Fuel Price Graph: 2008-2012

by George Muha on January 25, 2012

For those of you who tend to be concerned with fuel prices (in other words, all of us), I thought this was a good visual.  Fuel prices have not peaked to the levels of mid 2008 which is a good thing.  But diesel did rise 29% from 2010 to 2011.  However, the Department of Energy [...]

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What to do When a Freight Carrier Goes Out of Business

by George Muha on January 24, 2012

I wanted to give a word of advice to shippers out there they may be using a freight carrier who is on shaky financial ground.  If you are shipping with a freight carrier (I don’t want to say any names) who happens to be having a fire sale of assets, is facing a dilution of [...]

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DOE: Diesel Should Hold in 2012

by George Muha on January 23, 2012

Listen up you bean counters that are already fretting about going over 2012 budgets.  Over the last two years diesel fuel prices spiked nearly 29% ($2.99 average for 2010 vs. $3.84 average for 2011). However, according to the Department of Energy, diesel in 2012 is expected to average $3.85 per gallon, which is basically the [...]

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New Hours of Service Rules to Keep Roads Safe

by George Muha on January 20, 2012

In an effort to keep our roads safe from sleepy truck drivers the US Government is making changes to the hours of service rules.  On December 22, 2011 the Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced regulations that mandate a new limit on the hours per week truck drivers can [...]

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Kiss Your Supply Chain

by George Muha on January 19, 2012

Kiss your supply chain.  No, I am not telling you to kiss your supply chain that way you weirdo!  I’m talking about the K.I.S.S. way.  You know, the Keep It
Simple Silly way!
A very smart person told me one time that the best ideas don’t always get the best results.  Sometimes it’s the simple idea that [...]

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You Know You’re In Trouble When You Hear Yourself Say This Phrase

by George Muha January 18, 2012

Do you question the way your company does certain things and wonder if there might be a better way things could be done?  Here’s a simple test to see if your company has any fangled processes in place that take much more time, man power and money than it should.  Simply ask the people who [...]

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Rail, The Other White Meat

by George Muha January 17, 2012

A great alternative to consider when trying to reduce overall transportation costs is rail.  A rail provider can come to your facility and pick up your load just
like a truckload carrier.  The difference is for the line haul portion of trip, your shipment is moving via rail road.
The down side of using rail is that [...]

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Creating More Profitable “FREE FREIGHT” Rules

by George Muha January 16, 2012

HAVING AN EQUALIZED “FREE FREIGHT” PROGRAM KILLS PROFITS, SO CHANGE IT
It’s common for shippers to have an equalized free freight program.  What I mean by equalized freight program I am talking about offering “free freight” to customers who purchase a certain amount of volume of goods, regardless of their geographical location.  The problem is transportation [...]

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The Supply Chain Self Test

by George Muha October 18, 2011

The book The New Supply Chain Agenda (Harvard 2010) outlines an excellent strategy to help companies achieve supply chain excellence.  This book also has some very effective self surveys to help companies identify the current state of things concerning their own supply chain operations.  However, I like to keep things simple and wanted to share [...]

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Freight Audit Companies Fall Short in this One Area: Aged Invioces

by George Muha October 11, 2011

This post is going to be short, sweet and to the point.  I love what a good freight audit company can do for a shipper!  These firms usually can process invoices way more effectively than a shipper can on their own.  In addition, some of these firms can output metrics and business intelligence that can [...]

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