Because there is more freight in the marketplace than there are drivers or equipment to take on that capacity, carriers are looking at space, time, and risk as major factors. SMB shippers are faced with the reality that carriers are more selective about who they choose to work with, even going so far as to create "score cards" for their customers. Some carriers are even having to prune customers who can't provide them with early, accurate shipping data that optimizes operations for both parties. 

It's more essential than ever that SMB shippers adopt technology that enables them to become a "shipper of choice" for their carriers. The simple fact is, shippers that deploy technology within their networks are more likely to succeed in today's tight capacity market.

Many SMB shippers assume that adopting powerful shipping technology is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. However, using a full-featured TMS that provides visibility and increases efficiencies for both shippers and their carriers is not only necessary - it's affordable, easy, and just plain smart.      

Watch the video to learn more. 

Read the full video transcript here:

The supply chain industry and marketplace as a whole has been on a rise into a bull market the better half of the last five years, and we're getting to the point now where the supply and demand is such that the demand is outpacing the supply tenfold.

And what do you do, especially the small to midsize shipper, when maybe you don't have the volumes right to really to really leverage, negotiate, or dictate terms with the carriers you do business with?

I think ten years ago, it would have been a lot harder to evolve to change your internal process within your four walls or even to communicate better with your carriers electronically. But you fast forward to 2020 or 2022 where we are today
and you can get your hands on very affordable, very effective technology that can be deployed sometimes within 15 to 30 minutes, provided you have all the information you need. What that really does is it shows your carriers that you're becoming a shipper of choice, that you care about, how you do business with them and how you communicate to them.

So, I think moving forward for SMBs, a big change for a lot of warehouse managers is this change management?
I don't think they realize just how close it is to their fingertips, how easy it is to deploy and to put your team members in a position to really excel and succeed on a platform that just makes it easier for you to do business with.

And we say it all the time, but as you become more efficient, as a shipper, will the partner carriers you do business with,
they're becoming more efficient, too. And if you want to continue to improve your relationship, which is the only way that you're going to be able to control costs in service in today's marketplace is to improve your relationships and really show the value and how you're trying to reduce cost for your carrier.

It's not so much just about me, me, me. I think in the past it's really easy to say inside of my four walls, "I have my problems and I can solve those problems", but if I do, am I just solving my own problems, but making it harder for other departments within my four walls, Am I making it harder for my carriers to do business with me?

So, it may be easier for me to just quickly get a rate. It may be easy for me to just handwrite a bill of lading or print out a sales order and put a pro number on it. But it's not always easy for the carrier to collect that information to bill me on that information.

So, when you deploy technology, not only does it make it easier for your internal people to process and share information,
but you're making it easier for your carrier to get their hands on that vital information that they need to succeed on.

Your freight carriers are looking at customers in a different way these days. They're looking at space, time,
and risk as major factors because there's more freight in the marketplace than there is drivers or available equipment
to take on that capacity. So, they're looking at shippers in a different lens than they ever have before. So, one of the things that SMB shippers can do is deploy technology within their network that makes them and their carrier partners more efficient.