Navigating the obstacle course

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2000

As shippers have eliminated safety stocks and shrunk their supply chains, they've come to depend more often on less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carriers for timely deliveries of materials and goods. As a result, LTL carriers have faced tough service mandates from shippers while coping with a number of operational burdens.

For starters, diesel fuel prices remain stubbornly high. The price of a gallon of diesel fuel exceeded $1.40 a gallon for most of this spring, compared with an average price of $1.06 a year ago. At the same time that they're trying to cope with fuel-price increases, LTL truckers face challenges trying to hold on to drivers in a tight labor market. And as if those headaches weren't enough for motor-carrier management, the federal government has proposed a host of new restrictions on the number of hours that drivers can operate vehicles. Those restrictions, if they are imposed, could disrupt distribution networks and increase carriers' operating costs.

Despite those adverse conditions, a number of LTL truckers have met the challenge and measured up to shippers' stringent requirements in this year's Quest for Quality survey. Our readers this year cited four national LTL carriers for their high-quality service. They are: Roadway Express, Watkins Motor Lines, Yellow Freight System, and ABF Freight System. All of those except ABF were winners last year as well.

Shippers evidently believe that the national LTL carriers are handling their demands to some extent; the on-time performance ranking edged upward from 9.97 last year to 10.04 this year. Customer-service marks also went up from 6.36 to 6.42. On the other hand, the value ranking dropped from 7.55 to 7.30, while equipment and operations dipped a fraction from 3.89 to 3.88. The score for information technology was exactly the same as last year's: 3.85. Still, the overall composite score for this year—31.49—showed a bit of a decline from last year's mark of 31.63.

Gaining Ground

Multiregional and interregional LTL carriers have grown in importance as shippers tighten their supply chains. Specifically, shippers call on both the multiregionals and the interregionals to maintain reduced inventory levels. Meeting the service demands with top honors in that category this year are American Freightways and Jevic Transportation, both of which won Quest for Quality awards last year as well.

Shippers seem quite pleased with the multiregional and interregional carriers, as their overall score rose from 31.10 to 31.28 this year. Multiregionals gained in four categories. The on-time performance grade saw a boost from 9.90 to 10.04, while information technology scores increased from 3.56 to 3.63, customer service from 6.16 to 6.17, and equipment and operations from 3.77 to 3.85. Multiregionals only slipped on the value attribute, going from 7.71 in 1999 to 7.58 this year.

All Right on the Surface

Finally, surface package carriers confront pressures similar to those faced by their LTL brethren. Still, two met the test and distinguished themselves, according to our readers. This year, quality badges were bestowed upon United Parcel Service and FedEx Ground (formerly RPS). The average score for all package carriers this year reached 34.25, which was higher than the 33.67 recorded last year. On-time performance marks increased from 10.69 to 11.07. Information-technology scores went up, from 4.05 to 4.20, as did customer service from 6.23 to 6.44, and equipment and operations from 4.22 to 4.32. But marks for value stumbled, dropping from 8.48 last year to 8.23 this year.

2000 Readers' Choice

National LTL Carriers

• Roadway Express