The Shifting Calculus of Shipping

Traditionally, shippers face tension between cost and time in transit: how little can I pay to get the goods to my customer in the expected time? The daily exercise in balancing the equation within an ecosystem of retailers, fulfillment partners and carriers is often a full-time focus for transportation leaders. Seasonal peaks and troughs only exacerbate the challenge.

In the age of e-commerce, shipping must serve a more important strategic role than ever before, impacting even more business priorities, including customer service and sustainability. There is no binary, either-or decision when it comes to costs and transit times – the answer is always “both...and then some!” To be successful, transportation leaders must think holistically about the role shipping can play in furthering a broad range of priorities.

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With both money and time as finite resources, businesses must do more with what they’ve got – unlocking capacity within their existing systems to meet the growing set of needs. Technology can play a transformational role. CloudSort harnesses real-time decision making to optimize sorting, routing, and tracking, which in turn creates a more efficient and flexible network. This newfound space within the system then enables new levels of customer service, sustainable business practices, and effective scale.

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As transportation leaders rethink their role within their organizations, they now have an opportunity to expand their view of the metrics that matter most, no matter the time of year.