The Current Pulse of Businesses Who Ship Parcel & Freight

Businesses are in triage-mode right now. An excellent resource we've been following to stay on top of things is USC Marshall's webinar series on global supply chain impacts and forecasts.

Webinar host Nick Vyas is the Executive Director of USC Marshall's Center for Global Supply Management. In his recent episode, COVID-19: What's Next?, his panel of experts look at where we are as of April 8th and how supply chains look destined to be altered to some degree forever. 

Nick estimates that we are going to see a rapid decentralization of intercontinental cargo anywhere from 25-50%. He believes our supply chain of the past 25-30 years is going to change dramatically and will likely mean a huge shift away from 3PL reliance. He indicates that the 3PL industry is "on a burning platform," and we are going to see a massive change in how container cargo moves.

Business Recovery Timeframes

Johnson & Johnson's VP of Global Communications, Dr. Pierre Theodore, also joins the panel. He refers to the AEI's Phases of Pandemic Response document put out by Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA Commissioner. The document, as seen below, outlines response categories and gives a "sense of timing and what we can anticipate in the subsequent months, years, and in some cases, perhaps permanently." This snapshot can assist businesses who are contending with decisions in the face of uncertainty.  

Private equity firm Saybrook Management CEO Jonathan Rosenthal, who has been on the battlefront of numerous financial and restructuring crises, also joins the webinar panel. Jonathan talks about the portfolio of companies he oversees, which includes around 10,000 employees. He says some of their businesses are down 80% in revenue. He talks about the patterns he has observed during crises in the past but says COVID is unique. He says this pandemic knows no boundaries. It crosses industries and geographies. This makes it far more difficult to predict and deal with. He thinks it will may be at least three years before we can sort out this mess. And this will include huge losses, including iconic brands that will end up selling for pennies on the dollar.  

GUIDE TO TMS - Reducing Freight & Shipping

What We At FreightPOP See With New Business Inquiries   

1) Light Staff Struggling To Do All The Work 

We have businesses calling us that have had to furlough or lay people off and are still trying to conduct business. They are struggling because, for whatever reason - perhaps shipping processes are not documented or a dedicated person or team handled shipping are now gone - they cannot efficiently organize shipments.

2) Spend is of the essence. 

We are hearing from businesses needing to cut costs. It is no surprise that every business, possibly globally, is trying to save money right now. If you are a business that ships, a good way to slash your spend is to get the most bang for your buck on shipping rates.  

How We Help Shippers

We have shipping software that automates much of the shipping process. This is a platform that small to medium-size businesses can afford and implement quickly. We integrate right into warehouse and ordering systems.

And most importantly, our shipping software gives shippers Expedia-like shopping power for finding the best shipping rates. We save our customers on average 20-30%.

How Do We Save Money On Shipping?

We do this in a couple of ways. 

• You can search the marketplace with an Expedia-like search platform
• Get quick rates in front of you at the click of a button.

• You get FreightPOP Partner Rates 
• We have secured great deals with many carriers, including FedEx, and offer those rates through the same Expedia-like search 

• Fire Sale Rates
• Yet another rate at your fingertips alongside the marketplace and FreightPOP Partner Rates - our system captures live rates

• Your negotiated rates are imported
• This gives shippers the ability to assess which is cheaper quickly - their rates, marketplace rates, FreightPOP Partner Rates, or Firesale rates  

If you need to save on shipping and access shipping automation tools now, please reach out to us.