What are the most important metrics when benchmarking your logistics provider(s)? When Eye for Transport (eft) – the global provider of business intelligence for the transport, logistics and supply chain industry – asked shippers this question as part of its 2017 Global Logistics Report, 35.8 percent of shippers said reliability, 24.5 percent said value for […]
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How a Freight Broker Works; Step by Step “Life of a Load”
Before you decide to work with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, it helps to understand how the relationship will look and function. What exactly will a 3PL provider take off your plate, and what responsibilities will still be in your court? Here’s a breakdown of how a freight broker works, along with key points surrounding […]
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The Truth About API vs. EDI in Transportation
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are often revered as one of the great innovations in logistics today – almost on par with delivery drones and self-driving trucks. This perspective is centered on the idea that Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is dead, with APIs being the heir apparent as the de facto standard for how data will […]
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Improve Logistics for Your Next Costco Product Promotion
If your food or beverage product is sold at large retailers like Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, or Walmart, you may have had the opportunity to participate in their popular coupon programs — catalogs, or multi-vendor mailers (MVM), sent out nationally to promote major product discounts. Logistically, participation in MVMs means you must ship larger volumes […]
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Logistics Appointments: Success in the Details
One of the most common reasons a shipper will switch their 3PL provider is because of repeated service failures. This includes everything from a truck showing up late, to shifted or damaged product that gets rejected by the consignee. If you are seeing repeat service failures with your freight, ask yourself whether your provider is […]
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Freight Rates 2017: What Transportation Pros Need to Know
2017 is going to be an interesting year for the transportation and logistics industry. Political, regulatory, and economic factors are all in flux, pointing to an increase in demand, tightening of capacity, and rate impacts for all modes of freight transportation. New regulatory updates are seemingly published daily and it can be overwhelming to know what […]
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Transportation Chargebacks: How Beverage Manufacturers Can Avoid Extra Expenses
A version of this article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of Beverage World Magazine. While it’s safe to say beverage companies watch their trucking costs closely, unplanned delivery related expenses still manage to pile up. These incurred costs include the chargebacks and other penalties that every beverage company shipping to large ‘big box’ retailers […]
Read MoreZipline Logistics Named as One of Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers
(Columbus, Ohio) – Food Logistics, the only publication exclusively dedicated to covering the movement of product through the global food supply chain, has named Zipline Logistics to its 2016 Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers list. The Top 3PL & Cold Storage Providers list serves as a resource guide of third-party logistics and cold storage […]
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Shifting Away from Generalist Strategies in Logistics
A version of this article originally appeared in the August/September 2016 issue of Global Trade Magazine. Remarkably, the term third-party logistics (3PL) made its way into industry vocabulary just over 20 years ago. New transportation and warehousing companies seemed to materialize overnight and solutions to complex supply chain issues abounded. We entered into an age […]
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