In early 2020, the market forecast for freight looked bright. The turmoil of the U.S.-China trade war appeared at an end, and few disruptions were believed to cause issues in 2020. Then, coronavirus happened to spread, and now, it will impact global supply chains. It is only a matter of time. Fortunately, understanding the facts and leveraging data through the top 2020 freight metrics can provide a protective effect. According to Logistics Management, experts were already questioning the risk of a recession:
“The North American economy remains strong, despite predictions of a recession on the horizon. In the meantime, some of this apparent strength is belied by the significant decline in freight volumes across several sectors. With that in mind, the key question we’re seeking to address is how all of this will influence the cost of North American freight management in 2020.”
The Supply Chain Trends to Know in 2020
Download White Paper- Number of carriers affected by the coronavirus, including the volume percentage decline and available capacity utilization. Available capacity must be a top priority in your 2020 freight metrics lineup. Include available capacity, as well as its decline across specified time frames.
- 2020 freight metrics’ rates by carrier, mode, and transit time. Measure the rates across all carriers for change relating to mode, carrier, transit time, and even coronavirus-impact.
- Fuel surcharges, as well as fuel costs. Monitoring fuel surcharges helps ensure rates reflect actual costs incurred by carriers, helping shippers keep carriers accountable.
- Percentage compliance with IMO 2020. Maintaining compliance with IMO 2020 is essential to avoiding financial penalties and maintaining compliance. Period.
- Coronavirus-affected material suppliers and potential alternate sources. Monitoring the areas where suppliers and carriers have been impacted by coronavirus is critical to sourcing new materials and products from less-impacted regions.
- Total costs paid due to tariffs as a percentage of supply chain throughput value. Tracking total costs paid due to tariffs helps build a business case for more efficiency and even expanding supplier relationships.
- Total shrinkage due to freight damage. Freight damage will occur, and shippers must track all freight shrinkage due to damage.
- Claims’ management efficiency. Claims’ management efficiency is best tracked by monitoring the duration and resolution rate of freight claims.
- Total freight claims’ costs. Tracking total freight claims’ costs as a percentage of revenue can help identify defects and avoid further increases in return rates.
- Costs of freight accounting auditing, as well as recaptured revenue percentage. Knowing the value of freight invoice auditing services and freight accounting justifies investment in new services and knowing recaptured revenue metrics continuously builds a better business case for their use.
- ELD compliance among internal fleets. Maintaining ELD compliance is tantamount to avoiding unnecessary expenses. Track compliance across the fleet.
- E-commerce order parcel utilization rates versus other modes. Since parcel is the preferred mode of choice for e-commerce, track the volume of e-commerce orders not using parcel and adjust accordingly.
- Last-mile value-added services, including white glove services, ranked by value. Rank the value, read revenue, gained from upselling customers with last-mile value-added services.
- Costs of last-mile services broken down by service types, such as debris removal, software installation, or custom delivery. Break down the costs of last-mile service by type and intensity, refining services to build better experiences.
- Competitive scorecard averages against big-box retailers and Amazon. Create competitive scorecards to track carrier performance.
- Time since the last safety violation. Safety must be a priority. Track the time since the last violation for drivers, employees, and carriers.
- Labor satisfaction expressed by employees. Monitor employee satisfaction by obtaining direct feedback from workers.
- Employee turnover within your company’s logistics professionals. Tracking turnover can help identify weaknesses in the operation that can be improved through staff augmentation or other practices.
- Cost of SaaS software and its ROI. Track the ROI and costs of SaaS TMS implementation, as well as its added value that goes beyond the original scope of the TMS implementation.
- Delivery-specific 2020 freight metrics, including delivery in full, delivery on time, delivery in full on time, and inventory stock turns in Days, says Logistics Bureau. The delivery 2020 freight metrics focus on guaranteeing a positive customer experience. Track them and improve operations as necessary.
Know and Track the Right 2020 Freight Metrics to Succeed.
There is no way to know how far the coronavirus may spread, and its disruption could last weeks, months, or even years. There is little supply chain professionals can do to stop it now, but they can help contain the virus by improving operations and knowing what is and is not working in their organizations. Take the time to start tracking the top 20 2020 freight metrics now.