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This is the time of year that shippers are often bracing for the blow of annual rate increases. Usually in the late third or early fourth quarter, parcel carriers will announce their annual rate and surcharge increases. With the growth in e-commerce, parcel is becoming a larger expenditure for companies. According to GMT’s 2018 Benchmark Report, 87% of shippers expect 2018 parcel rates to increase at a similar or higher pace as total transport costs year-over-year.

In the frothy battle for online customer loyalty, shipping choices and amounts charged for those choices is a highly influential front. Retailers have been grappling with this changing landscape for years as online disruption continues. Green Mountain Technology has combined the specific experience of its retail clients along with a multitude of other companies across industries in our annual Benchmark Report to understand strategies for differentiation in this dynamic space.

We live in a parcel world where accessorial increases can be announced at any time of the year and have huge impacts on budgets. Accessorial charges account for anywhere from five to 30% of our clients’ total parcel spend, and this proportion is rising. On top of trying to accurately forecast resource needs due to volume growth and system changes within an organization, accessorial increases add a huge layer of complexity and unpredictability that can lead to multiplied costs overnight.

Validation looks at “Did I get what I paid for?” whereas verification looks at “Did I request the right thing?” A common factor seen in the attempt to answer these questions is the utilization of a parcel audit. A traditional parcel audit can help to shed light on two issues regularly seen with high-volume shipping.

As logistic departments focus more time and energy on meeting fast order fulfillment, it can become inherently difficult to save money without changing the mix of services used to less premium ones. More often than not, managers are squeezing their network like a tube of toothpaste: getting every last drop out. Take advantage of the low hanging fruit in your network with four simple, yet powerful key performance indicators that focus on maintaining a healthy network by reducing unnecessary and often avoidable fees.

As a result of the ongoing rise in e-commerce and the growth of Amazon Prime (which has an estimated 80 million US members), today’s online shoppers have very different expectations when it comes to fast and free shipping than they did just a few years ago. In order to compete, many retailers are considering adopting a similar strategy to fulfill orders much more quickly to meet those consumer expectations. However, it is challenging for transportation executives to manage the competing objectives of keeping costs down while pursuing a significantly faster fulfillment network.

In every bid event, you want to make sure you have all your bases covered and are setting yourself up for a great relationship with your carrier over the life of the contract. Fully understanding your parcel contract, including some of the easily overlooked pieces, can help mitigate future disagreements or unexpected budget issues.

For better or worse, your shipping strategy delivers more than just product. Here's how to harness logistics to drive a better brand stategy.

The pressure is on to move to faster and faster delivery to the end consumer. Here are a few strategies shippers can adopt to drive profitability in their transportation networks while still providing what their customers really want.

Most parcel and LTL shippers identify fast order fulfillment (fewer than two days) as their number one strategic focus, but a common problem affecting these shippers is their ability to actually implement the various optimization opportunities available to them. Being able to proactively identify and prepare for these constraints is the key to implementing an optimization strategy and gaining the maximum return on your investments.

It was recently reported at FedEx's Q3 earnings call that beginning June 1, FedEx will be reducing its additional handling package length threshold from 60 inches down to 48 inches on all ground shipments. According to FedEx's Mike Glenn, this change was made primarily as a way to leverage the costs and labor associated with the growing e-commerce volume. So what does this mean for you? Industry expert William Cordell explains.

The parcel industry continues to be as unpredictable as ever. Uncertainty is a consistent theme among parcel shippers and navigating through it is becoming increasingly challenging. I recently attended the Parcel Forum in Chicago this October and took the opportunity to ask many of the shippers and carriers present to share with me their concerns about uncertainty within the parcel climate as we approach peak season and a new year in 2016.

The idea of using data as a tool to drive business decisions began in the 1980s. Since then, advances in hardware and software technologies have dramatically improved our ability to work with data causing radical shifts in how we do business. According to recent studies, the amount of data that is collected daily doubles every two years.

Most large parcel shippers would agree that the parcel industry is evolving at a pace more rapidly than we have seen in recent history. After years of shippers designing and operating their parcel networks primarily based on FedEx and UPS's service capabilities, we are seeing a shift to alternative network strategies that permit the incorporation of other carriers' solutions. In an industry dominated primarily by two large carriers, opportunities are quickly arising that lower the barriers...

I am noticing Regional carriers are gaining more interest than ever in the parcel shipping community these days. They have been a presence for years in the industry, but recent parcel industry trends and developments are thrusting them onto an even larger stage. Retailers in particular have been a primary factor in providing greater stardom for the Regionals. As most in the parcel industry are aware, omni-channel retailing strategies are disrupting how retailing is conducted. As a result, the methods for fulfilling and delivering consumer orders are also being disrupted. A primary objective of the omni-channel strategy is optimizing inventory...