Easter Bunny endorses model Contracts to Improve Hopping Around!!!

In a special news conference yesterday, the Easter Bunny, recognizing the need to hop around faster and more efficiently, formally endorsed the use of model contracts and the discipline to consistently execute them.  With new carriers presenting opportunities daily and shippers and 3PLs constantly on the lookout for chances to meet their 2008 productivity goals, ’Bunny’ made a compelling argument that adminstration of these new opportunities requires a strong contractual model and the discipline to execute it with the minimum investment in precious human resource hours.

Over the past few years, shippers and 3PLs have been working to develop model agreements.  Specifically, the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the American Trucking Association created a model for shippers and carriers to use; and just a few months ago the NITL and the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) released the first revision to their model agreement for Shippers and 3PLs. These models, which represent the best thinking of its practicing association members and their legal counsels, offer recommended language for all the key issues.

Today, the key to success is finding and executing the opportunity quickly and before it is lost to another. Your administrative structure needs to move with the same speed while embracing risk management…and the best way to do that is to employ ‘industry recognized’ model contracts and avoid losing precious time passing contracts back and forth ‘ad nauseum’.  If you can’t agree on a contract within an hour, you likely have a poor model and are wasting each other’s time.

If you are not using the model agreements, then spend time on the NITL and TIA websites and take advantage of the models that are posted there as a service to the industry and available to you at no charge.  And while you are on the site, stop and look at these organizations and their missions…consider becoming of these groups that are providing industry solutions!