The Shifting Calculus of Shipping

Written By
Derek Szopa

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.

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.

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.