Month: <span>November 2021</span>

Congress has recently passed the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) which has been signed into law by the President. Contained within this legislation are two provisions that are expected to go a long way in helping our national infrastructure and the nation’s supply chain. The bill has been celebrated by the American Trucking Association (ATA) as well as many within the logistics sector.

One of the key provisions in the IIJA is a considerable amount of funding for American infrastructure. $110 billion has been allocated for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects, which promises to go a long way in restoring our national infrastructure. Reversing the years of damage and neglect to our nation’s highways will improve the supply chain by reducing the wear and tear on vehicles as well as a potential reduction in the amount of time spent repairing our highways, thus speeding up delivery times. This will also help with driver retention, since many drivers are paid on a mile basis and the longer a driver sits in traffic, the less they make. Many cumulative delays can cause drivers to conclude the effort of a shipment is not worth the pay and may leave the industry, possibly permanently.

Another key provision of the IIJA is the bill makes 18-21 year-olds eligible for interstate driving, putting the first step in place of training a new generation of drivers. This legislation will be a huge help in getting more drivers their CDL endorsement. This also allows for many young adults to begin their rewarding career as a truck driver at the age of 18, since many young adults can’t afford to wait until they’re 21 to get started. By the time a young adult reaches 21, they have started on their career and are rarely looking to reconsider their career choice by this point. Allowing carriers to train drivers at a younger age will go a long way in helping alleviate the industry’s shortage of drivers.

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of investing in infrastructure. One of our key missions is to build a more sustainable supply chain, one that focuses on preserving our nation’s infrastructure by reducing wear and tear on our nation’s highways. The investment through the IIJA will help rebuild our highways and bridges, while freight optimization will go a long way in helping preserve our renewed infrastructure. To see how we can help make your supply chain more sustainable, start today with Zip Xpress!

There is absolutely no doubt that a successful and rewarding career can be found in the field of logistics. While it may not be the first choice for a lot of young professionals, that viewpoint is likely to change in the coming years, thanks to a recent survey conducted by Korn Ferry and Penske logistics. In this survey, there were many eye-opening findings, one of which stated that 99% of professionals aged 30 and younger say that working in supply chain is a quality career choice. It is reasonable to state that there are few other sectors which have such a high rating as a career choice, especially by a younger generation.

Another great finding is that 58% of respondents are pursuing a career in supply chain due to its beneficial societal impact delivering essential goods. Now this was during the height of 2020, however this is a steep increase from previous years, where respondents who believed supply chain careers were providing a societal beneficial impact didn’t reach 20%. If nothing else, the past few years have shown up and coming generations the importance of logistics and how valuable of a sector it is to the American economy. Instilling a sense of mission and importance like this will be crucial in bringing about change in the logistics industry, especially as we face so many challenges ahead.

With such optimism, the logistics industry can begin focusing on the issues that matter most. Sustainable packaging or better yet, the elimination of unnecessary packaging. Reducing carbon emissions from trucks as well as freight optimization to consolidate shipments and eliminate unnecessary full truckload shipments. These challenges will require a ‘can-do’ attitude and with so many promising candidates in the supply chain, there is no doubt that many of these will be accomplished.

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of mission and purpose. We have a few ourselves – sustainability efforts, providing better service to customers, and optimizing shipments. All of our efforts are directed towards accomplishing these and we’re lucky to have a great team in place that believes in all of our efforts. We believe that any problem can be solved because we have the right people in place, ready and willing to help. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!

It’s hard not to be aware of the current challenges within the American supply chain. Every member of the supply chain is experiencing records – companies are facing record number of orders, manufacturers are at record output levels, carriers experiencing record number of shipments and so on. All of these records of production, combined with a reduction in truck drivers creates a record amount of constriction in the supply chain. This constriction has led to many organizations becoming nervous about shipment times and whether or not customers will receive their orders in a timely manner. These factors have left many companies wondering: when will all of this be over?

The truth is that each of these factors create long-term challenges that we will be facing for the foreseeable future. Manufacturers are responding to demand from consumers who are placing orders via e-commerce and there is a mad rush to find a carrier who will get these shipments to their destination in a timely manner. Since shippers want great service, they select a full truckload when creating their shipment, even if their shipment can’t possibly fill an entire truckload. Combine this with a reduced workforce of available drivers and we find ourselves in our current situation of supply chain congestion. This is a gross oversimplification of course, but each has long term effects. It will take years to find and hire new drivers. There are supply chain issues for physical trucks, which exacerbate the problem. There is however, a critical way in which we can respond to this congestion, a win-win solution to every member of the supply chain.

The first response needed is a coordinated effort from carriers to implement optimization strategies for their customers. We have a responsibility to educate our customers on the benefits of partial shipments as well as handling their freight in a careful manner to ensure that every shipment arrives on time and undamaged. As carriers band together and begin the process of optimizing their shipments, they’ll find that it’s often a win-win solution for everyone involved. We have had the opportunity to work with multiple carriers that believe in optimization like we do, and it has proven effective at reducing congestion. As companies prepare for the coming year, they’re going to find that many of the supply chain challenges are not going away. It’s time for us to work together and use optimization as a means to overcoming these supply chain challenges.

Here at Zip Xpress, we understand the importance of overcoming challenges for a customer. It’s in our nature due to our dedication to solving a customer’s problems as though they were our own. As a carrier, many of the customer’s issues become our issues and we have a responsibility to see that their shipments arrive on time and undamaged. Even though there are many challenges now, there will always be challenges in the logistics world and we’re ready to help our customers overcome them. To see for yourself, start today with Zip Xpress!