Over the last few years, the combined forces of rising energy, equipment and commodity prices have created a strain on transportation budgets. Simply put, the costs of acquiring, fueling and operating a fleet continues to rise. Logistics managers face competing pressures to reduce internal costs, without sacrificing service levels required by value-conscious customers.

Not surprisingly, in-house fleets are under significant pressure to justify their effectiveness vs. available alternatives. Options generally include the increased use of common carriers or conversion from a private fleet to a dedicated contract carriage arrangement with a logistics provider. [Read more...]