I’m Jay Kent, managing director of SLB Performance, a consulting firm that helps companies reduce supply chain costs, implement BI tools, and improve in-stocks and customer service. After 25 years of leading some of the most complex supply chains in the industry, I began advising companies in multiple industries and verticals. To mitigate costs and improve efficiencies, it’s important to understand the market. So twice a month, I’ll share parcel news and thoughts. Be sure to hit the subscribe button to receive the latest newsletter in your LinkedIn notifications.
Friendly reminder that FedEx will report its FY 2023 Q3 earnings this Thursday. Stay tuned for Friday thoughts on FedEx’s earnings. It’s likely that the company will report continued volume declines and little if any, gains in profits as it continues the cost-cutting and optimization of its network. On April 5, FedEx plans to provide additional details on its DRIVE initiative, FedEx’s transformation program.
A few publications, including Supply Chain Dive, reported that FedEx is warning UPS customers to shift their volumes away from UPS to avoid disruptions from a possible strike this summer, according to a FedEx email. Per Supply Chain Dive, customer volumes onboarded by March 31 will be included in the carrier’s capacity planning ahead of the potential strike date.
In other parcel and last-mile news:
- Efficiencies and cost-savings are taking precedence at Amazon as its air network reduces point-to-point flying and focuses on a more hub-centric model.
- The E-commerce platform, BigCommerce announced BOPIS capabilities for its sellers. “To stay competitive and grow, brands need to meet their customers where they are and make it easy for them to purchase and pick up their items,” said Meghan Stabler, senior vice president of marketing at BigCommerce. “With this latest evolution of our omnichannel offering, BigCommerce makes it easy for merchants to offer BOPIS to their customers and coordinate orders and inventories across branded sites, social, search, marketplace, and brick-and-mortar channels – all through the BigCommerce platform.”
- Middle-mile platform, Warp, introduced DirectFresh. According to Warp, the platform helps make it easier to ship fresh freight, including cold storage products like ice cream and frozen meat, directly to stores within hours. To enable perishable shipments, Warp leverages a network of carrier partners and temperature-controlled crossdocks. Its fleet, which handles mostly less-than-truckload shipments, comprises a mix of cargo vans, box trucks, and 53-footers, plenty of which are designed to move sensitive goods.
- Shipping platform, Shipium, announced a partnership with CDL, a regional carrier servicing the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. “Budgets are being crunched while customer experience is becoming a bigger priority. Shippers who move to regional carriers like CDL to diversify their volume will see dramatic cost improvements, while deliveries will be faster and more accurate, which will make for happier customers,” said Jason Murray, CEO of Shipium.
That’s it for now. Comments are always welcome. Let me know what I missed. Stay tuned for the next newsletter next week, and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button to ensure you receive it in your LinkedIn notices.
-Jay