RESOURCE CENTER
NEWS | INSIGHTS | RESOURCES
NEWS | INSIGHTS | RESOURCES
With consistency being a major issue during peak; how did PCF manage the fluctuation of volume and what would PCF do different next time?
Matt Clark: PCF began managing the seasonal surge by planning alongside our customers at the beginning of Q4. This allowed us to allocate and identify where resources projected to be necessary, if they were not already in place. Admittedly, there were isolated locations where volume surged beyond what our projections could effectively manage and that created several days of late deliveries for our customers. We have however looked deeply at enhanced optimizations, including at the final mile level, to alleviate similar situations from recurring in 2021 and beyond.
For customers, the ability to track their items during the holidays is critical. What challenges did peak 2020 pose?
MC: Demand for tracking visibility undoubtedly was at an all-time high during peak and continues to be largely the same starting off in 2021. Peak further reiterated the imperative nature of correct dispositioning of shipments from our delivery staff. Without this, the chain of custody appears to be incomplete and adds confusion and potential frustration internally and for our end customers. We have expanded our auditing capability and SOPs to further enable validation of our shipment status dispositions to diminish some of the challenges experienced the end of Q4.
In the last three months of 2020, the daily average number of packages delivered by United Parcel Service (UPS) rose nearly 11% with a 21% rise in revenue—hitting a record high of $24.9 billion… Richard Smith, executive president at FedEx Express, predicted that these sectors will continue to grow, with US residential deliveries expected to reach 100 million packages a day by 2023—a projection that was originally set for 2026. As this E-Commerce growth continues what is PCF doing to adapt to the market?
MC: We are amidst a detailed enhancement to further optimize our overall network planning. This process is ongoing but has already begun in Q1 to enable PCF in expanding our throughput and final mile delivery capacity. We also have expanded our Customer Experience teams to enable more timely communication for customer inquires and account management needs. We intend on adding more channels for customers to communicate with us that were not present during 2020. Combined, we’re confident that as the market continues its evolution, we will remain poised to deliver consistently in the most critical areas of our business. This is especially the case during the most critical selling times of the year for our customers.
Overall, what is PCF’s biggest takeaway from peak 2020?
MC: There are two in my opinion. First, there is no such thing as ever being prepared enough. This starts with customer relationship management by collaboratively discussing demand planning and ends with projecting network requirements down to individual route levels in granular detail. Secondly, there can be no second when it comes to communicating enough with end consignees and providing access through omni-channel methods. Shippers must continue to listen to their customer’s needs or wants, and we as an extension of that, must be able to deliver physically and with full transparency throughout the full shipment life cycle without exception. Between the pandemic caused surge that started late Q1 through the end of 2020, a series of events impacted PCF that have and will continue to make us stronger in 2021 and beyond.
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