Quest says service improving
Michael A. Levans, Group Editorial Director -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2008
Out of all the market-defining research we do over the course of a publishing year I find the dissection of our annual Quest for Quality survey results to be the most satisfying.
While the survey may not unearth any game-changing best practices or strategies, it gives us a crystal clear look at those carriers and third party logistics providers (3PLs) that are currently providing world-class service—and in today’s challenging times, it would be hard to find a more important characteristic to measure.
The most intriguing part of the Quest for Quality, as it has been for the past 25 years, is that the voting is done by qualified buyers of logistics and transportation services—the readers of Logistics Management magazine. These are the shippers who are in the trenches, building carrier and provider relationships on which some of today’s most efficient and reliable supply chains are built.
And as we’ve found year after year, when they experience superior service these shippers are eager to share that success with their peers. The surveys take some time to complete and demand introspection; yet, shippers continue to take part in near-record numbers despite increasing daily pressures. As a matter of fact, I’d like to thank all 6,171 shippers who weighed in on where they feel their carriers and providers fall on the service continuum.
So, what did we find in the 25th Annual Quest for Quality Survey? First, I’d like to congratulate all 121 providers who scored above this year’s weighted averages to win the gold. Considering the continued operating pressures these companies are under, a Quest for Quality win represents a terrific vote of confidence.
Winning carriers and service providers should also be happy to see that overall weighted averages across just about every category have improved over 2007. While some of these increases may be just a few tenths of a point, it signals that responding shippers were issuing higher scores—a sign that perceived satisfaction in service has improved year over year.
However, we were surprised to find a significant decline in shippers using core carriers. In a time when rates are consistently rising and fuel surcharges are heading into the stratosphere, we found that the percentage of shippers using core carriers was down from our 2007 findings in 11 of the 17 specific transportation categories we measure. So, after reporting last year that we had seen a near-record jump into the core carrier concept during late 2006 into 2007, a trend we would certainly expect to see continue, it appears that a considerable number of shippers started to turn their backs to the concept in late 2007 and early 2008.
But now it’s time for you to dig into the results. This project represents over six months of surveying and number crunching with our Reed Business Information research team and is the single biggest research project we undertake year after year. It’s helped to set the gold standard in the industry for a quarter century, and I hope it helps you better weigh your service options.
Comments? E-mail me at michael.levans@reedbusiness.com
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