Trucking Q&A: Greg West, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Vice President of LTL Transportation

LM Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently caught up with Greg West, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Vice President of LTL Transportation to talk about various aspects of the less-than-truckload sector, including the freight economy, last-mile logistics, ELD, and other topics. 

Logistics Management (LM): What is your take on the current state of the freight economy?

Greg West: We see a robust marketplace for sure. I oversee our LTL portion of the business, which is all of our common carriers, in which we have 15 consolidation centers for larger volume-type shipments, as well as our temp-LTL and our parcel business. Right now, it is a good time for freight. I think the interesting thing we are seeing certainly on the truckload side is the tightness in capacity, so even if you look at what happened at the end of 2017, with high load-to-truck ratios and tighter capacity for general rates, it was more severe on the temperature controlled side, with some huge spikes.

LM: What is happening with those huge spikes?

West: For LTL, what we are seeing is there is some business that truckload carriers don’t want, like some partial business from consolidation centers. We are also really seeing it with ELDs because it is getting very complex now when you look at different mileage bans and multi-stop truck runs that are hurting large shippers building their own multi-stops. Our average weight is going up, so some truckload carriers question why they would try to get into the LTL market, but you are only as good as your next best option.

LM: How do you view the LTL sector’s role as it relates to the heavy-haul, last-mile market?

West:  For the most part, people are trying to get involved and trying to see what is a good fit. And many carriers, see it as a good middle opportunity, but the final mile is pretty difficult, particularly if you are a unionized carrier.  A lot of them are using separate networks and using partners, and they are all trying to figure it out. If I am a union carrier, I don’t want drivers spending extra time going to a house, so the requirement s are high, and some carriers are better equipped than others, unless it is a curbside delivery. Many carriers will tell you they need to figure it out. Robinson is good at putting together networks so what we are focused on putting together the middle mile with final mile visibility.

LM: With ELD, what are some of the key takeaways you are seeing?

West: It is hard to tell right now, with different weather events going on and you have a pretty robust truckload market. For these multi-stops, I would say we are seeing a proliferation of that business trying to figure out where it should go. But it does seem like there is an uptick in activity because of this and a lot of it does get pushed back because of ELD. In the future, we may want to know a driver’s hours of service so we can help them with the right appointments with the right shippers. Shipper convenience and their flexibility are going to play a large role in this.

LM: What are shippers asking you for? What are their biggest needs?

West: They want service. The smaller transactional type shipper is more rate-driven and can live with an extra day or two as they don’t have these complex supply chains. And the driver shortage is an issue, too. Even leading up to Christmas, we saw lots of pockets where carriers were saying they were swamped and were asking to be turned off to the transactional business opportunities.

LM: How do you view the intersection of LTL and e-commerce?

West: It is still pretty early. For LTL, it is really about the “large format” or heavy items, with carriers trying to figure out how to do it most efficiently. It is growing at such a fast pace that they are trying to figure things out quickly. But it almost defies all LTL operational efficiencies to go to a home, make an appointment, go on a route etc. There is a proliferation of accessorial and minimum charges around that, too.

LM: What are some of the things to keep an eye on in the sector going forward?

West: To me, it goes back to collaboration and the view shippers have for flexibility to match up with capacity, which is constrained. It is not just about rates, it is about being viewed as a shipper of choice. If I had bad practices, carriers will shy away and not pick up that freight. That is something that is always talked about, but it is going to be even more important, especially with ELD playing out as it is today.  There is an increasing level of complexity that requires more efficiency, as it relates to things like hours of service and mileage bans.