Quest for Quality Awards: A steadfast tradition for 40 years

Since 1962, Logistics Management (LM) has stood the test of time and remains the leading B2B media brand devoted to helping logistics management professionals improve their operations no matter the economic conditions.

And for the past 40 of those 61 years, I’m proud to report that LM’s Quest for Quality Awards program has stood head shoulders above any pale imitations as the single, most trusted measure of customer satisfaction and service performance excellence in the logistics and transportation industry—a steadfast tradition that brings decision-making intelligence and value to all who participate in the market.

Quest for Quality has been held in such high regard for four decades due to the fact that the program is not a popularity contest or the result of the number of clicks on a ballot—methods employed by others in the market.

Instead, this annual survey of LM readers—which takes course over a six-month period by our research group—is by invitation only, allowing only 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. It’s that authenticity that is the foundation of its durability.

For 2023, Peerless Research Group (PRG), our internal research division, received more than 3,512 total responses that yielded 142 winners—providers of transportation and logistics services that have posted the highest scores across our lists of critical service criteria. The listings of this year’s winners in all categories unfold starting on page 16.

“The Quest for Quality is landmark research like no other in the logistics and transportation markets,” says Brian Beaudette, director of PRG. “The program delivers actionable results for carriers, service providers and shippers, and provides the most valid snapshot available of the current state of service. It’s one of a kind.”

Even though seasoned logistics management veterans have seen economic ups and downs and big rate and capacity swings over that time, our contributing editor John Schulz, who has been covering the trucking market for all of those 40 years, is fairly certain he’s never seen any like the last three—times that have put the shipper/carrier relationship to the ultimate test.

“This year’s scores are a testament to the new level of understanding and flexibility that’s now entered the market,” says Schulz. “After seeing the 2023 results, it’s obvious that this year’s winners are successfully collaborating with their shipping partners—and vice versa—to provide service levels that are on a higher plane. These carriers are breaking new ground every day in innovation and improved communication—and should take a collective bow.”

And in the trucking market this year, we saw strong, consistent weighted averages across the 11 motor carrier categories we measure, signaling this new era of improved collaboration that Schulz references above. In fact, we saw weighted scores in the high 40s and even low 50s across many of the trucking sectors this year.

In the meantime, we’re seeing some near record-breaking weighted scores in the third-party logistics (3PL) and airfreight forwarders categories—a clear indication that the massive software and technology investment these service providers are making is resonating with shippers.

As always, the entire staff of LM and PRG would like to thank the thousands of readers who took the time to respond this year. It’s your time and insight that drives the Quest for Quality and keeps it the purest snapshot of carrier and service provider quality available.