Logistics Management

Michael Regan

Things Change
February 26, 2008

I’ll spare you the standard speeches and clichés about the topic of change. There are a lots of transportation issues on the table that will make your life interesting over the next couple of years. But I am concerned that a number of logistics professionals may not understand the magnitude of these issues or their impact on their companies. I’m not talking about those professionals who work for companies that actively support groups such as the NIT League, NASSTRAC, AST&L, CSCMP, DNA and TIA, I’m talking to the other group. The group that consists of industry professionals who are sitting on the sidelines because they’re too lazy. Or because they work for companies that are too cheap, or too stupid to access resources that will help them understand what is really happening in transportation. 

Next week Tranzact will be sponsoring the NIT League’s Industry Update Conference Call. During the call, the Chairmen of the modal committees will provide an update on the issues before their committees. In anticipation of the call, I have been reviewing some of the material; it has been very sobering. We will probably have a couple hundred people on the call; but given the content, we should have a couple thousand people.

Several things on the horizon will impact the flow of material through your supply chains. Need some examples? Look at the port of Long Beach, where clean air initiatives and potential restrictions on owner operators will potentially affect their ability to move goods through that port. Or look at security issues. For some of you, 10+2 may equal 12; for others, it means a whole new set of regulations affecting goods coming into this country. For trucking, you have issues such as Hours of Service (HOS), the end of collective ratemaking, changes in the classification system, congestion pricing, and the challenges of working with an overburdened infrastructure. And we haven’t even touched on the rail and air sectors.

With these types of issues, you would think that every responsible transportation and logistics professional would take advantage of webinars, conference calls, and other sources to get up to speed on what these changes mean for their companies. Unfortunately, that is not happening. The feedback from various industry sources and associations clearly shows that for the most part, shippers are failing to take advantage of the resources that are right at their fingertips. Mention C-TPAT, mandatory cargo screening, or other important transportation items, and you get a blank look that says: “What the heck are you talking about?” Here is the point of this Blog entry. If you accept that industry wise, things are changing, and then what are you doing to manage the impact of these changes?

Let’s close with a highly personal observation. Each year, through my speeches and work, I meet a couple of thousand logistics professionals. As noted above, they can be divided in to two groups. The first group keeps abreast of industry issues and is willing to support one or more of the industry groups that are dealing with important issues. The second group comprises individuals who, for whatever reason, are not actively engaged in the industry.

To the members of this second group you’re probably living on borrowed time. When your company wakes up and decides to be proactive in managing their logistics, they will make some changes; one of those changes may involve you. The people I meet in the second group don’t appear to be too happy, content, or (forgive my generalization here), too fulfilled in their career. But they do have a job – at least until that dreadful day when their company decides makes them a casualty of change.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Every day, through your actions, you get to decide which group you will join as a member. You can get informed and involved, or you can stay right where you are and blame others for your lack of success. Things change, will you?

TranzAct Technologies, Inc.

Posted by Michael Regan on February 26, 2008 | Comments (2)