Sales Tips – Creating a Unique and Differentiated Value Proposition

Sales Tips – Creating a Unique and Differentiated Value Proposition

2 years ago

I have had multiple sales careers during my many years in the business world. As a teenager, I sold men’s clothing for a high-end retail chain in Montreal. For many years I sold or managed sales teams that offered freight transportation services to shippers across North America. My most challenging sales assignment has taken place […]

The Divided States of America – a Canadian Perspective on the U.S. Election

12 years ago

Mercifully, the U.S. election is in its final days. As a Canadian with friends, family, colleagues and clients in the United States, it has been distressing to watch the talk shows, debates and the steady bombardment of election ads on television. There is no doubt that Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama are two very intelligent, […]

Attributes of Top Trucking Company CEOs

12 years ago

During my 30 years in the transportation business, I have had the privilege of leading some great organizations. Like everyone else, I have had my share of successes and disappointments. During this period I have also had the opportunity to work with and study a variety of CEOs. From experience and observation, I have identified […]

Shipper-Carrier Collaboration – – one of the major themes at this year’s Transportation Summit

12 years ago

The 2012 Surface Transportation Summit held in Toronto last week attracted over 200 shippers, carriers and industry vendors. The speakers and panelists discussed a wide ranging array of topics but one of the recurring themes was the need for shipper-carrier collaboration. The Great Recession placed tremendous downward pressure on freight costs and freight rates. The […]

The 2012 “Masters in Logistics” Study highlights how Larger Shippers are using Transportation Strategy as a Competitive Weapon

12 years ago

For over two decades the University of Tennessee has been conducting its Masters in Logistics research study. This year the study was undertaken in partnership with Con-way Inc., Ernst & Young, and Logistics Management. The U.S. based participants accounted for an estimated $30.1 billion in domestic transportation expenditures and over $20.5 billion in international transportation. […]

Is your Trucking Company Engaging its Customers?

12 years ago

In reviewing the 11th annual shippers choice awards in the current issue of Canadian Transportation & Logistics, I noted with interest that of the hundreds of carriers rated in the survey, only 57 were able to surpass the Benchmark of Excellence. The magazine presents a number of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and lists the scores […]

Dan’s Transportation Newspaper

12 years ago

Many of us receive information from multiple news sources on a daily basis. You may start your day with the morning newspaper in hard copy or on your iPad, Kindle or Kobo. If you are in the transportation industry, throughout the day you are likely receiving trade magazines in hard copy and/or digital form, news […]

The Successful Management of Freight Transportation Requires a Partnership between Finance and Logistics

12 years ago

Freight costs often represent a significant percent of a manufacturer or retailer’s expenses. While many companies have highly qualified CFOs and VPs of Logistics or Transportation, the management of freight costs is often sub-optimized. This appears to be a result of a lack of collaboration between these executives with each having a different set of […]

“Reshoring” – Bringing Manufacturing Jobs Back to North America

12 years ago

Over the past several decades, “Offshoring” has become a very popular supply chain strategy. The low costs of production in many Asian countries combined with enhanced ocean shipping and improved North American intermodal services have made this sourcing option very attractive to many manufacturers and retailers. The Offshoring movement accelerated as companies in a variety […]

Some Lessons for Senior Transportation Executives from the CP Rail Proxy Battle

13 years ago

The proxy battle at CP Rail is unprecedented in Canadian business since it resulted in the resignation of the company’s CEO and 4 directors. It is hard to recall another proxy battle in recent history that produced such a profound and dramatic result. It is easy to discount what happened at CP Rail as the […]