Safeguard Your Business Against Shipping Disruptions

Even if you take issues due to the pandemic out of the question, there hasn’t been a year in recent memory that didn’t have a shipping disruption of unprecedented proportions; think floods, wildfires, extreme temperatures (hot and cold), blockades, strikes etc.

While many of these may be considered localized, any of them could affect your cargo shipments. So, do you have a plan and the relationships in place to keep your shipments moving when the next supply chain emergency hits?

If not, you may be putting your business at significant risk by waiting for an emergency — or ongoing disruption like the pandemic — to happen before trying to do something about it.

Two Ways To Safeguard Your Business Against Shipping Disruptions

Of course, no one can say what tomorrow will bring. But, to avoid shipping disruptions at any time, your business should partner with the following two types of companies.

1. Partner with A LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION COMPANY

Logistics and supply chain optimization companies offer many ways to protect your business against shipping issues. These include having warehouse spaces close to your major markets, better inventory control, order fulfillment and streamlining your entire supply chain.

However, sticking to shipping issues, a reliable supply chain partner will be proficient in multi-modal transportation. This means they can quickly shift your shipment between transportation modes, should one mode suffer delays.

2. Partner with AN EXPEDITE SHIPPING COMPANY

Many shipping companies consider expedite shipping as an option to be avoided until absolutely necessary. But that may be too late. In an emergency, every shipper turns to expedite transportation companies. So does this mean you must expedite shipments if you don’t need them expedited?

No. 

Expedite can often be used as a transactional service, meaning you choose when to or not to use this shipping method based on your current needs. Setting up a partnership with an expedite shipping company will help secure transportation in the case of an emergency, without any long-term commitments. But there may be times, other than during disruptions, that you haven’t considered when expedite shipping can help your business.

For example, it’s not always necessary to expedite a shipment the entire way between point of origin and final destination. If you analyze your shipping supply chain, both inbound and outbound, there’s a good chance that the weak, or slow, links are closer to the origin and the destination. This can include getting your shipments into and out of sea, air and rail terminals. Expediting your shipments across those weak links can significantly accelerate your entire supply chain.

What To Look For In A Reliable Logistics Company

At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of how to prepare for any unexpected supply chain disruptions. But with so many logistics companies to choose from, how should you decide on who to partner with?

Here is our list of what to look for in a logistics and expedite partner:

• Strong expertise
• A solid industry track record
• A wide network
• Good customer service
• A company that takes safety and security seriously
• ​A company with the assets to offer intermodal transportation and expedite shipping

Anything that you would add to the list? Let us know.

If you’re looking for a partner or to learn more about the services we offer please contact: Alexia La Barbera (Director of Business Development)

To learn more about the advantages of partnering with a logistics company, check out our recent article 4 Benefits of using Third-Party Logistics Services.