Current events with UPS Freight is threatening to cause delays throughout the less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping industry across North America.
As previously communicated, UPS Freight and the Teamsters Freight National Bargaining Committee recently concluded a round of discussions on October 25, 2018. UPS Teamster employees will go to their local union hall to cast ballots between November 7-11, but, at this point, UPS does not have an extension in place to the current UPS Freight contract. As a precaution, so that customers don’t get caught with freight sitting on its docks should there be a labor strike, UPS Freight is temporarily suspending pickups until the new labor agreement is in place. As such, Logistics Plus has temporarily suspended UPS freight as an available option in eShipPlus until UPS confirms they have returned to normal operations.
Please be advised that the resulting influx of freight and shortage of capacity, on top of the already peak manufacturing and retail shipping seasons, is already starting to cause delays in pickups and transit with the other LTL carriers; and some carriers are warning that they may have to limit pickups in certain areas, especially at locations that they have not historically been servicing.
Please be advised that the team at Logistics Plus will work to keep all our customers’ freight moving despite these challenges. However, some pickup and delivery delays will be inevitable. We are asking all our customers to please add extra lead time to upcoming shipments until the situation has normalized. Please contact NADOPS (Logistics Plus North American Division) if you have any questions or to communicate any urgent situations or issues so our operations specialists can help provide the best solutions available.
Thank you for being a Logistics Plus customer. We appreciate your business and your patience as we work through this service disruption.
As part of its new FPA Services offering, Logistics Plus will now provide International buyers with a complete Purchase Order Management Program.
ERIE, PA (November 1, 2018) – Logistics Plus Inc., a leading worldwide provider of transportation, logistics and supply chain solutions, is pleased to announce that, effective today, it has acquired the international freight forwarding and foreign principal agent (FPA) services of privately-held Red Lion, PA-based H.C. Bennett Company (HCB). The former HCB unit will now operate as the FPA Services department within the Logistics Plus International division and will provide international buyers with a more complete purchase order (PO) management program with the ability to manage the shipment of thousands of POs purchased on a routed transaction.
Current HCB customers can expect a stable transition to Logistics Plus with the ability to access new, expanded complimentary domestic and international services. As part of Logistics Plus, the new FPA Services department can quote highly competitive rates for any worldwide air or ocean shipment to any destination with integrated destination clearance services. Logistics Plus also provides in-house programming expertise to support the HCB cornerstone PO Wizard™ software solution. PO Wizard provides foreign principals and their suppliers the ability to view the progress of each PO line item’s movement across the supply chain.
“We are excited about the synergies we now have as part of Logistics Plus. Becoming part of a much larger organization, we now have a deeper bench and more international transportation resources than ever before,” said David Bennett, president of H.C. Bennett Company. “Operational continuity is extremely important to Logistics Plus, and current HCB customers and vendors can expect the same staff, pricing, and procedures as they have come to expect, but now with a whole lot more through the Logistics Plus network.”
About Logistics Plus Inc. Logistics Plus Inc. provides freight transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, and supply chain management solutions through a worldwide network of talented and caring professionals. Founded in Erie, PA by local entrepreneur, Jim Berlin, 21 years ago, Logistics Plus is a fast-growing and award-winning transportation and logistics company. With a strong passion for excellence, its 400+ employees put the “plus” in logistics by doing the big things properly, and the countless little things, that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
The Logistics Plus® network includes offices located in Erie, PA; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Riverside, CA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Visalia, CA; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Lexington, NC; Buffalo, NY; New York, NY; Olean, NY; Akron, OH; Cleveland, OH; Charleston, SC; Nashville, TN; Dallas, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; Winchester, VA; Madison, WI; Australia; Bahrain; Belgium; Brazil; Canada; China; Colombia; Czech Republic; Egypt; France; Germany; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Libya; Mexico; Netherlands; Poland; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Sudan; Taiwan; Turkey; UAE; Uganda; and United Kingdom; with additional agents around the world. For more information, visit www.logisticsplus.com or follow @LogisticsPlus on Twitter.
Importing and exporting goods may seem like a daunting task. There have been 6 tariff changes already this year, along with 12 revisions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSA). With constant tariff changes and revisions, importers may feel lost or confused. Logistics Plus Customs Broker Solutions can assist by providing peace-of-mind. Our licensed customs brokers ensure that you receive unparalleled customer service with personal attention to detail. Listen to these two WP$E radio audio clips containing interview snippets with Gretchen Blough, a licensed customs broker and Customs Brokerage Manager for Logistics Plus.
Clip 1
Clip 2
Logistics Plus helps its customers in the following ways:
We learn about your product and its function so that we know it’s classified properly.
We can advise you in filing bindings rulings, if necessary, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for an added assurance that your classification is correct.
We can look at your bills of materials to determine the correct country of origin.
We can investigate if you qualify for first sale pricing to lower your declarable value.
We work with several law firms that can file exclusion petitions on your behalf if you qualify for exclusion from the new tariffs.
We match your imports against the Miscellaneous Tariff Act of 2018 to determine if your goods qualify for reduced or duty-free status.
By using the information above, Logistics Plus will be able to assist you in making better informed sourcing decisions. While other brokers may be larger, they cannot match the personal attention to detail that Logistics Plus Customs Broker Solutions offers. Our consulting services are available to any Logistics Plus shipping customer. Becoming a customer of Logistics Plus means that you gain immediate access to the peace-of-mind that comes from working with our compliance specialists. If you are not a Logistics Plus customer, you can also purchase our customs broker solutions as a stand-alone consulting service. Either way, we’re here to help!
Our team of customs brokers and global trade compliance experts will guide you through every complex step of the customs process. You can also email us at cbs@logisticsplus.com.
As a certified Great Place to Work®, we have some of the best employees in the industry. One of those employees is Meghan Williams, an Operations Specialist who works from the Logistics Plus Global Headquarters in Erie, PA.
This video is included in a series of new “Employee Spotlight” interviews over the coming weeks and months that will showcase many of our diverse employees from around the world. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us and the “people who power the plus” at Logistics Plus.
A special thanks to Meghan for her participation in this interview. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more about the employees at Logistics Plus.
Whether it’s due to cost, delivery time, or increased business opportunities, rethinking your shipping network may be more important than ever. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to creating an optimal shipping network. For one industry, it may be crucial to have strategically placed warehouses across the country. In another industry, it may be more important to deliver products timely across the country. Having an out of date shipping network may be holding back the growth of your business. Follow these tips to help optimize your shipping network today.
Create a Strategy
To create a successful shipping network, you must plan, build, and optimize a strategy that best fits your needs. Begin by doing an analysis of your business to determine what is most important to your customers. Would they rather receive packages quicker or get the cheapest shipping rates? Regardless, every shipping network strategy should aim to accomplish two goals:
1.) Decrease the time customers wait for their orders.
2.) Lower your cost per order.
Choose Warehousing Locations When optimizing a shipping network, location is crucial. Certain areas across the U.S. such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago have become hotbeds for distribution because of their proximity to large parts of the population. Having multiple distribution centers and available warehousing across the country can be a huge benefit for businesses and can help decrease transit times and costs. Have a clear idea of where your customers are located and base your warehousing and distribution strategy on those locations. Having optimal warehouse locations is an important key to a successful shipping network.
Implement Technology Solutions During the planning stages, business intelligence tools can help model an optimal distribution strategy. After a network has been implemented, a transportation management system (TMS) can be a valuable and time-saving asset for any shipping network. A TMS can give you the best quotes, transit times, and service options to help deliveries and pickups become more efficient and accurate. Along with a TMS, an effective warehouse management system (WMS) allows real-time reporting for order confirmation, tracking activity, received shipments, and more. As technology continues to expand, more efficient and effective solutions for distribution networks are presented. Continuously updating technology is an easy way to keep up with the ever-changing shipping industry.
Look Towards the Future
As the transportation industry constantly changes, it’s important to stay up to date on current and future industry trends. With a severe driver shortage and the capacity crunch, transportation costs will rise significantly. As transportation costs rise, distribution networks will have to gradually expand closer to key market locations to reduce mileage and costs. There is currently a shortage of about 60,000 drivers this year, and it’s estimated that by 2026, the shortage may triple. Another factor of rising transportation costs is fuel cost volatility. Monitoring current and future freight trends is a great way to optimize your shipping network and stay ahead of competition.
Creating an optimized shipping network doesn’t just mean adding more warehouses, it can also mean removing some. It’s important to remember that all businesses have different needs and there is not just one correct way to optimize a shipping network. By creating a proper distribution strategy and implementing it, you can become more efficient while saving time and money.
The Logistics Plus project cargo team completed an entire factory relocation of a heat treatment facility from Cypress, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico. Logistics Plus was responsible for all rigging, disassembling, and transportation of the facility. With a deadline of 30 days, the Logistics Plus team completed the project in 28 days.
In total, the factory relocation used a 12-man rigging crew, 2 electricians, 3 Logistics Plus supervisors, overhead cranes, hydrolic jacks, heavy forklifts, 28 trucks, and 2,400 labor hours.
Importing and exporting goods may seem like a daunting task. There have been 6 tariff changes already this year, along with 12 revisions to the 
Whether it’s due to cost, delivery time, or increased business opportunities, rethinking your shipping network may be more important than ever. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to creating an optimal shipping network. For one industry, it may be crucial to have strategically placed warehouses across the country. In another industry, it may be more important to deliver products timely across the country. Having an out of date shipping network may be holding back the growth of your business. Follow these tips to help optimize your shipping network today.
The Logistics Plus project cargo team completed an entire factory relocation of a heat treatment facility from Cypress, Texas to