Lessons learned from last winter won’t go out of style

A major theme a year ago at this time was the harsh winter weather, which served as the backdrop for what may be remembered as the most arduous winter most of us have ever dealt with.

Living in Maine, I can personally attest to just how bad things were, what with shoveling my driveway and back deck on what felt like a near daily basis, coupled with venturing out in my car only when absolutely necessary for things like food shopping and other things considered a must-do.

In fact, right now at this very moment, guess what? It is snowing pretty hard, with it only picking up as the morning has moved along.

Last winter, which bore the brunt of a seemingly never-ending Polar Vortex, which is a “large pocket of very cold air, typically the coldest air in the Northern Hemisphere, which sits over the polar region during the winter season” as per Accuweather, did not discriminate, especially when it came to its cumulative impact on the freight transportation and logistics sectors.

Its impact was felt in the form of slow, delayed, and missed deliveries, with the weather wreaking havoc on our nation’s railways, highways, airports, and barge networks. Nobody was really excluded in that respect.

A Reuters report issued last week noted that the U.S. transportation and shipping network faced its “first big test of the winter” last week, which saw very cold and low wind chill-based conditions throughout muck of the country, with Midwest temperatures were sub-zero but feeling more like 20-to-40 below, due to the wind.

While these conditions were back in full force, Reuters highlighted how freight transportation carriers were ready for whatever came their way, with freight rail carriers prepositioning needed equipment and also shortening trains to keep air braking systems working effectively. 

And it added how freight railroads appeared more prepared after unprecedented service issues last year, which, in turn, slowed shipments of coal, grain, and other commodities. CSX moved extra equipment into position prior to the cold front, according to Reuters, with the report adding that BNSF Railway, which received a lot of attention for its weather-related service issues last year, ran shorter trains last week to ensure air brake systems worked properly.

On the barge side, the report noted that barge shippers hauling goods on the Mississippi River and its tributaries moved fleets further south to avoid getting stranded on ice-clogged waterways. And Midwest farm belt operators and agricultural processors saw truck deliveries of grain slow down, while no spot shortages were reported, because many processors accepted grain contracts for January delivery in late December.

This report, coupled with looking out my window at the falling snow and basically not leaving my house last week, got me thinking about a conversation I had about a year ago with Ben Cubitt, senior vice president, consulting and engineering at Transplace.

Cubitt explained that last winter’s storms were huge, and when you recovered from one, another one soon followed, which, in turn impacted both primary and secondary markets, “so if Chicago and Indiana are shut down due to weather-related issues, that has an impact on St. Louis, Dallas, and Pennsylvania, because all those trucks that are supposed to be shipping out of Chicago into these other markets have not arrived, which results in less capacity and really has been the story of the winter,” he said.

The second part to the story a year ago, he explained, was that the truckload market was in “relative equilibrium,” meaning that most days there are about as many trucks as there were loads. And when these weather-related disruptions come along, the ability for the network to recover quickly is really not there and quickly leads to a tipping point resulting in missed deliveries and missed pick-ups.

So, what was Cubitt’s advice for keeping freight moving as the temperature continues to drop?

The first, and maybe most basic step, Cubitt, noted, is just coming to terms with it, as it is one a one-day or one-market issue, and it is also neither a carrier issue or a transportation planning issue.

“More than those things, it is a network issue,” he said. “This leads to looking for a broader solution. This requires better visibility and better planning and communication with all of your partners. Shippers need to be in better communication with their 3PLs and jointly with carriers to better forecast what is or might be coming up, which markets are going to be impacted and for how long, what is open, and what is shut.”

It requires understanding from a carrier’s side of who is operating on a given day, or if not, how long will they be down, and Cubitt added when they are back to operating, some receivers might not be ready like retailers with stores or those with mall-based locations.
While a distribution center may get its trucks rolling again, they still may not be able to make a delivery because roads are not cleared yet or the receiver’s facility is still digging out from the most recent storm.

“Again, what is really needed is good communication, because no carrier wants to go to a facility that is closed,” he said. “It is really close coordination between the shipper, carrier, and the 3PL to really say ‘what is the plan today?’”

While the calendar changes, winter’s trends, more often than not, remain similar year after year. Taking stock of your network and better than good communication and planning before and when winter hits is essential for successful transportation and logistics networks, regardless of what the calendar says.