Que ce soit pour une question de manque de temps, de santé physique ou tout simplement pour ne pas générer de l’usure sur votre précieux bolide, le transport par camion de votre moto est la solution parfaite.

RM Logistique desserre l’ensemble du Canada et des Etats-Unis. Vous voulez passer des vacances de rêve au volant de votre moto avec des destinations comme Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Daytona en Floride ou même l’ouest du Canada, RM Logistique facilitera votre expérience.

RM Logistique souhaite la bienvenue au club ou au groupe de motocyclisme en offrant des tarifs très compétitifs pour le transport de plusieurs motos. Chaque une de nos remorques 53 pieds dry box (remorque fermée) peuvent charger entre onze et douze unités selon les dimensions des motos.

Notre expertise en matière de transport de moto s’applique également pour les véhicules Can-Am Spyder ou tout autre véhicule trois roues, RM Logistique perçoit une forte augmentation pour la demande de transport de ce genre de véhicule.

Avec un vaste réseau d’entreposage sécuriser partout en Amérique du Nord, votre moto sera en sécurité et n’attendra que vous pour débuter vos vacances de rêve au volant de votre moto.

In a climate that is turning more and more towards Just in time shipping and sparser inventories being warehoused, intermodal is now a specialized mode of transportation that is best suited for a select business type. Rail transit times for cross continent hauls, California to Montreal for example, can be up to 4 days longer than its truck counterpart. Then there’s the possibility of delays at the rail hubs while the cargo changes hands from one rail provider to another. But for every con there’s a pro. So here I go in point form.

Top 5 Pro and Cons of domestic Intermodal transportation.

Top 3 Cons

1. The aforementioned transit time needs to be one of the biggest con in my book. The only saving grace of this issue is that it is widely publicised, and agreed upon, so when a client opts for this service they know what they are getting.


2. Limited equipment. This is the thorn in every planner, dispatcher, ops managers side. In the rail world they refer to it as “The Bubble” and this can refer to the container or rail car supply. The basic theory is if imports from one location to another spike “the bubble” of equipment moves only in one direction leaving an imbalance in the areas that the equipment is needed and a surplus in dormant areas. Forecasting and planners at the rail lines are darn good at their jobs and normally avoid this phenomenon but it still occurs making finding a 53 foot intermodal container on some weeks on the west coast more like the Wild West.


3. Shake, Rattle and Roll. Rail Transport is not the most graceful of the modes of transport and even under normal circumstances there are is a lot of force applied to the cargo within the container. The coupling of the rail cars (or Shunt) can exert up to 4g of force either forwards or backwards. Less drastic than that is what is known harmonic vibration that is not experienced by over the road trucks due to their suspension and rubber wheels. In a rail car or container these micro vibrations can cause cargo to float at a certain speed and move latterly within the unit (imagine a cell phone on a slanted surface when it is on vibrate). If shipment is not properly secured, damage is imminent.

See below links for 2 great resources on the subject of securing cargo :

http://www.uprr.com/customers/dam-prev/im/index.shtml

http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/Customers/Existing+Customers/DPCS/Tips/Intermodal.htm

Top 3 Pros (now the good stuff!)

1. Money, Money, Money. Rail transport is much less expensive than its Over the Road Truck Transportation counterpart. Basic economics apply. More cargo being pulled at once translates to lower per unit rates.


2. Immovable Force! Well not immovable but pretty darn heavy. An average freight train can pull around 280 double stacked containers, at a length between 1 and 1.5 miles long. (or longer! Check this out) This means freight trains are less susceptible to external factors like adverse weather conditions and they face much less traffic.


3. Need to know. Most rail providers provide great track and trace tools directly on their websites. In most cases we are able to locate the rail car/container immediately within 100miles of its actual location with a few key strokes. With thousands of containers moving on a daily basis within continental North America these procedures and tools have been tweaked and refined to the point that you are never to long before an update on your shipmen is available.

So there it is. My Verdict: if the cargo and time frame are right, put it on steel wheels and forget about it. But if you needed it here yesterday... Time to get it in a truck.

Questions or comments

pat@rmlogistic.com

Pat

Each season will bring different challenges to a 3PL and logistics specialist. If you need to be extra careful with your fresh produce from California during a July heat wave, you’ll also need to make sure the liquid glue you carry in the dead of winter won’t freeze when going through the prairies in a blizzard in February.

Although we’ve been enjoying warmer temperatures in the last months around the Montreal area, this won’t last! Snow storms, freezing rain and blocked highways due to heavy snowfalls soon (it already started in some states and provinces…) will become daily challenges. This is where all this instant data available will help us maintain adequate transit times between destinations.

Let's be positive! In a blink of an eye, snow storms and blizzards will be things of the past. With spring coming and the warmer temperatures slowly warming up our regions, the only thing that’ll be left between winter and barbeque season will be thawing season… and its challenges!

Questions or comments

Please feel free to send me any questions or comments at :
carl@rmlogistic.com

Carl Bissonnette

I will elaborate on the consequences of two different brokers competing for the same truck on a tough lane. Simply put, the law of supply and demand make the price go up when there is more demand than supply. In this case 2 demands for 1 supply. It is a situation which witnessed in particular lanes where there is an unbalance for certain equipment.

At RM Logistic, a 3PL transportation broker company in Montreal, we are always looking out for our client’s best interest , trying to get the best rates possible from our suppliers. However, when we must find specialized equipment such as reefer trucks in high demand lanes of transportation we end up competing against other brokers over the same truck. The effect is usually an superficial increase in the freight rate.

What really happens is that each broker gives their price to the shipper and they chose which one they would like to use. That’s when a strong relationship, a good communication between both your client and your supplier and a dedicated service is a key factor in the decision made by your client.

When clients purchasing model is shopping around and always try to squeeze down the price in an area where their are no trucks, the demand increases and therefore a rise in the cost as well.

Of course carriers like to work with certain brokers over some other for certain reason, such as:

• Established relationship
• Partnership on some other lanes
• The broker’s capacity to pay faster than other

Questions or comments

In the meantime, if you’d like to ask any questions feel free to ask at:
alex@rmlogistic.com

In order to fulfill those needs, it is very important to understand the basics in the market price. Last time on this blog, we mentioned the concept of equipment availability for certain areas. We introduced the concept of the market price that goes hand-in-hand with truck availability.

Market price

The market price in the trucking industry undergoes the same basics as economy 101: supply and demand. Since specialized equipment, such as refrigerated trucks, goes where the demand is, it appears clear that some lanes in transportation will see a great fluctuation in their price. Seasonal produce has a great impact on truck availability and price. Let’s say you have a weekly pick up in New York with a reefer truck, the price and the truck availability will fluctuate within the same year due to certain seasonal products such as watermelon in june from Laredo, TX.

Certain regions are active during a certain period of the year. California, for instance, is active 12 months a year, but only 9 months to the Northeastern regions, due to this areas growing capacity during the other 3 months. Low prices on the outbound to California will be observed during this period. The same thing goes with Laredo, TX, El Paso, TX and Nogales, AZ which is on the border between USA and Mexico. During high season peak, we will notice a low truck availability for reefers out of other areas like Rochester, NY as an example.

Weather

The weather affects truck availability too because of its effect on harvesting and picking. For example, berry picking doesn’t occur when it’s raining in California. All the refrigerated equipment will be immobilized until the picking begins. The supply will exceed the demand, and the price for that period will go down, sometimes very sharply.

Also there is a direct relationship with the truck market pricing and the market price for the commodity for the end user. Therefore, there’s a limit to what a haul back can cost. End-market consumers, namely you and I, will never pay $15/per carton for strawberries, therefore it will never be possible to have a TL of berries paying $20 000.00 to Montreal.

The principles of supply and demand can also be explained by the factor of transportation hubs. The same truck that goes somewhere in South Dakota will cost you more than a truck going to California per mile. There isn’t that much freight to pick up in South Dakota, which makes the return hard to book without dead miles. Drivers usually have to drive with an empty trailer to a bigger hub to get loaded and they’re usually charging those empty miles and the way to go.

It would be the same principles for the same lane in two different directions. Let’s say for instance the lane New York City, NY to San Francisco, CA. Since California has an trade imbalance with New York, prices for transport will be more expensive to go to California than it is to come back. This is simply due to a large pool of equipment originating from California stuck in New York without a proper paying backhaul.

Currency

The currency is also a major factor in equipment availability and market rates for trade between two countries. Like we have experienced lately since our currency is at parity to US. This has motivated Canadians to buy more from the USA because of the usually cheaper costs due to the sheer economy of scale. That will create a large pool of carriers that went outbound to the US with Canadian goods always loaded to come home from the high supply of US freight. This will affect the inbound rates from the high demand and low supply.

There are many other reasons that can affect the price of transportation such as fuel rate, time of the week (Friday afternoon emergency), Holliday seasons, and so on. This is why it is a good thing to work with brokers that are always looking for your best interest such as RM Logistic in Montreal to always get a fair rate for a specific timeframe.

Questions or comments

You can always contact me at :
alex@rmlogistic.com for any other inquiries. See you in two weeks!

1. As a whole, the trucking industry (including LTL carriers,  FTL transportation, refrigerated carriers,  flatbed trucking, owner-operators and 3pl transport brokerage firms) generated an estimated $67 billion in revenues in 2005.


2. In terms of shipping and transportation value, truckload shipping both LTL and FTL combined accounted for 61 per cent of trade with the United States, rail 17 per cent, pipeline 13 per cent, air five per cent and marine four per cent.


3. In domestic activities, construction materials are the top commodities moved by trucks intra provincially, followed by agricultural products, primary metals, metal and mineral products, and energy products.


4. Five commodity groups represented almost 80 per cent of total Canadian exports in 2005: automobiles and transport equipment, machinery and electrical equipment, other manufacturing products, plastics and chemical products, and base metals/articles of base metal. The same five commodity groups represented 87 per cent of Canadian imports.


5. There are 3.5 million truck transportation drivers in the U.S. with an average income of $60,000.

Thank you for reading my article and please stay tuned next week.

Claim management

Claim management is really the moment where a companies customer service shines. Freight brokers who do not have proper claim mangement process in place risk losing valued partners to bitter exchanges of he-said, she-said.

For freight owners to put forth a claim it must be done in a formal manner with request for credit, POD’s properly signed with all the necessary damage information noted and commercial invoices detailing the value of the product. Pictures can help, but are not absolutly necessary. Once this is done it must be sent in a timely manner to the parties being claimed.

3PL : not liable for damaged product

It is important to understand that 3PL’s are not liable for damaged product. Since Logistics companies are not carriers their names cannot appear on Bills of Lading. This document is the contract of carriage between all the parties involved in the movement. Namely the party shipping the freight, the party hauling the freight and the party receiving the freight. The BOL states if the product was loaded or unloaded with damges. The carrier hauling the freight is responsible for the product between point A and point B, thus responsible for the damages.

In the event of insurance claims, it is the carriers insurance that gets claimed. The brokers liability is for hiring the right people to do the job, and that is what their contigent and ’’errors and omissions’’ insurance covers. The specifications of these insurances will be discussed in further blogs.

3PL : mediation between the two partners

The 3PL’s responsability though lies in the proper mediation of the claim between his two partners. The freight owner and the carrier. Both must be properly informed of the advancement of the claim through the different steps.

In conclusion, no one likes freight damages. Of course carriers with high claims rates are blacklisted quickly from an 3PL’s freight rating system, i’m sure. But, anyone who has experience in the industry knows that damages happen to all carriers and they happen at the worst times. The worst time being at anytime! The 3PL has a responsibilty to properly resolve these matters in as little time as possible and to ensure that the resolution is as fair for both parties as can be provided.

Augmentation des exportations et importations

Aujourd’hui, une brise d’optimisme souffle sur les transporteurs : les entreprises exportent et importent davantage. Le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) prévoit que le commerce mondial des biens et des services bondira de 11.4% cette année, puis de 11% en 2011.

Le choix de la voie maritime

Une bonne partie de ces échanges se fera par voie maritime. Certains analystes prévoit que les expéditions par bateaux, en vrac ou par conteneurs augmenterons de 12% cette année et de 6% l’an prochain.

Cette reprise du commerce est une bonne nouvelle pour les ports de Montréal (conteneurs) et de Québec (marchandises et vrac), qui s’attendent à un regain d’activité en 2010 et 2011. En 2009, leurs volumes –comme ceux de la plupart des ports- avaient chuté respectivement de 15 et 23%, pour s’établir à 1,3million de conteneurs d’un équivalent de 20 pieds à Montréal, et à 22 millions de tonnes, à Québec.

Coûts de transport bas

Malgré la reprise, les coûts de transport demeurent bas. Selon le Baltic Dry Index, un indice des prix pour le transport maritime en vrac et de matières sèches, les prix 2010 ce négocient au tiers du prix de 2007-08.

Pour moi la voile est une passion que mon père m’a transmis très jeune, j’ai eu la chance de naviguer à haut niveau junior. Au court des années, j’ai perfectionné mon sport en naviguant sur différent de type de voiliers.

Le bateau de plaisance chez RM Logistique

En juillet 2010 RM Logistique a démarré sont programme de transport spécialisé de bateau de plaisance. Notre première logistique d’un transport surdimensionné de bateau de plaisance par voix maritime ou communément appelé, convoi exceptionnel, par nous cousin Français, était d'un voilier de 40 pieds. Il se trouvait sur le Lac Léman en Suisse et fut transporté au Lac Champlain dans l’état de New York.

Lors de ce contrat, le mot logistique a pris tout son sens. Chacune des étapes pour cette expédition a dû être soigneusement orchestré avec diverses fournisseurs.

Les étapes étaient les suivantes :

• Préparation du bateau
• Construction d’un ber de transport sur mesure
• Transport routier de la Suisse jusqu’au port de chargement en Belgique.
• Transport maritime jusqu'au Port de Halifax
• Finalement le transport routier jusqu'à la destination final. Pas nécessaire de mentionner que la communication était de mise, et RM Logistique a su le faire avec précision.

Un soin particulier

Au delà d’avoir des dimensions hors normes, les bateaux de plaisance sont fragiles et nécessite le plus grands des soins lors de la manutention et du transport. Grâce à mon expérience approfondie en matière de bateau de plaisance, voilier et yacht, et l’expertise de RM Logistique en tant que compagnie de logistique de transport, nous mettons les gants blanc pour le transport de vos précieux jouets!

Do you like to micromanage your loads and go through the hassle of booking appointments. Seriously? Think about it for a minute! Your inbox is full you’ve got loads moving out of your warehouse all over the country, maybe all over the continent and maybe even all over the world, your sales force is pushing you to get rates so they can include them in their costs and also pushing you to move their orders… are you really thinking about that appointment for a partial load going to nowhere?

You know that load that will give you headaches for days because you forgot to make an appointment and the load got returned to you or the load that costs you more in waiting time than actually getting it to destination?

RM Logistics doesn’t ask you, they coordinate shipping and receiving processes with carriers at distribution centers and warehouses for you!

Appointments are too often overlooked when it comes to getting lane rates. It is however, probably, the most important element of the load cycle. A proper appointment enables carriers to be more efficient with their time and warehouses or DC’s to staff labour accordingly. The clients'net benefit is he moves out more loads and doesn’t get unexpected surcharges.  The net benefit to the carrier is that they move more loads in less time.

Here's how Appointment Scheduling works at RM Logistics

• Our carriers and suppliers easily schedule appointments using electronic data interchange (EDI) or a Web interface. If you don’t work this way we can go old school, telephone!

That’s it! no other steps. Unnecessary to tell you that our logistics team will book an appointment and follow supplier and carrier until it is done as per the agreement.  That means if lumpers are needed our carriers come with cash $, your load get’s picked and dropped, you don’t have any headaches and pay 1 price.

More return on investment (ROI)

At the end of the year what do you estimate has more ROI (return on investment)? Saving 50$ on a load to get the cheapest guy out there and deal with all the headaches?  Or pay 3-5% more and dedicate 100% of your time to what you actually need to be doing?

Bien souvent lorsqu'un transport de marchandise doit s'effectuer entre point A et point B, le chargement est moins qu'un camion complet et oui, less-than-truckload.

Les coûts de transport et d'entreposage étant élevés, personne ne veut payer pour de l'espace non utilisé dans un camion ou dans un entrepôt. La solution idéal, le LTL l'équivalent du covoiturage!

La solution LTL

• Avantage: Le coût! On est chargé que pour l'espace utilisé.

• Désavantage: Le temps de transit!!!

Il faut comprendre que plus le camion fait des arrêts, plus les difficultés peuvent survenir. Bien souvent le camion est organisé de manière à satisfaire tous les clients qui bien souvent ont besoin de la marchandise ''just-on-time''. Si le rendez-vous a été pris pour livrer à 11AM, il se peut que le besoin de cette marchandise est pressante et que la ligne de production attend ce produit afin de terminer la production.

Des facteurs incontrôlables par le LTL

Avec le LTL malheureusement des embûches peuvent survenir, la livraison précédente peut avoir du retard pour des raisons incontrôlables : le lift de déchargement peu être brisé, un gars aujourd'hui est absent, un camion est arrivé en retard et notre camion attends en file pour se faire décharger. Et voilà notre chargement arrivera en retard!

Il y a la route aussi!!! Les accidents, la température, le trafic!!! Ça, on connait!!!

Les douanes aussi peuvent nous retarder. En partageant le camion avec d'autres chargements on s'expose aux erreurs des autres. Un autre shipment peu avoir des problèmes avec les papiers, ou encore est requis à se faire inspecter par les officiers des douanes.

Avec le LTL, on sauve de l'argent, mais les difficultés sont plus présentes!

Bref, un beau défi pour nous en tant que courtier en transport.

6 am – Just walked into the office and checked all my e-mails.  Then traced all of my refrigerated transportation shipment, seeing how most of these have early morning deliveries these need to be handled with high priority.

7 am - Begin making my schedule for the day, as well as ensuring that all of my transportation shipping quotes have been properly entered and my agenda for the calls and follow-ups for that day are entered.

8 am - This is when I follow through calling all of my existing clients in Toronto and Montreal. These calls will consist of seeing what is being shipped on that day, as well as getting an evaluation on the freight quotations that we had provided on the previous afternoon.

9 am - Load tracings, this is the most crucial time of the day and will probably designate how smoothly the morning will go. In a perfect world everything has picked up, will pick up, has delivered or will deliver on time.

9:30 am - Everything is going well, all shipments are on schedule. Today will be a good day.

11:00 am - Just got a call from a refrigerated carrier, his trucks has flat tire he is 100 miles away from the delivery. Slight fire to estinguish.

11:05 am - I called my client and explained the situation.  Although they were not pleased, I reassured them that they were in good hands and that we will take care of everything. Now is when 3PL logistics companies in Montreal strive under high pressure and a strict deadline.

11:30 am - Fire extinguished. We've rescheduled the delivery appointment, and the trucker is having his flat tire changed.

12:00 pm - Lunch time.

12:05 pm - Back at my desk, this morning was extremely productive and I have received a lot of quote requests. I will spend this time finding the best price and sending my clients the rates.

1:15 pm - Still no response from my clients, time to hit the phones.

1:30 pm - Hard getting in touch with my Montreal shippers, they must be still eating lunch.

1:35 pm - A client called me because he loved my price said it was going to move today and he needed it picked up ASAP.

1:45 pm – I finally got in touch with my truck, but he said I made him wait too long and booked it with someone else. I cant be mad at him.

1:46 pm - Time to hit the phones and find a new truck.

2:00 pm – Done, truck booked, load covered, thanks logistics coordinators! My ops team has pulled through as usual.

2:01 pm - Repeat

2:15 pm - Cold calls

3:15 pm - Cold calls

4 pm – Meeting with my Business Development manager. We are preparing the strategy to position equipment for key accounts.

5 pm -  Final load tracings to make sure everything will go smoothly for after hours pick ups.

6 pm - On my way home to get some sleep because tomorrow we will be doing this all over again.

''I spent thirteen years in the financial markets. Thirteen years trying to predict the economic tendencies with the objective of evaluating currency movements. The engineers of the universe of finance are supposed to have the best tools, best formulas and the best fundamental and technical analysis evolved from the best diplomas. But the truth is they cannot be any farther from reality. How can we truly know the pulse of a current financial and economic situation sitting behind a screen discussing the latest commodity movements based on economic data released in October to explain what happened in August. This information is not very pertinent or actual for analysis, especially coming from the people with whom we greatly respect for their perception and knowledge of high Finance and Economy.

The wisest will tell you that your plumbers opinion is just as valid as the highest specialists, but my thoughts on this have changed over the past 8 years spent in the Montreal Transportation and Logistics market. Instead of your plumber, ask the advise of a trucker, truck broker or 3PL logistician. Transportation is the economy. The basic theories of economics is supply and demand, and Logistics is the industry where these theories become reality. To top it off, this information is in real time.

Over the past eight years I have been an witness exposed like never before to the true reality. I have lived all micro and macro economic evolutions. I have seen how the Quebec economy has fared compared to the Ontarian, Canadian and American. I have witnessed how the habits and mannerisms have adjusted themselves. I have seen a sharp  and rapid reduction in exports to the United States, and how the entrepreneurs and managers have developed new markets internationally and especially domestically, as surprising as it may be. Trust me, all of this is worth much more than knowing the level of stock indexes.

I repeat, all of this in real time.

Does this allow me to know which direction certain currencies will take, interest rates or the stock market. Not more than before, but I am now bored with the analysis' of my former colleagues, finance specialists. I now know at what point they have now idea... actually, aren't the ones who put in this current financial situation.

My true source of pertinent information is now found amongst my transportation partners, manufacturers and friends who work as logistics consultants and truck brokers. ''

Although I feel that this article says it all I would just like to make a point. As was mentioned being on the forefront of the true economy, makes us very aware of it's activities. I can attest, as my associate has done, that the past 2 years virtually day-for-day, has been very unstable, and nearly imposable to predict. The indicators and benchmarks that we had grown accustomed to are not as obvious. On a macro level it is similar, but on a micro level it has been chaos.

Certain industries have all but disappeared, notably, forestry and its transformation bi-products and of course products that have to do with home construction and renovations, while others have exploded. The point I want to make is that since we are so in tune with the economy we boom and bust with it very rapidly and strongly. The freight recession that we have gone through has been disastrous for many people, and we are hoping that the good times will return for all our partners, customers and competitors.

If you’ve got outbound freight prepare early because by end of morning your outbound, Monday delivery options, will most likely be gone or really really expensive.

Once noon rolls around you’d be wise to plan your Monday shipments. The early bird gets the first worm, so if you’re prepared, Monday morning you’ll be able to book all your outbound at great rates for the week.

RM logistic purchasing department

At the RM logistic purchasing department in Montreal, operations likes to manage LTL carriers by lane, pick days and drop days which makes it extremely efficient when it comes to booking last minute loads hot off the production line. They have a pool of dry van, reefer, flat bed and specialized equipment to go to and would also recommend you hold a palette or 2 an extra day and move more freight in order to save.

Most carriers charge more on the first 2-4 skids so rather than always pay premium for one or two skid hold off for a bigger shipment. By end of year this will represent thousands of dollars in savings, all of which you should donate to your preferred broker!

Have a nice weekend.

RM Logistique reçoit quotidiennement de la part ses nombreux clients, des demandes d’expéditions dans des foires commerciales communément appeler des ’’trades show’’. Cela fait parti de la gamme de service offerte par RM Logistique.

Les transports de foire commerciale ont un risque financier plus élevé pour nos clients que les expéditions quotidiennes. Ceci consiste de plusieurs milliers de dollars en dépense pour envoyer sur place sa force de vente, en forme de billets d’avion, nuitées dans des hôtels, ainsi que la fabrication d’échantillon et du kiosque bien sur!

Les procédures de RM Logistique pour le transport de foire commerciale

Après plusieurs années d’expérience, RM Logistique a mis en place des procédures spécifiques pour le transport de foire commerciale :

• Premièrement, offrir l’option d’un camion exclusif en autre terme en charge plein. Cela évite les problèmes de douane et tout autre problème relier au partage de camion entre plusieurs clients et marchandise a dédouané. Cependant, cette option est dispendieuse, surtout pour des livraison géographiquement éloigner et pour des marchandises moins volumineux.

• Deuxièmement, si le client refuse l’option du camion exclusif, nous procédons à la deuxième option : livrer la marchandise dans un entrepôt partenaire de la foire commerciale quelque jours d’avance.  L’entrepôt ayant ces propres camion de livraison, procède a consolider des kiosque pour plusieurs client ce qui assure un rendez-vous pointu qui minimise le temps d’attente. Souvent le temps d’attente est partagé entre tous les clients dans une livraison. Cette pratique est la plus courante et moins dispendieuse que le camion exclusif. L’avantage est que l’entrepôt a des liens serré avec les employée à la réception de la foire commerciale ce qui maximise la communication et assure des bons rendez-vous.

• Troisièmement, ce qui est beaucoup plus dispendieux, mais est idéal pour des expéditions serré entre plusieurs foires commerciales, ainsi que pour des clients à court de temps, l’avion est la meilleure option.

Lors d’un transport de foire commerciale, la responsabilité revient au client de fournir toutes les informations à son courtier. Entre autre, le plan de la foire détailler, les heures de chargement et déchargement, le numéro d’emplacement du kiosque ainsi que tout les numéros de téléphones et nom des contacts qui seront sur place. Ce qui est également important est de bien choisir l’option qui est la plus adéquate à leurs besoins.

Bien évidemment, la logistique d’un transport dans une foire commerciale nécessite plus de temps de planification et de suivi pour le 3PL. Conséquemment le prix pour la gestion de cette expédition est plus élevé. Par contre vous êtes entre très bonnes mains!

Just like any other industries, 3PL businesses and the global transportation industry is affected by statuary holidays.

Canada holidays

In Canada, there are nine official statuary holydays every year: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Then you have some provincial holydays like St-jean Baptiste in Quebec and Family Day in Ontario. In the U.S. , there are 10 annual federal Holydays but most private businesses will observe only the “big six” (New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).

One of the tasks as a traffic manager will be to forecast traffic in an efficient way through those holidays when availability of the equipment can drop. We observe a change in the regular schedule for the different transportation lanes, even though transportation is considered an essential service and as to keep operating during holydays.

RM Logistic can help

This is when RM Logistic can help foresee the schedule changes in advance. Being well prepared in securing the equipment will be a tremendous asset for your supply chain when equipment is scarce.

Every time there is a holiday in a week, your time window for shipping and receiving will drop by up to 20%. This means that most businesses want to ship as much cargo as they usually do and respect their regular transit time, but want to do it in a compressed work week. Technically, the goal is to be more effective, but it also means you put yourself under a lot more stress. Keep in mind that your reaction time is also lessen if something does not go according to plan.

Having a card up your sleeve could get you out of a sticky situation at that point. If you ever get cut last minute, a 3PL Logistics partner like RM Logistic will have the volume and the network to sometimes pull some strings to help you reaching your shipping and transit time targets.

Remember, respecting shipping dates, cancel dates or transit time or on any move, but especially on those challenging occasions, is the best way to show your partners you are worth their business!

Notre vocabulaire

• Dry Van 53’ high cube : c’est l’équipement que nous utilisons pour transporter la marchandise qui na ni besoin d’être réfrigérée, ni tempérée ou chauffé. La température intérieure  du camion est relative à celle de l’extérieur. Les dimensions sont de 52.5’ long x 100’’ large x 110’’ de haut et peut transporter jusqu’à 44 000 lbs. C’est probablement 75% de l’équipement que vous voyez parcourir sur nos routes...

• Reefer Van 53’ high cube : l’équipement utilisé pour transporter la marchandise qui doit être maintenue à une température spécifique. C’est grâce à cet équipement que nos légumes restent frais lors du transport. Dimension similaires à la Dry Van 53’ high cube mais plus étroites à cause des matériaux isolants utilisés.

• Flat bed : camion plate-forme souvent utilisé pour transporter des équipements lourds, des structures, du métal, des blocs de bétons...Vous pouvez souvent les apercevoir près de nos chantiers routiers...(ce sujet sera pour un autre blog!). Les dimensions varient selon l’équipement à transporter, certaines étant plus basses selon la hauteur de la marchandise embarquée.

• Skid : palette en bois vermifugé utilisée pour transporter de la marchandise. Dimension standard de 48x40x40. Jusqu’à 28 skids peuvent entrer dans un Dry Van.

• TL (Truckload) : un chargement complet d’un camion.

• LTL (Less-then-trucload) : D’une (1) à 28 skids. Ceci permet à plusieurs clients de partager l’espace d’un camion (particulièrement utilisé avec les Dry Van) et donc de payer un prix équivalent à l’espace utilisé.

Le LTL étant très fréquent et intéressant comme sujet, il sera le sujet de mon prochain blog. Il y en a plein d’autres, mais ceux-ci sont la base. Avec ceux-ci vous pourrez plus facilement suivre mes propos!!

À bientôt!

With that said here are 3 of the things I learned in my year offering trucking freight services :

1. Time is a Luxury we don’t have. Freight trucking is a fast paced world where the longest Canada/US transit topping out at 5 days. The buffer an ocean provides to ocean container shippers, or the warehousing stuffing and destuffing that international freight forwarders have, is virtually nonexistent in trucking. We need to be precise, efficient and available through every aspect of the move. The phrase “I’ll handle this issue tomorrow morning” is blasphemy and a recipe for upset client with a side order of extra charges.


2. Jack of all trades, master... of all trades. A truck blows an engine in Smoke Rise, Alabama. Your customer faces a plant shutdown without this freight in Montreal in 36hrs. Now is when 3pl Logistics kicks into high gear. Find another truck in Birmingham. Contact a local warehouse to cross dock. Organize the meeting of both trucks and move on to the next issue. Client is none the wiser, wondering exactly what a 3pl does.


3. Just when you think you’ve seen everything..The only thing I know is that I don’t know everything. Each and every day as a freight broker I am reminded of how little I know. Not in a negative way, and not by anyone in particular. I am reminded this when I think I have all my bases covered only to be shown that there is an entirely different playing field that I missed. It’s a client calling me to slow down their shipment. It’s a driver so committed to his duty that he drives 15mph on the shoulder with a transmission trouble to make his delivery appointment. It’s discovering Canadians love for melons by trying to book a truck in the Carolinas in May.

It’s exhilarating and excruciating.

It’s brokerage and logistics.

Pat

When you want the best logistics service for your supply chain distribution we recommend dealing with a Montréal logistics 3PL like RM logistic. This way you can optimize your company’s Canadian transportation performance and allow you to benefit from the established relationships that this Canadian 3pl has with asset based carriers.

Top 5 reasons

• 5- Wider Coverage : When you are dealing with common carriers directly, whether it be an ltl carrier, a truckload carrier, temperature controlled or dry, often times you will find that they are extremely competitive when it comes to a specific shipping destination (i.e Montreal to Toronto). However, when it comes time to working with new clients or different projects, they might have the resources, equipment or drivers, available in order to transport your LTL freight or truckload freight at a reasonable market price or at all.

When you are working with a 3pl, such as RM Logistic, we have all the necessary resources available to transport your freight to any location at the most reasonable market prices available.

• 4- Cost Effectiveness : When you randomly call trucking companies from a trucking database or transportation directory, where there is no established relationship, they might take the opportunity to charge you their highest book price. This is natural because they don’t know the volume that you can offer them.

Due to the high volume that a 3pl, like RM Logistic in Montreal, offers to thousand’s of carriers, they can negotiate the lowest market freight rates possible.

• 3- Customer Service : Being someone that has called refrigerated trucking companies, flatbed trucking companies, dry van trucking companies and all other forms of specialized logistics, every day for the past three years, I can tell you that they are many times not the easiest people to deal with. Smaller trucking operations can be very cost effective and their job is to pick up and deliver your freight which they do very well, but not always customer service! That being said I will be the first to say that many of these truckers are amazing to deal with. The only issue is often they do not appreciate answering questions or “training” newbies with a barrage of calls. That is where a Canadian 3pl or Canadian freight forwarder in Montreal like RM logistic, comes in, we are here to answer your questions a make sure your freight transportation experience is simple and smooth.

• 2- What happens behind the scenes : As a transport consultant, we know that one of the most frustrating things that can possibly happen is an asset based carrier cancelling on you at the last minute. When you are dealing with an asset based freight company this could mean serious delays on your freight delivery, resulting in angry freight receivers, rate increases and severe migraines. As a 3pl provider, cancellations, although annoying, is something that happens to us every day. Since we have such a wide network, when our trucks get cancelled, we act immediately to get you a new truck and deliver your freight on time and for the same rate; all the while you are at your office taking care of your other responsibilities feeling confident knowing that RM Logistic is taking care of it.

• 1- One Call Service : No matter what your needs are, no matter what time it is, and no matter what you are shipping, you know all you have to do is pick up the phone and dial one number and every thing will be taken care of. Imagine how annoying it would be if you wanted to go out for lunch and you had to buy your burger from the burger shop, your fries from the potato hut, and your drink form the soda store. By the time you actually had all the components and are ready to sit down and enjoy your meal, your food would be cold and it would already be dinner time. Consequently, at this time, you would have to start all over again.

• Equipment availability. The name of the game is developing a solid pool of reliable carriers with streamlined communication between key contacts, ensuring that all parties stay involved.


• The spectrum of market prices. Peak season management is part of the 3PL brokers communication to his customer. Refrigerated transportation buyers should be made aware of the migration of trucks toward those ‘’on demand’’ destinations throughout the year. The 3PL broker needs to understand his buyers price targets to get the job done profitably. 


• Appointment windows and processes. This is really where it can go wrong, by not ensuring that temperature controlled warehouse shippers have all the goods picked, packed and ready to be transported. In addition the receivers need to be made aware and the details of the delivery need to be mapped out to avoid any offloading delays.


• A good understanding that a challenge of your communication skills will likely occur at one point during the operation.

Having a great network

Unprepared, temperature controlled transportation in Montreal can be a particularaly stressful and tough game to play if you don’t know the rules. 
The small demography of Montreal creates a competition in the process of acquiring equipment. Most of the time, it’s not how much you’re willing to pay, it’s how much freight you controll throughout the year and how accomplice you are to your reefer truckers success. This is why having a great network among all the people involved is so important.

For a company that imports a lot of food from many different locations it is always a must to work with brokers that have an established network of carriers, especially in niche lanes. It could be risky to give all your business to one large company. In our experience, it is impossible for an asset-based carrier to have enough equipment to cover all the produce regions and forzen warehouse locations at good market prices all the time. Varying your portfolio of truck suppliers including brokers ensures you to always get a fair price and increase your refrigerated van capacity in your target regions. However, sometimes your group of brokers could be fighting over the same reefer truck, which inflates the price. This will be a topic for another day!

My following blog will elaborate on the concept of market prices. Paying particular attention to what prices you should be offering!

See you in two weeks!

Questions or comments

In the meantime, if you’d like to ask any questions feel free to ask at:
alex@rmlogistic.com

I don’t believe that there is anything as important to understand in a supply chain logistics environment as teamwork. The respect of your teammates derived from pulling your weight is more motivational than any zero’s on a check. Leading by example is also the best way to manage often saving many potential conflicts.

Recently, RM Logistic sponsored a 40 ft sailboat at the Omnium Lac Champlain sailboat regatta. Myself, a SR. Sales rep, Olivier, a Logistics Consultant, Bruno, along with two other individuals made up the team. We did not win a position, but we were honored with the ’’Quebec Yachting’’ sponsored trophy for the team that stood out the most. Being my first summer sailing along with my first regatta, I rapidly became comfortable with my environment. After reflecting on this i realized that it was due to my comfort being part of a team with a common objective.

Each member is important

A team is only as strong as it’s weakest member, but being a team, we need to understand that we are in constant evolution. People need the time to grow into their role and fully understand their responsibilities. Training and education might prepare them for the technical aspects of the job, but to gain an edge on the competition it takes people with experience who are comfortable in all situations. These more experienced individuals, regardless of age, need to have the maturity and the patience to give the time it takes for the newer individuals to adapt themselves to their tasks. Patience and guidance along with day-to-day tasks is also part of the more senior member’s responsibilities.

In a logistics team, just like on a sailing team, each person has a a set of tasks according to their skill-set or a passion to learn and better themselves. They each take their position and apply themselves to their task. Only this way will the boat advance to it’s destination and surmount the competition and natural adversities like the harsh winds. In the end this is the only method to achieve major objectives.

There is no ’’I’’ in team

If one person over steps their boundaries, even if they are more qualified, what will happen is :

• a) the individual having their boundaries over-stepped does not learn from their experience and/or mistakes. By doing so, the team doesn’t get stronger, which hurts it’s long term and more profitable objectives.

• b) It often does more harm than good, because while the person is focusing on doing someone else’s job supposedly ’’better’’ they aren’t takging the time to do their task properly.

• c) it creates negative feelings amongst the whole team which leads to a deterioration of the general attitude and trust issues. Both of which threaten to break the group a part and slow down any forward momentum. No one likes to feel that their counterpart has the impression that they are more useful than others.

Although everyone on a team is equally important in terms of consistently doing their task, every boat needs a skipper just like every company, department or team needs their leader. The leader must have clear goals and clearly defined methods to achieve these goals. The team must respect and operate in the manner that is required from their leader. They really don’t have a choice as long as they are in the boat. If they feel that they are being underutilized or that the skipper is leading them in the wrong direction then they should simply leave the boat. But as long as they are within the confines of their team they must give 100% of themselves to their task.

On the other hand it is imperative for the skipper to listen to the feedback from his sailors. The leader must also understand that he is not in a solo race. If he feels that he can do all jobs best alone, than he should be a one man show. The reality of today’s economy makes it very difficult for army’s of one to shine. The skipper that is on a sailing team must be attentive to the warnings of wind gusts or an oncoming boat to make the proper manouver’s to keep the cape and win the race.

A challenging environment

RM Logistic as well as other transportation brokers, LTL carriers, 3PL’s and the countless other member’s of the greater supply chain management industry in Canada and the US has been in a challenging environment over the past two years. It began with atrophy of Montreal freight rates. The challenges continued with the disappearance of a few key refrigerated carriers followed by many important dry van transporters.

What made us a winner through this was the rapid evolution of our team experience which was needed to navigate these difficult water’s. Objectives were clear, tasks defined and everyone was at their seat giving their maximum effort.

Vint subitement et rapidement une appréciation du dollar canadien et un ralentissement économique qui allait faire tomber l’image du courtier traditionnel.

Une mission

C’est avec ces opportunités que notre mission allait ce définir. Nous partions de zéro mais avec une connaissance des besoins changeant et nous avions la porte ouverte pour appliquer et offrir le nouvel équilibre entre le manufacturier et le transporteur.

Notre modèle est basé sur l’intelligence de l’information. Dans ce monde dynamique il est important de ce renouveler constamment avec l’information la plus pertinente. Pour y arriver nous misons sur la technologie qui nous permet de suivre et de connaître toute les tendances en mode réel en ce qui à trait à la disponibilité d’équipement et type d’équipement (camion, train, maritime, température contrôlée), les variations des prix que ce soit pour des charges partielles, des charges pleines et sur tout les points en Amérique du nord et internationales.

• Notre rôle en tant que 3pl et consultant en logistique est d’apporter une meilleure transparence et efficacité à l’industrie.

Dans les prochaines publications et tout aux longs de nos échanges nous vous ferons part de tout ces changements de marché et comment RM Logistique réussi à s’ajuster et se démarquer.

Its 4Pm on a Friday in Montreal and your production is just finishing up on a last minute order you need delivered on Monday morning in Dallas. Your usual carrier’s outbound equipment is all booked up since Wednesday and most of their drivers want to be home for the weekend but you need your product in Dallas, on Monday, first hour. 

In the transportation logistics business, relationships and contacts are the keys to success. Transport brokers know who to call at 4PM on a Friday to make sure your weekend is spent doing the things you want to do rather than loosing sleep over loads that are not being picked up. They know when a carrier has extra space on an inbound from New Mexico or that a delayed shipment suddenly becomes available as a full load for you.

Logistics consultants otherwise 3PL’s are a free extension to your transportation department and you only pay them when they provide you with a wining solution. In other words 100% of your investment is cost efficient to you! Furthermore they are consolidating shipments and eliminating useless miles to ensure you are always paying competitive rates rather than, safe, inflated, fixed costs!

Point of view : Jason Malo

My background is in Sales and Marketing. With a degree in Fashion marketing I entered the Montreal fashion business on September 11^th 2001. Needless to say my first day in the industry will be marked for ever. I have been a key account manager for a leading technology corporate reseller as well as a creative in an ad agency…  What I bring to the transport/3pl business is a thorough understanding of the needs of a shipper and consignee having been either or for several years.

The challenge is a constant one which pays off with a satisfied customer base! I will be bringing you the view of an outsider working from the inside and demonstrate the pros of the logistics broker!

Check in to see how we will find innovative ways of efficiently doing an age old trade, that of getting you the things you want or need by means of ltl, ftl, dry, reefer, flat bed, ocean, intermodal…call it what you like its logistics to me!

Pourquoi depuis 2005, je me lève le matin content d’aller au travail en tant que consultant en transport chez RM Logistic? Parce que chaque jour, je dois faire face à un nouveau défi avec des situations de transport complexes.

Donner le meilleur de soi

Je suis ravi de voir mes clients satisfaits spécialement dans les situations les plus difficiles ou notre service est mis en valeur. Ils savent que l’équipe de RM Logistic est là pour trouver des solutions adaptées à chaque situation. Mais pour ça, il faut donner le meilleur de nous-même tous les jours, développer des nouvelles techniques avec des formations continues et déployer continuellement des nouvelles technologies.

Après 5 ans, en pensant que j’ai tout vu, que je sais tout et que j’utilise une technologie qui surpasse celle de l’industrie…C’est la meilleure façon de négliger et de risquer de perdre ma clientèle.

Apprendre davantage

Pour ma part, en plus d’approfondir mes connaissances dans l’industrie du camionnage chez RM Logistic, je suis une formation continue au HEC de Montréal pour m’aider à mieux être à l’écoute de mes clients et d’avoir une meilleure compréhension des besoins particuliers de chacun d’eux.

Over the years, working in the 3PL industry gave me the opportunity me to meet incredible people. The spectrum of tasks that those people were assigned to complete were as broad as the different personalities I’ve encountered. With RM Logistic, I’ve realized that I’m starting to see myself more as a logistics facilitator than only a freight broker.

Different enterprises will need different logistics solutions: there are many situations when using a 3PL, like RM Logistic, will save you time, headaches and most importantly, money.

Here are a few examples :

• When traffic is only one of the many tasks a person is asked to complete (i.e. warehouse inventory, purchasing, operations…), usually it means it wouldn’t be profitable to hire someone only for this job. Hiring a 3PL partner has the advantage of having an expert at finding the best way to ship your products, and only pay him when you need him!

• When equipment availability on specific lanes becomes volatile, it is a great ressource to have your logistics facilitators’ network available to increase your success in finding the right equipment, at the right location, for the best rate possible!

• When your sales are done through contracts (i.e. construction materials), you might have a surge in shipping to a certain location you’ve never shipped before (and maybe won’t ship to again). Your 3PL partner will ensure you are paying the best market rate for the lane and that all specifications of your loads will be met. Then, when you move on to the next contract, your transportation expert already knows all the specs for your next lane helping costs reduction!

As you can see, having a 3PL partner to work on some specific shipments with will have many advantages and will result in profitable solutions for almost any enterprises.

Through the RM Logistic Blog, you will have an insight on how the logistics industry can be used to your own advantage.

Questions or comments

Please feel free to send me any questions or comments at:
carl@rmlogistic.com

Il y a de ça cinq ans, quelqu’un m’aurait parlé de logistique, de 3PL, de shipping, de freight forwarding, de supply chain, de freight brokerage, de LTL trucking, de truck load trucking, de contract logistic, de long haul j’aurais probablement répondu par ... absolument rien vu mon niveau de connaissance dans l’industrie du camionnage à cette époque.

Une expérience exceptionnelle

Au travers de mes cinq ans ici chez RM Logistique j’ai pu apprendre énormément de choses et acquérir un bagage d’expériences exceptionnelles sur tout ce qui touche le transport de marchandise entre les États-Unis et le Canada. En regardant tout autour de moi j’ai compris que tout item doit avoir été créé quelque part et que ce quelque part à dû acheter sa marchandise ... à un autre quelque part! J’ai donc compris les énormes besoins en transport que notre société demande et qu’en plus, ces besoins iront toujours en grandissant.

Un milieu stimulant

Il y a de ça cinq ans je commençais une carrière de consultant en logistique et de courtier en transport avec aucune attente, et je fais maintenant parti d’une équipe jeune, dynamique et solidaire. Dans un milieu en constante évolution nous nous appliquons à donner le meilleur de nous-mêmes et à développer des systèmes où les nouvelles technologies nous apportent les solutions nécessaires afin de répondre aux besoin de nos clients, qui eux répondent aux vôtres.

À chaque semaine je traiterai de sujets relatifs à notre métier, à l’industrie du transport, au camionnage, au termes (anglais…) utilisés dans l’industrie et à comment notre métier de consultant en transport soutien et aide à développer l’économie au Québec.

There’s something distinct in the eyes of a transportation professional. I can pick one out of a crowd from a mile away*. A subtle mix of analytical thought, perseverance, healthy cynicism and a caffeine / stress induced twitch. A gleam that is both an indicator of the personality traits required within the transportation logistics industry, and a symptom of their application. I know them well.

Past experiences

Back in 2003 when I applied for an Inbound Documentation Rep job with steamship line APL, an international ocean shipping company, I had no idea that I was not just accepting a job but also beginning a career. Armed with little knowledge of the industry but a curiosity that would keep me moving I had found a perfect fit. I have since worked in transportation logistics in Vancouver, handling inbound ocean container shipping and in M&R assessing claims and providing service recovery for incidents involving freight containers. After that I handled imports from the far east for an international freight forwarding company in Montreal before moving on to RM Logistic.

Working with a dynamic team

I now find myself the Operations Manager of a young dynamic ops team that is instrumental in driving this successful truck brokerage company forward to be a leader in 3pl shipping.

My posts in the RM Logistic blog will vary from informative pieces from outside the trucking world to commentary on news and events within the Trucking, 3pl and international ocean shipping industries.

Whether you’re a lifer like myself or simply just stopping by, welcome, enjoy and comment if you want.

* Actual mileage may vary depending weather the biller or payer calculated it... :-)

Pat

As a part of the 3pl shipping, logistic and transport industry, we at RM Logistic, freight brokerage firm, are always looking forward in expanding our network of relationships. Unlike common carriers which generally offer fixed predetermined rates, RM Logistic offers freight brokerage services that will get the clients the best possible rates within the required parameters. These parameters may include, pick up and delivery times, specialized equipment types, appointment taking and tracing calls.

A dynamic and resourceful team

As one of the ‘’transportation logistics inc.’’ of the industry, we always thrive to push ourselves further to surpass our clients needs and expectations. We are a young dynamic, resourceful team up to date with all transportation logistics technology, like carrier performance rating, route optimization and best price searches all within our proprietary TMS. This assists us in giving superior service that often leads us to work in the niche market of specialized services where only a few companies can compete.

Point of view : Alexandre Giroux

My curious nature and attention to detail has led me to focus on the niche market of project freight requiring specialized equipment such as oversize and overweight flatbed, step deck, drop decks and RGN’s. Also included in my portfolio of uncommon freight transportation is temperature controlled loads in odd locations and hazmat across North America.

In my blog articles I will discuss the upsides, the downsides and the ideals in working within these particular fields of the vast world of logistics and transport. Amongst this there will be also detailed information about equipment types, dimensions and how they operate. Hopefully these details later to be discussed will assist you in optimizing the service you and your business partners need. Please subscribe to receive updates of our blog.

Coming from a strong sales background, I have worked in many business to business and business to consumer sales environments during my career. When I received a call from the president of RM Logistics offering me a position to work in logistics sales, I was uncertain about the offer. I had no idea as to what logistics was, but I was attracted by the possibility of a career with long term perspectives. I was not mistaken.

The people that I have met and had a chance to work with in the world of transportation has, at times, elevated my mood and discouraged it; however, it has never been dull.

The objective of my articles will be to project my appreciation of the industry and the value of working with a 3PL for your logistics needs. I will also give some insight on the topics and skills that I have learned throughout my trials and tribulations as a transport consultant.

Although Logistics is not the most ideal industry in the world, it is one of the oldest and definitely most important in my opinion. Many industry veterans say, "if you can make it in the world of logistics, than you can make it anywhere." Throughout my articles I will be discussing the ins and outs of the trucking industry, by providing tips and tricks. Hopefully this will assist you in facilitating and optimizing the service you are providing your business partners. Please subscribe to receive updates of our blog.