Ahead of the Curve: Carrier Selection Framework – Another Valuable TIA Member Benefit
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by Chris Burroughs, Senior Director of Government Affairs
In this week’s edition of Ahead of the Curve, TIA highlights one of the most valuable benefits offered to our members: the TIA Carrier Selection Framework.
The Carrier Selection Framework (CSF) is now in its 12th iteration and it continues to be updated on an annual basis, providing TIA members with the most current information. Since its inception in 2006, the CSF offers expert advice and opinions from a broad and diversified range of subject matter experts, with firms and individuals who are authorities in 3PL and freight broker operation. Among them are:
- Motor carrier operation
- Carrier assessment
- Professional risk management
- Transportation attorneys
- A former FMCSA Administrator
- Insurance industry experts who specialize in insuring freight brokers and motor carriers
- Carrier compliance data reporting companies
Carrier selection is a nuanced, often technical, and always exceedingly complex subject due to the innumerable differences among motor carriers who may appear “the same on the outside” to the general public and yet, to professional users, offer far different services.
Important differences loom large among carriers: service offerings, equipment types, and even market and/or geographical presence. There are notable distinctions among providers of regional services versus super-regional, national and/or cross-border and international services. Even more subtle differences, as between the sales and marketing focus among carriers, can make a real difference.
To illustrate the spectacular diversity of the trucking industry, in 2018, the top 10 truckload carriers represented less than five percent of the entire nation’s fleet of trucks. Incredibly, this specialized, complex and decentralized motor carrier industry meets the demands of an even more dynamic, diverse and complicated $15 trillion U.S. economy.
To download the latest version of the TIA CSF, please visit the Member’s Only section of the website.
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Burroughs at burroughs@tianet.org or (03-299-5705.
