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Internet-Based Shipping Surges: Until recently, shippers resisted using web-based services offered by carriers, saying that sites typically focused too much on advertising and not enough on services and that the websites were overly complex, incomplete, or had long response times. Now that many carriers have upgraded their websites, however, more shippers are logging on to pay invoices, get rate quotes, access inventory levels and account balances, store transport and customs documents, and track and trace freight. After one carrier upgraded its website, its LTL freight volumes soared 20 percent. When DHL allowed shippers to process credit card transactions online without opening a DHL account, the company’s online bookings jumped 150 percent in just two weeks. The improved websites are also resulting in greater efficiency and cost savings for carriers. DHL, for example, saves $1.80 for each invoice filed electronically, and it saves $2 for each online pickup request. Validating credit card numbers and shipping addresses online helps speed up transactions. “If you give people what they need, they’ll go direct to the source, and the sooner they get to the source, the sooner they get to market, which is the name of the game,” said one transportation supervisor.
Turning A Blind Eye: Officers patrolling highways typically give motorists a cushion of 10 mph over the speed limit before stopping them, according to a survey by the Governors Highway Safety Association. The group says that 42 states routinely allow drivers to exceed speed limits before pulling them over and that this practice creates a potential safety hazard. “Law enforcement needs to be given the political will to enforce speed limits and the public must get the message that speeding will not be tolerated,” said Jim Champagne, the association’s chair. In 1995, Congress allowed states to raise speed limits above 55 mph in urban areas and 65 mph on rural areas. Twenty-four states then increased their speed limits. The result in those states, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, was a 15 percent increase in deaths on interstates and freeways during 1996 and 1997. “As a country, if we are going to reduce the carnage on our roadways, speeding must be given the same level of attention that has been given to occupant protection and impaired driving.” Highway patrol officers say that enforcing traffic laws has become difficult because of tight highway safety budgets, a shortage of officers, and the focus on homeland security. The 10 states that do have aggressive driving laws include: Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Utah, and Virginia.
GM Cutbacks To Affect Trucking: General Motors recently announced it will close assembly and component plants over the next few years, and the impact will be felt by trucking companies that rely on auto freight. GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner expects to reduce annual assembly capacity from 6 million units in 2002 to 5 million units by the end of this year. One truckload carrier, which drew 40 percent of its business from automakers in the 1990s, today gets less than 1 percent from the industry. “The signs were there to stimulate us to diversify into other areas—signs like when they stretch you out, don’t pay quickly, and when there are more provisions for penalties in the contract,” said Herb Schmidt, president of Contract Freight Inc. GM’s news is obviously disappointing for carriers that haul for GM or related production, said ATA chief economist Bob Costello. “But the auto companies have been going gangbusters for a long time now and the market was probably saturated. Although we don’t anticipate a big drop in autos, we do expect it to level off,” said Costello.
A Better Way To Screen Drivers? As of last month, every hazmat hauler, including new applicants, renewals, and transfers, must undergo a fingerprint-based background check. But the American Trucking Associations (ATA) says the new system requires “immediate attention.” ATA officials support the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) goal of screening drivers and preventing a terrorist from obtaining hazardous materials. However, says one trucking executive, “where ATA differs from those at TSA…is that ATA believes the objective can be accomplished through means that do not unnecessarily discourage drivers from hauling hazardous materials by virtue of inconvenient processes and inflated costs.” Daniel E. England, CEO of C.R. England Inc., also pointed out that hazmat endorsement is required to haul such products as paint and nail polish—materials that would not interest terrorists. England said TSA’s track record of handling background checks for new hazmat applicants suggests it will have a hard time handling the estimated 45,000 renewals each month. Instead, ATA proposes that TSA perform name-based driver checks until a national credentialing program is in place. Not only would such a program prevent terrorists from obtaining hazmat endorsement, says England, but it also would allow the trucking industry to reduce costs, minimize driver inconvenience, and eliminate redundant background checks. Some problems already encountered with the current method of background checks include: inconvenient and inadequate testing locations; high costs (TSA contractors charge $94); and varied turnaround times from the time a driver is fingerprinted to the time he receives his notification. England says a coordinated, national system is “desperately needed” because “it makes no sense for the same driver to be checked against the same databases multiple times for different background check programs.”
Urban Traffic Worsening: Roads just aren’t being built fast enough. A report by the Texas Transportation Institute found that congestion delayed motorists 79 million more hours and wasted 69 million more gallons of fuel in 2003 than in 2002. “Urban areas are not adding enough capacity, improving operations, or managing demand well enough to keep congestion from growing,” said the report. In 2003, there were 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of fuel wasted, costing more than $63 billion. The average driver in 51 U.S. cities, including Washington, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago, is delayed at least 20 hours a year. The Senate currently is debating a bill that would spend $284 billion on highways over the next six years. But highway advocates say that’s not nearly enough. One transportation association estimates as much as $400 billion is needed over the next six years to solve traffic problems. The number of vehicle miles traveled has increased 74 percent in the last 23 years, but the amount of roads has increased only 6 percent. Some cities may adopt the philosophy of “If you don’t build it, they won’t come”—but that doesn’t apply to roads. Austin, Texas, for example, did not add road capacity in the ’80s or ’90s, yet in 1982, the average driver was delayed by 11 hours for the year, and in 2003, the same driver was delayed by 51 hours. Some states have resorted to allowing solo drivers to avoid congestion by paying extra to drive in carpool lanes. Another option, apart from building more roads, is to manage traffic better. The report found that coordinating traffic signals and responding quickly to accidents reduced delay by 336 million hours in 2003.
Patients Take Initiative: As patients take on a bigger share of health insurance costs, they are also making more of their health care decisions. Consumers are more likely to get second opinions from the Internet and shop for more flexible health plans, according to a report by the National Center for Policy Analysis. “We have more access and choices when it comes to health care,” said Devon Herrick, author of the study. “It has allowed patients today to be more self-reliant than they were in the past.” U.S. workers are expected to see a 12 percent increase in health insurance costs this year and a slight reduction (2 percent on average) in their level of health benefits. That shift is responsible for three primary changes:
- Increased use of self-diagnostic tests. These self-tests soared from sales of $750 million in 1992 to sales of $2.8 billion in 2002.
- Increased enrollment in health savings accounts. These high-deductible insurance plans, which allow flexible medical spending through savings accounts, have skyrocketed from 438,000 in September to just over 1 million at the end of March.
- Increased use of over-the-counter drugs. Eighty-nine prescription drugs were released in over-the-counter forms between 1975 and 2003. Physicians say more patients are using the Internet to research health topics, diseases in particular, and then are asking doctors follow-up questions. “This is the way the system is going,” said the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “Patients assuming responsibility for their health is really a good thing, but they need to continue getting consultations from their physician.”
In All Honesty: When’s the last time you attended a meeting and heard statements like these: “I don’t know,” “This makes no sense to me,” “I need help,” or “I’m stuck.” If you’ve heard any of these statements recently, congratulations. Your organization is one of the few that encourages honest communication. The majority of companies only hear such phrases when the business reaches some kind of crisis point and complete honesty is the only option. But imagine how different things would be if people always voiced their thoughts. Ford Motor Company once hired Peter Senge to elevate the contribution of one of its teams. After attending a few meetings, Senge suggested that, during the following six months, each team member voice a question or concern as soon as it occurred to them. In six months’ time, the team showed dramatic improvements in each of its measures of performance. Here are some other ways to encourage open communication:
- Ask for frank self-assessments of progress and disappointments
- Openly discuss necessary adjustments that involve all team members (i.e., who needs to do what differently; what needs to be stopped or delayed)
- Make it a habit to ask for feedback and help
- Renew the team’s commitment to doing great work.
We would rather have one man or woman working with us than three merely
working for us.
—F.W. Woolworth
