As we near the year’s end, economists and market analysts are desperate to predict what’s coming in 2023. While some think 2023 will look a lot like 2019, others think that between China’s zero-Covid policy, the war in Ukraine, nearshoring trends, and changes in the labor market, fundamental cornerstones of our global economy are shifting, forcing supply chains to operate differently.
In a December conversation with New York Times’ Ezra Klein, Economist Mohamed El-Erian said: “Supply chains are being rewired. Part of it is driven by what’s happening in China, part of it is being driven by national security, and part of it is being driven by significant change in the way companies think and how they operate. It is no longer solely a focus on efficiency. Resilience has become important.”
Whether companies are thinking about shifting strategies around just-in-time inventory or truckload pricing, focusing too much on efficiency sometimes comes at the cost of resilience. El-Erian said that trying to rewire your supply chains in an inflationary environment is like trying to change an engine on the plane in flight – bumpy, to say the least.
To say that shippers and carriers have felt that bumpiness around truckload pricing over the past 30 months would be an understatement. Recently, our Chief Product Officer, Tony Tzeng, spoke at FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit about how Transfix is modernizing cost-plus to provide shippers with a better long-term pricing solution.
“The spread between contract and spot rates is causing a lot of mini-RFPs and opportunities for shippers to push carriers for better rates,” said Tzeng. “This is a lot of work. Consider if you were better able to align what’s happening in real-time with the rates and what’s contractually agreed to 12 months in advance.”
Source: FreightWaves
Transfix TrueRate+ offers a real-time price with contract-like service, assuring tender acceptance and prices 10% lower than the industry average. It’s one significant way that shippers can lock in tomorrow’s prices today and establish a long-term, more consultative broker relationship.
To learn more about Transfix TrueRate+, click here.