business intelligence technology vs. utilizing a 3PL.

What is a 3PL? How It Can Benefit Your Company? A Quick Guide to 3PL Models

You may know the term "3PL" but are you aware of the various models that exist?

Growing Your Business: How A 3PL Can Help

Learn how to grow your company with supply chain excellence.

Using TMS to SEE Your Supply Chain

Explore the daily efficiencies that using a TMS will deliver by creating visibility.

White Paper: Extended LEAN: Taking the LEAN Journey from Tactical to Transformational for the Total Supply Chain

This brief white paper explores the concept of extending value streams from your suppliers all the way to your end customer using LEAN methodologies in your supply chain.