Oh Crap Situation 25: Logistics!

This isn’t much of an “Oh Crap” situation as it is a basic decision: planes, trains or automobiles? You have been working with a shipping company for a long time, but since gas prices have gone up… so have shipping rates. Trucks have recently gotten quite expensive, and doing long hauls (of over 1,000 miles) have gotten incredibly expensive. Despite the expense, it is still slightly more economical to make those long hauls rather than using something like trains to bring your products to an intermediate point. However, the benefit of potentially being better for the environment (is it?) and the ability to tell customers that you don’t rely on semis may benefit your image. What should you do?

My take: I would still use trucks.  Last time I checked, no one asked about shipping methods… or cared, for that matter.  However, we are approaching a tipping point for some of these companies.  Maybe it is time to improve shipping methods to avoid the excessive use of gas.  What are our alternatives?