From the very top of politics down to the ordinary small-town trader, everyone seems to be talking supply chains at the moment. You’ll know why if you’re involved in the trucking stage of shipping: it’s been a nightmare twelve months for supply chains, which are fragmenting and tying up in knots across the world. But there are solutions to help haulage firms navigate this uncertain time, winning the trust of customers even when things are at their most challenging. This article explains the options you have available on Supply Chain Jitters and how you’ll use them to your advantage in 2022.
Technological
The first suite of solutions available to you comes in the form of new technology. As Texas fleet solutions will show you, there are dozens of different options in this domain that are all designed to make your fleet’s operations a little more efficient in the face of planning difficulties. They include:
- To-the-minute tracking to help you keep tabs on the precise location of vehicles in your fleet
- Hazard prediction and alert systems that’ll help you avoid a crash involving a member of your fleet
- Smart software that helps you predict delivery times and make future dispatch plans
All of these software solutions are designed to make your life easier – and some of them couldn’t have come around at a more opportune time, given the supply chain crisis the world is currently experiencing.
Methodological
There are other solutions that revolve around how you plan your deliveries – the methods by which you choose which truck and which driver to send out at which time. These solutions are often about changing internal processes – sometimes with the help of new technologies, and sometimes simply by looking to improve how you process your decision-making.
Here, you’ll want to consider where your delays are currently situated: your pinch-points and predictable bottlenecks. From here, you can plan to institute a new system that takes these delays into account while planning more journeys that experience little or no delay. Given that delays are on the rise during the supply chain crisis, this is the perfect time to change how you plan the dispatching of your fleet.
Contractual
Finally, you may wish to consider renegotiating contracts with your key suppliers, clients, and customers. It looks like the supply chain crisis will be here to stay in 2022, with no immediate end in sight. That means that your customers are likely to continue experiencing service delays that might cause them frustration. It’s your job to at least inform them why things are so difficult at present.
But you can do more than that. You can find ways to penalize those who don’t follow through on their promises so that you make some money out of the delays that you experience. Meanwhile, you can ask for more flexible contracts from your customers, perhaps with a reduced fee. These negotiations will keep customers loyal and clients on their toes in 2022.
There you have it: the three key domains in which you can find solutions to today’s supply chain jitters, ensuring your firm avoids loss of business.
