Adding Value to the End of the Transport and Logistics Chain

Mike Sadle is the owner of Mike’s Wrecker Service in Huntsville, Alabama. Mike has been providing tow services in the Huntsville and the surrounding areas for the past 20 plus years. During that span, Mike has experienced firsthand the growth and evolution of the towing industry. The purpose of this project was to help Mike identify an area in his business where a significant contribution could be made to increase the overall success of the company. The goal was to present Mike’s Wrecker Service with a telematics solution that will not only bring added value to the company but also provide a significant competitive advantage.

Of the three forms of transportation, rail has the highest fixed costs, motor carriers the greatest variable costs, and air transport, the greatest variable costs of service and logistics optimization. Starting with rail, the cost structure has the highest fixed cost components, driven by infrastructure and terminal costs. Rail is therefore the most difficult to negotiate a lower transportation cost for, as the fixed costs form an inflexible pricing structure for retail service providers. The quality of rail service varies significantly across nations and regions as well, leading to greater variability in costs when a shipment moves across national and regional boundaries. Given the highly fixed cost structure of rail systems, there is significant room for improvement from an efficiency standpoint. The use of containerization is continually adding to greater efficiencies to this mode of transport (Jennings, Holcomb, 1996).

Currently, the company is a global giant, in terms of its ability to move goods. Also, the company is highly visible and easily recognized. Over the years, it has become the world’s biggest package delivery company. However, it has also evolved to offer many other offerings and services. On a daily basis, the company operates and manages how goods and information are shipped throughout the world.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate three technology opportunities associated with the transportation and logistics industry. With today’s constantly evolving business environment, consumers are placing demand on businesses of all industries, and they want products and services faster, with more added value, and delivered immediately. Nevertheless, customers are smarter by requiring more quality, innovation, and choice, and at the same time wanting to spend less money and effort. Consequently, every transportation business has to remain highly competitive in researching and developing innovative cost-cutting techniques in order to save money.

The value delivery option is another component that supports the supply chain. Providing attention to the changes within consumer demands that will aid in rapid production of consumer products. In order to gain a larger view of the said component it is vital that the value-based method must be clearly understood. Based on the findings of (Feller, A., Shunk 2006).the ability to realign the structure of the supply chain, this process will allows the supply chain to sustain its effectiveness by adopting to changes in consumer necessities with merchandises of larger value. A diversified supply chain is constructed to match the overall components of the chain with customers need in mind. But if this construction of the supply chain doesn’t match the needs it will make nearly impossible for the organization to provide said products and services to the consumer.

Knowing that your company’s shipments are in the ‘right hands’ can give you great peace of mind. Select a specialized freight company with a good reputation and good reviews.

Southeastern Grocers will promote and design through imagination, improvement and innovative ideas that will enable them to provide an array of choices. It was in the best interest of the company to come up with ideas for new organic products for their new and existing stores. This is evidence that Southeastern Grocers is building responsibility and sustainability into their grand scheme of adding organic products on the shelves.

Knowledge and skills can provide the ability to take and use assets given to benefit employees and the company, which may lead to positive changes now and the future. Of course, planning ahead of time may take a load of stress off someone’s shoulders if the goals are controlled properly. In addition, goals have to be measureable and realistic for the vision to work. Scott Abell’s confidence, trust, connection with his team, and the ability to inform the choices he made led to a positive contribution for United Postal Service during the holiday season. Since internet purchasing is thriving, delivery demands must be on point to make a significant profit because competitors like FedEx and Dalsey Hillblom & Lynn (DHL) are also in

The massive global conglomerate known as ITT Industries has undergone a number of fundamental changes during the firm's century of continuous operation, growing from a humble family-run company known as International Telephone & Telegraph into the multifaceted worldwide corporate entity that exists today. Along the way, executives and upper management at ITT Industries elected to use a vast array of transportation options, consisting primarily of overseas shipping and railway/roadway freight distribution to facilitate the movement of supplies, equipment, and products throughout its network of interrelated industrial holdings. With much of ITT Industries' current portfolio consisting of aerospace/defense contractors, automotive manufacturers, railroads, and other industrial pursuits, building and sustaining a viable transportation structure to deliver items as efficiently and effectively as possible has become one of the company's paramount priorities. The added external pressures applied by governmental bodies and regulatory agencies, which are increasingly concerned with legislating environmentally sustainable corporate conduct, has also motivated ITT Industries to reassess the functionality of its transportation structure from a progressive perspective. When the diversity of ITT Industries' vast array of worldwide holdings is considered, it becomes clear that the firm's current reliance on the traditional model of overseas shipping and freight trucking distribution

The interdisciplinary and challenging program of Transportation engineering at Texas A&M University will supplement my aim of exhaustive education. If given a chance, I would like to work under the expertise of Dr. Luca Quadrifoglio whose work in this field has been very inspiring. His projects especially on “Innovative Strategy for Paratransit Services” substantiate the role of paratransits and provide an approach to fathom the impending first/last mile problem.

There are many challenges being faced by the logistics industry today as the companies strive for sustainability. This is because the providers of logistics services have, over a period of several years, found them being integrated into the production processes of their customers, while at the same time, governments and businesses have continued to carefully weigh the issue of logistics in their investment and business decisions. Some of the previous trends and the forces of the operations of logistics that drive the transformation of a Freight forwarding company will be examined. It will focus on theories, conceptual models and frameworks that explain logistic operations. The gaps in the logistics operations and the dangers of not addressing

Ensuring “last mile” delivery capacity likely to become more challenging, and we are likely to see more partnerships emerge to most efficiently manage cost, capacity and demand.

Information about competitive transportation services will be gathered. Questionnaires will be distributed to students and faculty of Kent State University in order to gather customer insight. Also, a financial consulting firm will be hired to provide professional assistance.

The transportation sector is continually evolving. Whether moving people or products by land, sea, or air, all transportation strategies need to balance proficient network design and operations with rising intricacy, government supervision, environmental accountability, security risks and demands for flexibility and performance from consumers. Transportation solutions saturate all facets of business and comprise about ten percent of all economic action. Global economic disruption and explosive fuel pricing are driving the need for more restricted operations, ground-breaking service offerings, and inspired business models. The capability to manage change and drive continual process improvements are vital to transportation enterprises that want to uphold competitive advantage and survivability (Transportation and Logistics, n.d.).

Transport plays a critical role in the supply chain and according to Bhattacharya et al. (2014) it is becoming one of the key components of the whole supply chain valuation for many organizations. Transportation is the movement of good from one location to another. Supply chain is a network of individuals, organizations, activities, resources and technology that is involved in formation and sale of a product, which is from the delivery of source materials from the supplier to the manufacturer, through to the end user. Hopkins (2007) states that supply chain professionals look at whole business procedures, which is from raw materials to manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing. And by