LM Viewpoint: 35th Annual Quest for Quality Awards, a signal of great partners

Over that extensive period of time, the Quest for Quality has been known as the single most important measure of customer satisfaction and service
performance excellence in the logistics and transportation industry. But what makes these awards stand out among all others in the industry is the simple fact that the Quest for Quality is not a popularity contest or the result of the number of clicks on a web-based ballot.

Instead, this annual survey of LM readers is by invitation only, allowing those qualified shippers to vote in the type of services that they use on a regular basis and rank those carriers and providers that they work with every day. In fact, in order to evaluate a provider, the voter must have experience with that specific provider over the past 12 months.

For 2018, Peerless Research Group (PRG), our internal research division, received more then 4,500 total responses that yielded 138 winners—providers of transportation and logistics services that have posted the highest scores across our lists of critical service criteria.

“Due to the methodology of the Quest for Quality Awards, it’s not surprising that carriers and service providers celebrate this accolade more than any other in the market,” says Judd Aschenbrand, director or research at PRG. “This has been designed to go beyond name recognition and popularity and is solely based on service performance—the single most important measure to a successful partnership.”

In fact, I’d say that improved partnering is the underlying theme of this year’s awards. In story after story, the LM editorial staff continues to cover the mounting regulation and operational roadblocks facing carriers and service providers at the same time that the global logistics network is struggling to manage skyrocketing volumes and the increased pressure to deliver freight in tighter windows.

“When you consider the confluence of a strong economy, rising freight bills, surging demand and labor and capacity shortages, the carriers on these lists should be holding their heads high,” says our veteran freight correspondent John Schulz. “It’s a clear indication that these winners have gone above and beyond to work with their shippers as true partners to achieve such a high level of service.”

And speaking of shippers, I’d be remiss not to thank the more than 4,500 readers who took the time to respond this year. It’s this input that drives the Quest for Quality and keeps it the purest snapshot of carrier and service provider quality available in the market.

“In many ways, shippers need to take credit in the service excellence story that’s told through this year’s results,” adds Schulz. “Today, shippers are looking to control logistics costs and gain needed capacity in the tightest, most costly market we’ve seen. The only way these service providers could make the list is by being open to improved partnering—conversations often started by innovative shippers.”