Viewpoint: Quest for Quality winners reaching new service heights

Once again it’s our honor to present the logistics and transportation community with the results of the Annual Quest for Quality Survey.

The report we’re sharing this month is the culmination of an intensive, six-month research project conducted by Logistics Management (LM) and Peerless Research Group (PRG) that’s become known for over 30 years as the single most important measure of customer satisfaction and service performance excellence available in the logistics and transportation industry.

As we have over that time, LM uses the August issue to officially announce the results of the Quest for Quality Survey and celebrate the carriers, third-party logistics providers (3PL), and U.S. ports that have earned the ultimate vote of shipper confidence by receiving the highest scores across our service performance criteria.

However, what makes the Quest for Quality Survey stand out in the market is the fact that the lists of winners you’re about to see have been determined by LM readers—the buyers of logistics and transportation services who put these carriers and service providers to work around the clock and around the globe.

In fact, the most important element of the Quest for Quality Survey is that it allows shippers to vote on the type of services that they use on a regular basis and rank those carriers and providers that they work with every day.

“The voting is by invite only,” says Judd Aschenbrand, PRG’s director of research. “In order to evaluate a provider, the voter must have experience with that specific provider at some point over the past 12 months. So, the Quest for Quality Survey goes beyond name recognition and popularity and is based on the merits and performance of the service provider.”

This year our research group received 7,451 total responses—1,272 more than 2013. This near-record level of response resulted in 155 transportation and logistics service providers walking away with a coveted Quest for Quality Award this year.

Last year, LM, in collaboration with PRG and leading 3PL market analyst firm Armstrong and Associates, made a few changes in an effort to better represent the levels of services offered by 3PLs. With the help of Armstrong’s analyst team, we split the 3PL questionnaire into two categories: transportation management and value-added warehousing and distribution operations.

“We know that customers evaluate and select 3PLs based upon their core competencies,” says Armstrong. “While larger 3PLs have integrated capabilities, the majority tends to be either transportation management or value-added warehousing and distribution operations centric. Therefore, it makes sense to evaluate providers separately in each segment.”

The move was well received by readers and service providers, and now offers the market a more precise look at which service providers are leading the way in these specific service areas—and which excel in our five vital service attributes.

It’s time to recognize and celebrate the winners of the 2014 Quest for Quality Awards. The lists that begin on page 30 represent those carriers and service providers that LM readers believe have gone above and beyond over the last 12 months to earn Quest for Quality Gold.

2014 Quest for Quality Winners Categories NATIONAL LTL | REGIONAL LTL | TRUCKLOAD | RAIL/INTERMODAL | OCEAN CARRIERS | PORTS | 3PL | AIR CARRIERS and FREIGHT FORWARDERS	home page