As the trend of small and medium size transport companies falling into administration continues unabated, the implications for those wishing to avoid that fate are clear: on the upside, survivors will have fewer competitors and should become larger, however they will need to manage the complexity of picking up new customer requirements without drops in service levels to existing customers; on the downside, the truly big operators will use economies of scale that will naturally increase the barriers of entry to smaller operators. The result is that unless smaller operators can manage the operational and administrative complexities in the same way as the larger operators, they will face an uphill struggle to any sunlit uplands. That said, provided such operators use a SaaS-based TMS (with the requisite capabilities), then operational complexities do not have to be something that limits their ability to do business.
The approach for SME freight operators should be that they collaborate with others of their kind to produce a combined service offering that is at least as good as that of the larger operators. For instance, regional operators could team up with others like-minded companies across the country to form a collaborating ‘band of brothers', so to speak. If you think such a possibility is pie in the sky, please contact bashir.khan@deltion.co.uk and he will show you how easily it can be done using a TMS such as CarrierNet.
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