In a quote attributed to Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's once said that “when you’re green you’re growing, when you’re ripe you rot.”
When it comes to supply chains, large and small shippers alike experience the same set of disruptions and market obstacles that negatively affect their KPIs and profit margins. The more energy that shippers spend managing and operating their own existing supply chain, the less resources, time, and energy is spent on expanding beyond their current book of business and entering new markets. Most logistics managers are just trying to clear space off their desk, only to find yet another customer order to fulfill. Logistics management can become even more overwhelming when shippers experience supply chain disruptions. Whether that involves increased ship dwell time outside the port, or a drayage provider misses their pickup window at the shipping terminal; an understaffed transload and warehouse facility fails to properly label and inventory a few pallets, or an OTR carrier shows up late to the receiver. At a more basic level, most shippers struggle with capacity issues when carrier partners simply fail to have a truck in hand due to seasonal market fluctuations and port congestion.
Many of these common issues found throughout logistics can be mitigated by partnering with a single source logistics provider. These fully-integrated companies not only help manage the operations of your entire supply chain, but offer year-round dedicated capacity, real-time visibility on all shipments, and can help lower the overall cost of your transportation budget. This article takes a look at why more shippers are turning to companies like Port City Logistics to mitigate risks and simplify their supply chain operations.
What is a Single Source Logistics Provider?
Single source logistics providers are asset-based companies that own and operate their own fleet of trucks, equipment and drivers; they offer a range of transportation solutions to meet the unique operational requirements of their customers. Port City Logistics, for example, combines their fleet of assets to provide dedicated capacity on all local and regional shipments; they also tap into their national network of carefully vetted carriers to cover all transportation needs from every major North American port. Single source logistics providers also manage and operate their own transloading and warehouse facilities, which are strategically located in close proximity to some of the busiest ports in the United States. From port to door and everything in between, single source logistics providers are the no hassle solution to cover every imaginable service necessary to get your product where it needs to go.
Why Do Shippers Prefer Single Source Logistics Providers?
The vast majority of shippers don’t have the financial capital necessary to purchase and maintain their own fleet of assets and equipment to have their supply chain fully integrated into their company. Nor do they have the funding to build their own brick and mortar transload facilities, or the time and energy required to hire, train, and manage an entire team of warehouse personnel. Instead, most companies outsource their transportation to various asset-based companies and third-party providers. And what happens is that most logistics managers have a tendency to follow old industry habits of operating their supply chain using multiple carriers and third-party vendors. They silo each company to handle just a portion of their supply chain. For example, the drayage provider handles service on container volume from one port, delivering the load to a transloading facility that is owned by a separate entity. Then an OTR carrier hauls the product to the receiver.
The problem with siloing each leg in a supply chain’s operation is that none of these companies talk to one another, meaning that all load notifications, good or bad, get funneled into the bloated email or phone of the shipping manager. This lack of visibility and communication contributes to supply chain disruptions. Tracking and tracing involves communicating with multiple parties and the disjointed communication means there’s always the likelihood of human error and mistakes. Any delay or hiccup on a load’s journey could have serious repercussions on customer success.
Single source logistics providers like Port City Logistics help shippers streamline their operations, helping to improve communication, and provide real-time visibility on all shipments. This means that shippers can track the status of their container while it’s shipping across water to the moment the truck delivers with a clean BOL.
Shippers Turn to Port City Logistics as their Single Source Logistics Provider
Each day, Port City Logistics serves as the single source logistics provider for hundreds of shippers and freight forwarders located throughout North America. Since 2001, they have built a formidable reputation for themselves in the logistics industry as the no-hassle solution to handle the unique operational requirements of their customers. Whether your company needs to pull a single pallet of a truck in Savannah, GA, or needs to run 30 flatbed loads from the port of Houston to Colorado, or if you just need extra warehouse space to store your overstock merchandise, Port City Logistics has you covered. With port drayage, transloading, and over the road transportation, Port City Logistics offers fully-integrated services that help shippers streamline their operations, communication, and help lower transportation costs. Don’t wait for your next service failure to call us. Contact an expert at Port City Logistics today!