Leveraging Logistics Blog

InTek Freight & Logistics has announced it has increased its TIA Surety Bond to $250,000, making it among less than one percent of all third party logistics providers (3PLs) to be TIA Performance Certified. The $250,000 TIA Surety Bond means that InTek has quadrupled the $75,000 legally required protection for shippers and carriers.

Freight costs can take up a significant portion of a shipper's budget, especially as market and supply chain conditions cause them to rise. But that doesn't mean there's nothing a shipper can do to reduce them. Quite the contrary, there are several steps a company can take as they figure how to reduce freight costs each year. Lately here, we've discussed budgeting for shipping costs, preparing a freight and logistics rfp, freight rates, and more specifically, spot rates vs. contract rates. Budgeting for these sometimes predictable and sometimes quite unpredictable expenses is a rich tapestry, but some simple tips can help shippers manage and reduce freight costs.

As shippers plan out freight and logistics costs for the year (or more) ahead, a major part of the decision-making process involves spot rates vs. contract rates. These two most prominent freight rate options - and which one a shipper leans on the most - have a great impact on how much a company pays in shipping costs. Perhaps now more than ever, it's important to know the difference, and whether to use spot rates vs. contract rates more.

When setting up a freight and logistics budget for the year (or more) ahead, it's important to include the freight rates that dovetail with a shipper's needs. Freight rates that can affect a budget largely reflect the type of transport a company uses, whether it be truckload, LTL, intermodal, rail, ocean, air freight, or most likely a combination of methods. That of course would include whether international shipping is involved as well. We've gone over some other tips in this regard lately, including how to budget shipping costs and preparing a freight and logistics RFP, so now let's take a closer look at freight rates.

Requests for proposal - commonly referred to as RFPs - in freight and logistics are a key component in planning and budgeting for the year (or more) ahead. An RFP sets a shipper's expectations for the freight and logistics market, and in turn allows the shipper to see whether the market agrees. As mentioned previously when discussing budgeting shipping costs, it's vital to have contract agreements in place to provide a level of cost certainty in an era of fluctuating rates.  Perhaps more important than cost certainty - a well-prepared RFP process can lead to significant freight and logistics savings as finance leadership trims budgets. 

Weekly discussion and analysis on the trends in the intermodal spot rate market. The InTek intermodal spot rate index decreased 7.1% from the prior week.  

Setting a company's spending plan is a year-round process with a variety of areas to consider, including one partial to those in logistics - how to budget shipping costs. Budgeting how much a company is likely to spend on shipping and logistics is vital to be prepared for the ups and downs of a given year. And with the industry's rates tending more toward ups lately, ensuring a company has correctly budgeted shipping costs can prevent considerable pain down the road. 

The state of logistics and the supply chain is constantly evolving, with various factors affecting the direction it takes. And companies need to respond to the latest trends in 2022 with the right logistics and supply chain strategies to keep up with this ever-changing environment.

The predictions business has been dicey since the pandemic began, but two years later its effects on logistics and supply chain trends have become more apparent. In looking at last year's logistics and supply chain trends piece, some changes seem to be settling in for the long haul, while others appear more temporary. And of course, there are new , emergent trends to look toward as well in 2022 and beyond.

Returns and reverse logistics go hand-in-hand. Returning goods is as much a tradition as buying or receiving them. Just as companies must do all they can to ensure their products reach store shelves, so too must they ensure a smooth process when some of those goods inevitably head back the other direction. When a consumer brings an item back to the store or ships it back to the retailer, a successful reverse logistics strategy means returns won't cause companies too much added pain when their merchandise re-enters the supply chain.