HOME SHIP WITH US ABOUT US BLOG CONTACT US CARRIERS CAREERS SURGE TRANSPORTATION REAL-TIME PRICING VS. SPOT PRICING: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Demand is not linear and sometimes that creates gaps in coverage The most fundamental difference between real-time pricing and spot pricing is that one is by design and the other is by mistake. Traditional spot pricing – sending loads to auction – is sourcing capacity for loads that are not covered by mistake. READ MORE DEMYSTIFYING DIGITAL BROKERS: PREDICTING THE FUTURE OF BROKERAGE Life, no matter your background, has taught all of us that when things get to be more difficult than the normal, we choose to partner with somebody more qualified than our primary. READ MORE THREE REASONS PERFECTLY EXECUTED ROUTING GUIDES FAIL 100% OF THE TIME The most well designed routing guides are going to fail. Even seasoned supply chain teams working with a roster of reliable service providers are going to design routing guide failures into their transportation execution strategy. This article discusses three common pitfalls that create gaps in routing guides in order to highlight the need to develop a plan to secure extra capacity at times – specifically about five percent of the time for the most well run supply chains. READ MORE YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE RIGHT THROUGH ME If you’ve been in logistics long enough you have seen ups and downs. When I bought my first truck in 2001 diesel could still be found for under $1.00 per gallon in parts of the country, so I decided to buy 30 more. Since then we’ve all been through the Great Recession, fuel at $5.00 per gallon, economic collapse of banking and normal systems, new transportation regulations starting with hours of service through current on-board recorders, READ MORE “SORRY, WE ARE NOT ADDING ANY MORE BROKERS.” If you are in the logistics business then you are probably on one end of either giving or receiving that statement regularly. And, I understand why so many transportation buyers take that position. The brokerage business model is based on the back-haul: a carrier in Los Angeles has a customer in Los Angeles who needs them to take a shipment to Kansas. READ MORE YOUR ROUTING GUIDE IS A LIVING DOCUMENT – THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE Do you know of any transportation capacity planners who hold their RFC event, make sure their capacity commitments meet their projected volume demand, award shipments to 3-5 carriers on every lane, go live with implementation, and then go home for 9 months because their work for the year is done? The reality is that the routing guide is a living document – subject to change each and every week throughout the year. READ MORE REAL-TIME IS THE NEW ON-TIME Have you ever had a carrier tell you that they were running late to their delivery appointment – after the appointment time had already passed? It leaves you wondering how long before the appointment they knew that they were behind schedule. READ MORE ALL MACHINES NEED MAINTENANCE: HOW YOUR BROKER IS THE MECHANIC, NOT THE OPERATOR Third party capacity providers are not asset based motor carriers nor should we pretend to be. We do not have economies of scale that through volume purchasing allow us to acquire a truck or a trailer or a tire at a discount. In fact, the majority of the independent truckers who we work with do not have economies of scale either. READ MORE NOBODY DOESN’T WANT STRAIGHT “A’S” Have you ever had a report card on which you did not want to receive straight A’s? In strategic business partnerships, much like grade school report cards, much like customer KPI scorecards, everybody wants straight “A’s.” Nobody doesn’t want them. We want A-players, A-teams, A-performance indicators, A-response time, A-communication, A-service. READ MORE Recent Posts Real-time pricing vs. spot pricing: What’s the difference? Demystifying Digital Brokers: Predicting the Future of Brokerage Three Reasons Perfectly Executed Routing Guides Fail 100% of the Time Surge Transportation Surge Transportation Inc. Surge Transportation provides North American full truckload excess capacity. Call us today to fill the gaps in your routing guide. Contact. 7077 Bonneval Road, Jacksonville, FL 32216 180 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60601 Phone: 844.591.6090 E-Mail: info@surgetransportation.com | Website Terms of Service | | Privacy Policy | | Transportation Terms and Conditions | Copyright © 2021 Surge Transportation Inc. All rights reserved.