Will it be a Season To Be Jolly?

The August Bank Holiday has come and gone, and you know what that means, right? Yes, it's time to start planning for Christmas. In fact, arriving even sooner than that we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday. All of which need planning for in advance. This year, though, that planning needs to be as flexible as possible, given the massive and often unforeseeable knock-on effects of Trump’s Tariffs which keep changing day to day, not to mention any fallout from the geopolitically tense times we’re living through right now.

So, what does that mean for freight transport operators over these next few months as the busiest period for both online and in-store sales hoves into view? Well, we know that this all generally leads to soaring order volumes that place enormous strain on warehousing and delivery networks - but hang on a sec., with geopolitical tensions at an almost all-time high and trade policies in constant flux, can we be sure that there actually will be the rise in demand that accurate historic trended data may indicate? For all the above reasons, the level of consumer demand, along with uncertainty over the ability of global supply chains to deliver goods into the country in the first place, may turn out to be very different to previous years, whatever historic data is taken into account. For freight transport operators, therefore, we’re entering a period when early planning and proactive measures must be leveraged by the kind of technology (incorporating AI) that can adapt swiftly and with precision to the unforeseen. Predictive and, perhaps more importantly these days, reactive forecasting analytics, along with accurate digital tracking for improved transparency and visibility, will be non-negotiable. Automating ordering and almost instant order-to-cash processing will also be key for freight transport operators hoping to take full advantage of the (hopefully) busy months ahead.

So, survival of the fittest will be the order of the day and only the IT-savviest operators will be able to negotiate the turmoil (and there will be turmoil) to satisfy their customers, and to reap the rewards. If your TMS is not up to scratch, you are definitely not one of those savvy operators. If you’d like to ensure that your transport IT systems are fit for purpose, contact Bashir Khan here and he'll be happy test your systems and highlight any issues that you may have. A word of warning, however - don't leave it too late! World events, tariff treachery and rising energy costs are on the march.