Logistics Management

Michael Regan

How Hot is the Water?
June 19, 2008

During talks before industry groups, I often reference the story about the frog and boiling water… Drop a frog in boiling water and it will jump out; however, if you put a frog in cold water and bring it to a boil, the frog will meet its Maker… The story highlights the fact that when frogs or people are hit with a sudden crisis, they will react or respond immediately. However, if you don’t address the hazardous conditions, the crisis can severely hurt or even kill the subject.  

I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but I’ve seen some things in 2008 that lead me to question if many transportation and supply chain professionals realize the imminent threats to corporate supply chains. Aside from the fact that the price of diesel is at record highs and could go even higher, there are ominous signs on the horizon that could, and most likely, will damage your supply chains.

The examples are too numerous to count, but if you’re looking for just a couple of items, consider legislation affecting the ports in Southern California. We all want clean air, but when did the push for clean air become an invitation to restrict owner operator access to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles? We all want to protect our country from terrorist attacks, but when did this become an invitation for a 100% scan all provision that will be difficult, if not impossible, to implement without drastically slowing down the movement of goods in the supply chain?

Moving beyond the ports, you would think that with diesel at record prices and a road network that is already seriously congested; our elected officials would consider proposals to safely increase the permissible weight of trucks. It would save billions of dollars, reduce annual diesel consumption by hundreds of millions of gallons, and on properly configured trailers, create a softer “footprint” on the road. Senator Collins (R-Maine) is to be commended for recognizing this. Unfortunately, the railroads designated lap dog Senator Lautenberg, (D-NJ) has introduced a piece of legislation (with Senator McCaskill, D-MO)  that wants to freeze the weights and size of equipment allowed on our highways. 

Trust me, this is just a small sampling of stuff. If you want to talk about infrastructure, the privatization of roads, additional highway taxes, and the real imminent threat that several US air carriers may go bankrupt before the end of the year, you may really get depressed. Through my involvement on the Boards of the NIT League and NASSTRAC, I see issues that cumulatively speaking, will damage supply chains. The combination of harmful, misguided legislation, high diesel prices, and our government’s insatiable need to raise revenues through tax and user fee increases, is something that should alarm every professional in our industry.

For all of the reasons listed above, it is difficult to understand and accept the lack of shipper outrage over these issues. What can you do? Actually, there are three things you can do immediately: First, get informed. Read the industry publications and learn about what is happening. That will take less than 2 hours per week. Second, you can join and support the NIT League, and/or NASSTRAC and support our advocacy efforts. If you’re a trucker, you can support ATA. If you’re bosses are too stupid or cheap to pay the annual dues have them call me; I’ll be glad to convince them why it is a great investment for you and your company to be part one of these groups.  Third, call and/or write your Congress person and Senators and voice your concerns about legislation that affects your supply chains. That will take about 30 minutes.

As you can see, we’re not talking rocket science here. But what we are talking about are the types of things that will, left unaddressed, potentially put your company, and many others, out of business. So for all of us frogs out there, the water is real hot. It’s time to spring in to action and jump out of the pot. It’s time to get involved.     

Posted by Michael Regan on June 19, 2008 | Comments (2)