Management Summary

The logistics eco-system is a critical driver in the growth of a nation's economy and it is important that all efforts be taken to keep it running smoothly. In the past 12 months, transportation professionals have been faced with an unfortunate asymmetry: the carrier rates and charges that rose with spiking fuel prices have not fallen to the same degree as a barrel of oil. This persistence, when coupled with present and future concerns over the continued viability of large-scale carriers and its effect on available capacity, call attention to the importance of transportation procurement and payment to the overall performance of the enterprise. This report details how Best-in-Class shippers have leveraged transportation spend management solutions together with process improvements to keep costs under control and maintain high levels of carrier performance. Five Compelling Facts from the Research, Providing Actionable Benefits for Readers:

1. Best-in-Class companies are 3.1 times as likely as all others to have reduced negotiated freight rates in the last 12 months.
2. The cost of processing an invoice for Best-in-Class companies is 33% less than Industry Average, and 68% less than for Laggard companies.
3. Best-in-Class companies are 4.5 times as likely as all others to have reduced their baseline freight spend by 5% or more in the last 12 months.
4. Best-in-Class companies are twice as likely as all others to have more than 95% of carriers compliant to contract.
5. Best-in-Class companies are twice as likely as all others to have more than 95% of carriers compliant with Service Level Agreements.

Report Outtakes

Analyst Quote ¹ "Working in silos can be detrimental to any process, with or without access to valuable data. Collaboration internally and externally adds value to the decision making process and puts even more power in the hands of your employees, letting them automate and visualize the decisions they're responsible for, while continuing to extend the processes to involve more stakeholders." Research Quote ² "Almost 90% of Best-in-Class respondents have the ability to track total freight costs all the way down to accessorials, as well as providing real-time access to transportation invoices. It's impossible to move forward unless you know where you are today, and understanding the "True" cost of freight is the very beginning." Fast Facts/Sales Quote ³ "Too many companies rely on top-level data that doesn't break down costs and ultimately have no way of conducting the proper analysis required in order to succeed. It's also important to see that almost 50% of BIC are managing freight audit and payment data at a global level, reducing the complexity of managing each location as a separate instance of data and missing out on the leveragability of key data."