SPECIAL REPORT: 23rd Annual Conference on Transportation Innovation and Cost Savings
Lean and green logistics front and centre for supply chain professionals
By JACK KOHANE
November 9, 2009
Here is an excerpt from Mr. Kohane’s recent Special Report hailing CGFI as “leading edge” at this year’s 23rd Annual Conference on Transportation Innovation and Cost Savings.
New and leading edge at this year’s conference was the Canadian General Freight Index, just launched by Nulogx Inc., a Toronto-based transportation management solutions company. Scott Irvine, the company’s vice-president of business development, said that the CGFI is the one index that tracks freight prices in Canada. “It is generated from a database of over three million truck freight transactions and $1 billion in spend,” he said. “Results include data from over 100 operating entities and almost 1,000 carriers. Its benefits are that it can help you compare your company to the market out there.”
According to Mr. Irvine, the strengths of the CGFI (www.cgfi.ca), which was developed with the assistance of Dr. Alan Saipe of Supply Chain Surveys Inc., are that its information is reviewed monthly for validity and customers can contribute data in exchange for detailed analysis. Although the public has access to high-level information, Nulogx customers receive more detailed analysis in exchange for contributing their data to the index.
Its limitations, Mr. Irvine noted, include: the information is restricted to “general over-the-road freight”; it excludes bulk, liquid and other specialty transportation services; and it does not separate the contract versus the spot markets.
Overall, the CGFI (published the last Wednesday of every month) is a useful tool that can be used to benchmark performance, develop operating budgets, and assist in negotiating agreements, Mr. Irvine touted. “It enables buyers and sellers of transportation to make important decisions based on facts not previously available. It offers a good statistical estimate of actual market behaviour, highlighting changes in the prices paid for freight transportation by Canadian shippers.”
The Full Article can be read here: SPECIAL REPORT: 23rd Annual Conference on Transportation Innovation and Cost Savings
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