In tight freight market, retailers and manufacturers woo valuable truckers

Desperate to lock down cargo space in a tight trucking market, retailers and manufacturers are turning their attention to a familiar goal, trying to becoming a “shipper of choice” and attract enough drivers to move their inventory, according to a transportation panel at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Edge conference today.

Shippers have traditionally seen trucking fleets as a mere “vendor” as opposed to a valued “customer,” and failed to build the strong business relationships that keep them coming back, said Matt Ehlinger, vice president of transportation for NCH Corp. Now that a tight capacity freight market is allowing truckers to choose their favored clients, many drivers refuse to visit certain warehouses out of fear that slow turnaround times and poor working conditions will keep them off the roads.

To counteract that reputation, some companies are taking new steps to “sell themselves” to transportation providers, such as inviting firms like J.B. Hunt and Schneider to visit their facilities and grade them on their performance, John Janson, senior director for supply chain with SanMar, said in the session “Transportation Rising (There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise).”

In order to boost their poor grades and endear themselves to truckers, shippers are increasingly taking steps like: pre-loading trailers for drop-hook operations, buying donuts and baseball caps for drivers, palletizing freight more precisely, and offering hot coffee and clean bathrooms for drivers as they wait to swap trailers.