In 2022, U.S. Bank processed $46 billion in freight payments for some of the world’s largest corporations and government agencies. Those payments and the data that accompanies them are analyzed quarterly by Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank Vice President and Director of Freight Data Solutions, and his team. The FPI report includes quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year, and full-year data and analysis.

In this livestream, Bobby shared six key takeaways from the Q2 2023 report, including a Freight Payment Index first: back-to-back quarters with national quarterly and yearly declines in shipments and spend. As he goes on to point out, everything is relative, but the finding is still a notable one.

In this interview, Bobby was joined by Heather Shilt, Director of Global Logistics at Fortive, to share and discuss the results of the Q2 2023 report with co-hosts Scott Luton and Constantine Limberakis:

• The year-over-year increase in shipments observed in the Southwest, the largest since Q1 2018

• A 27.1 percent drop in year-over-year shipments in the Northeast, the largest on record for any region dating back to Q2 2017

• Why a reduction in port volumes in the West is creating just enough extra capacity to drive spend down

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain Now, the voice of global supply chain. Supply Chain Now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on Supply Chain Now.

Scott Luton (00:33):

Hey, hey. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are. Scott Luton and Constantine Limberakis here with you live on Supply Chain Now. Welcome to today’s Live stream. Constantine, how you doing?

Constantine Limberakis (00:45):

I’m doing well. Thanks, Scott. Thanks for inviting me today to this session.

Scott Luton (00:50):

Of course. Great to have you. And I really appreciate you sitting in for Greg White here today as he had to tackle something here, kind of, in the moment. But hey, Greg White, Constantine Limberakis, good practitioner, driven color commentary. You find it right here. It’s — we’re consistent about, that’s really important in Adino.

Constantine Limberakis (01:11):

That is. Absolutely. Absolutely. And always enjoy the conversation, Scott.

Scott Luton (01:15):

I do, too. And we’re — and backed by popular demand today, folks, we’re going to be sharing key insights from one of the leading transportation industry resources, the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, this time for Q2 2023. Now, folks, we encourage you go check out and download the complimentary report. Focus on the domestic freight market, and that way you can follow along right with us, and you can learn more at freight.usbank.com. And Constantine, it’s really important that folks spill coffee on that report. Dog ear it. Mark it up. You know, that way we know we’re putting it to use, right?

Constantine Limberakis (01:51):

Absolutely, yes. I mean, it’s a great, you know, there’s some just great information there for businesses to understand the costs that are actually business, you know.

Scott Luton (01:59):

Constantine, I agree. And a couple things that folks need to know about today’s conversation. We’re going to be getting — we’re going to be gaining critical insights, actual insights on, again, the domestic freight market from two business leaders, right? One perspective focused heavily on the data and what the data is showing, which Constantine’s going to touch on in just a second. And then one other perspective focus heavily on practitioner expertise in terms of what’s going on out in the market.

Scott Luton (02:25):

So, before we bring on our guests, Dino, our Supply Chain Now team and audience has really enjoyed our ongoing collaboration with U.S. Bank, especially focused on the freight paint — Freight Payment Index for years, right?

Constantine Limberakis (02:36):

Yes. Absolutely, Scott. I know that you guys have been talking — you and Greg have been talking about this for a long time now. And it’s just some, you know, compelling insights that’s being offered and data that they process. I think it — I think the number you always quote is like $46 billion worth of transaction that handled in 2022, which is very impressive. And I think that’s — I guess one, again, one of the biggest reasons why you guys are working with U.S. Bank since it’s such a great resource for this kind of information. And just really help, you know, a hundred people understand what’s going on in the market.

Scott Luton (03:09):

Agreed, agreed. You know, what? We need to get insights and context and data, including $46 billion worth of data wherever we can get it to make better decisions as business leaders. All right. And folks, we’ve got a ton of folks, Josh in Seattle. Sylvia in Johns Island, South Carolina. John Peterson in Marietta. All points are from the — we have someone tuned in from sunny Tennessee. I bet sunny and hot. But hey, you’re in store here for a really cool conversation. I had to do that, Constantine. Had to do it. And we want to hear you throughout the hour, comment on what we’re talking about. Share your expertise, your perspective. We’d love that as you’re watching in the cheap seats.

OK. So, Constantine, with no further ado, I want to bring in our two guests that we have been chatting about on the front end here. Bobby Holland, Director, Freight Business Analytics at U.S. Bank, and Heather Shilt, Director of Global Logistics at Fortive.

Scott Luton (04:11):

Hey, hey, Bobby. Great to have you back. How you doing?

Bobby Holland (04:14):

Doing well. How are you guys?

Scott Luton (04:15):

Wonderful, wonderful. And Heather, so nice to meet you. And I’ve enjoyed our pre-show conversations. Great to have you here today.

Heather Shilt (04:22):

Happy to be here. Thank you.

Scott Luton (04:24):

You bet. You bet. OK. So, Dino, you know, we love, let’s see our food, our music, our sports, our space, our history around here. You know, kind of what makes up the pre-show conversations. We’re going to focus on food here because I want to pose a fun warmup question to our entire panel.

Scott Luton (04:40):

Bobby, you know what’s coming, right? You’ve been here with us for three or four years now. So, famed chef, author, and food expert, James Beard, we’ve all heard that name. Once stated, “Too few people understand a really good sandwich.” I tend to agree with James there. So, today in the States, we celebrate National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. How about that for holiday? So, my question — and I’m going to start with Heather here, my question to you whether it is a sweet or savory sandwich, what is one of your favorites, Heather?

Heather Shilt (05:11):

Being from the South, I have to go with the BLT, bacon, lettuce, tomato. It has to be on toast with crisp bacon, crisp lettuce with a fresh tomato from the garden, which you can’t find right now. And key thing, most southerners put the Duke’s Mayo on that, so.

Scott Luton (05:33):

You had me at BLT, and I love those specs, Heather.

Heather Shilt (05:36):

Yes.

Scott Luton (05:37):

Spoken like a true supply chain practitioner. I love that. All right. So, Bobby, that’s going to be tough to top, but what’s one of your go-to sandwiches?

Bobby Holland (05:45):

My favorite sandwich is one that I’ve never personally eaten yet. There’s a vendor in Syracuse, Sicily.

Scott Luton (05:55):

OK.

Bobby Holland (05:55):

You can Google them on YouTube, makes the most beautiful sandwiches literally in the world. Unbelievable. But you can Google it, Syracuse, Sicily, sandwich, man.

Scott Luton (06:08):

OK.

Bobby Holland (06:09):

And you’ll find it.

Scott Luton (06:10):

So, as my middle daughter would say, I’m going to have to search that up. She loves to talk. Asking us to search up — search it up, search up stuff. So, hey, thank you Bobby and Heather for making us hungry. Constantine, I’m really curious your answer to this question.

Constantine Limberakis (06:25):

Yes. Well, I hate to do the plug for the Italian sandwiches, but I can’t help if I go to an Italian deli in Chicago or anywhere. And, you know, you’d get that prosciutto, you get — you know, the Italians that say — like, especially in the South, they go, you got the prosciutto, you got the mozzarella, you got to put all that on there. And you got to — sometimes you like the spicy capicola. Put all that on there. So, I think that’s where Bobby’s heading with this. So, I — to me that — there’s nothing better than like a really good Italian sandwich.

Constantine Limberakis (06:55):

So, I — that’s what I’d have to go to. So, there’s all different kinds. I think Pop Bellies — you guys have that in South, they have a really good hot Italian sandwich. You might have to try that out if you like.

Scott Luton (07:05):

I will check that out. And yes, I have one of everything. Italian sandwich, the BLT, Pop Bellies, you name it. As Josh says, yes, we’ll have a Bucky’s brisket sandwich as well. Sylvia, who is in South Carolina, as I mentioned, Heather, is all about the BLT as well. Don, Philly Cheese in Philly.

Heather Shilt (07:23):

That’s a classic.

Scott Luton (07:25):

Now, one quick follow-up question. And folks, you all drop all your favorite foods in here. Don, there’s Gino’s. And what’s the other one? They’re on different — they’re right across the street from each other. You got Gino’s — well, Don, let us know where you get that Philly cheese in Philadelphia.

Scott Luton (07:41):

All right. So, now that we’re starving for our favorite sandwich. Man, you all really hit it out to the park with that. I want to get into the reason we’re all here, and that is the domestic freight market, right? And all we’re going to learn from the data side and boots on the ground out in market.

Scott Luton (07:57):

So, I want to start with this, Bobby. We want to, offer a little tease here, a little sneak peek. So, tell us about the six key takeaways from the two — Q2 2023 Freight Payment Index, which we’re going to dive into the second half of the show. What would those be, Bobby?

Bobby Holland (08:12):

Well, we’re going to look at back-to-back dips in the index. We’re going to look at the southwest results. We’re going to look at the Southeast, surprising. We’re going to look at the Northeast plunge and address why. We’re going to talk about the headwinds facing the west region, and then what’s going on with the Midwest.

Scott Luton (08:30):

Outstanding. And folks, I want to encourage you again, download your own copy, your free copy of the Q2 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index at freight.usbank.com.

Scott Luton (08:43):

All right. So, ask and we shall receive. Dan says it’s all about Pat’s. Don, says Gino’s is a lot better than Pat’s. So, you know, I’ll let them sort that out in the comments, but you all keep that coming. And as me and Bobby both mentioned, you all check it out. We’ve got via link, so download the index, one click away. One click away.

Scott Luton (09:05):

All right. So, let’s — so, Constantine, we’ve got a fully loaded conversation here today. I’m really looking forward to not only hearing Heather and Bobby’s expertise, but getting your take on what we learned. All right. So, what I want to do next is I want to level set a little bit, right? We’re going to dive into the six key takeaways that Bobby just shared in a second. But I want to start with, you know, Heather, welcome to begin to the show. Your first time with us here at Supply Chain Now. If you would, for this helpful context, tell us briefly about Fortive and what you do there.

Heather Shilt (09:36):

Perfect. Thanks again for having me. So, Fortive is based in the Pacific Northwest. We’re in Everett, Washington, about 60 minutes outside of Seattle. Next door neighbors with Boeing. And we like to think of ourselves as the Fortune 500 startup. So, we were founded in 2016 after separating from Danaher, which I’m sure many people know, a lot of Danaher companies.

Heather Shilt (10:06):

But Fortive is an industrial growth company. We have — we like to think of ourselves as delivering essential technology that makes the world stronger, safer and smarter. So, we do a lot of high impact workplace safety products, engineering, and then we also are in the healthcare space. So, some of our operating companies, we have 15 operating companies globally, about 17,000 employees. And some of the operating companies that you may recognize are Fluke, Tektronix, Advanced Sterilization Products. So, really just a strong company, a growing company, about 8 billion in size.

Scott Luton (10:50):

Man. Heather, very helpful context. Constantine, 17,000 team members, all dedicated on that mission of stronger, safer, smarter. I love that. What did you hear there, Dino?

Constantine Limberakis (11:01):

Yes, I hear that, you know, it was a focus in certain industries that are just critical. I mean, with the health and some of the other areas and some of these recognized names that in specific industries is pretty impressive, so.

Scott Luton (11:13):

I agree with you. And Heather, I don’t know if I can let this cat out to the bag because you mentioned your neighbors with Boeing. You all have got a really cool event coming up in September, which is going to be a highlight for many of your team members, right?

Heather Shilt (11:24):

Yes. We are bringing, you know, on the heels of Covid, finally having everybody able to travel again globally. We are doing our first ever global logistics and trade compliance here at our headquarters, our summit. We’re having 80 individuals across the corporation come into Everett. And we are planning, as part of a team building activity, to go tour Boeing, as well as many other key events. So —

Scott Luton (11:53):

Oh man.

Heather Shilt (11:54):

— we’ve got a lot of excitement in the organization right now about that event.

Scott Luton (11:59):

Heather, I’m going to try to bribe you with delicious homemade BLTs to see if I can’t get a ticket to that event. But thanks for sharing. Thanks for sharing and great to have you here today.

Scott Luton (12:09):

All right. So, Bobby, as you know, we always enjoy, you know, pairing your data-driven insights with executive practitioner perspective like we’re doing here today. So, for the handful of new viewers that may not know, share briefly what the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index is, what it analyzes, and really how it works.

Bobby Holland (12:28):

Well, the Freight Payment Index is our view of the freight market space. It’s based on data from the transaction processing of the $46 billion in payments as of last year. It’s a chain-based index with data calculated from 2010. And we basically compare quarter over quarter, same store sales type activity as it generates as an index. And that’s how we represent economic activity in the market.

Scott Luton (13:01):

Outstanding. And that — and before I move on to Heather, I want to share folks a couple of graphics that Bobby’s talking about. There you see the spend and shipments, the two main focuses of the ongoing Freight Payment Index, which again, comes out each quarter, and is offered complimentary via that link. And, secondly, you’ll see the five different regions that the data focuses in and segmented by. And you’re going to hear that in some of our analysis. Again, freight.usbank.com.

Scott Luton (13:31):

So, Heather, I want to ask you, with resources like the Freight Payment Index, how do senior business leaders use these types of resources?

Heather Shilt (13:40):

Yes. So, Fortive has actually been partnered with U.S. Bank since we were a part of Danaher back in 2012. And I have the privilege also to sit on with numerous shippers and carriers that are partners with U.S. Bank. I sit on their Freight Payment Advisory Council. So, we are very intertwined. And, you know, we make sure that all of our logistics leaders at all of our 15 different operating companies receive a copy of the index quarterly. And what I love about it is it’s a good place to go for industry stats. You know, I’m actually here in Everett at our headquarters this week for our 2024 strategic planning.

Heather Shilt (14:24):

So, this is an example of a resource that I would use, right, to assess what’s going on in the market. Are we buying best? What are some watch outs? And to help us put together our budgets for 2024. So, there’s just some good key takeaways and findings where it summarizes everything together for people like myself, for carriers, other shippers.

Scott Luton (14:48):

You know, I imagine — and Constantine, I’m going to get your take there on the value of data-driven decision-making. But I imagine you roll up this resource and many others, Heather, to help fuel that mission of stronger, safer, and better. Stronger, safer, smarter. Sorry, I threw in —

Heather Shilt (15:03):

Yes.

Scott Luton (15:03):

— I threw in some other verbal there —

Heather Shilt (15:05):

That’s fine. We’ll take it. We’ll take it.

Scott Luton (15:06):

It all rings in my ears. All right. So, Constantine, before we move on, and we’re going to be getting into the — those six key takeaways in a second. You know, looking at resources like the Freight Payment Index, chockfull of data, right? How important is that for business leaders in this era where we’ve got change and disruption and — I mean, you know, nothing stays the same hour to hour.

Constantine Limberakis (15:29):

Well, what I like about what they put together here is this consistent framework of year over year, you know, of how much information has been gathered, and it’s always that consistency. And it probably helps practitioners like Heather better understand the components that might be seasonality based versus those that might be aberrant, that might be something related to a disruption or shock. You know, you’re — we’re reading a lot and hearing a lot about the changes in the APAC region with globalization and in, kind of, the change in that.

Constantine Limberakis (15:59):

So, I’m sure so much of that you’re trying to dissect what has been traditionally a trend line versus what’s, kind of, out — the outlier and trying to figure out what do we do about that? Do we anticipate that to happen again? So, I — I’d really love to get your guys’ input on that, but that’s what I see from something like this, and that would be extremely helpful for planning.

Scott Luton (16:17):

Yes. Well said, Dino. And, we’re going to answer — you know, a lot of what we’re talking about as we dive into this — these six key takeaways that Bobby gave us a sneak peek a few sec — a second or two ago. And by the way, Atareme [phonetic] from Ontario, Canada. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Looking forward to your take here. And our dear friend, hey, Tom Valentine from the Atlanta area. Great to see you as well. And, Don — also, Don, who’s a fan of the Philly cheese steaks is also based here in the ATL. Great to see you, Don.

Scott Luton (16:47):

All right. So, Bobby, what I want to do, you mentioned those six key takeaways. I want to take those one by one, and then we’re going to get you to share and then I’ll get Heather and Constantine to weigh in on their analysis. And I want to start with the first one at a very high level because we’re seeing some firsts. Is that right, Bobby?

Bobby Holland (17:06):

Yes. So, on the back-to-back dips, the reason we called this one out is because it’s like the first time that we’ve had back-to-back reductions in overall Freight Payment Index, both shipments and spend, since basically the beginning of the index. You know, we attribute this — well, two things. One, nationally, it’s not so bad if that — if I can say it that way. If you look at the graphs on the index, you’ll see that while spend was down, you can see that it’s coming from a very high point. So, it’s — everything is relative. It’s dropping, but it’s, you know, you can see that it’s already at a pretty high post pandemic recovery.

Bobby Holland (18:02):

But you’ll also see that the shipments, although it was a drop, it was only 1.2%. Now, when we start talking about the regions, then we’ll get into, you know, the unequal impacts, if you will, unequal pain sharing across the regions that basically go into this national view.

Scott Luton (18:20):

Yes. Bobby, and I like how you said it there, unequal pain sharing. The pain distribution is not even and distributed equally. So, Heather, as we’re starting there, kind of, in the broader view, your thought or two.

Heather Shilt (18:37):

Yes, like what Bobby said is we have to remember that we’re coming down off of a high, you know, Fortive, ourselves. You know, we had two years of, you know, record spending and freight and logistics, like I’m sure many other shippers experienced. So, I know that in many modes, you know, rates have come down and capacity is available, which is welcome for some shippers, right? Where we’ve been fighting that battle for over two years now.

Heather Shilt (19:07):

I saw recently too that the ISM PMI index, you know, they reported the ninth consecutive month of manufacturer sector contraction, right? And we know that if anybody’s traveled recently, we know that consumers are, you know, shifting their spending habits away a little bit from goods and services — I mean from goods, rather, and moving over to, you know, travel, airfare, hotels, right? I came through the Charlotte Airport to get here and it was total chaos. So, it’s a good reminder of like what we see in the index and it’s like happening in real life, so.

Scott Luton (19:51):

Heather, excellent. And Constantine, I’m coming your way. But, Heather, you touched on one of my favorite sectors, the manufacturing industry, right? It’s where I spend a big chunk of my time in my practitioner career. But there’s a little bit of good news. A little bit of good news. It is, unfortunately, the U.S. manufacturing sector, as Heather pointed out, has contracted nine months. But in July, new orders were up. So, that could be a sign of things to come. We’ll see.

Scott Luton (20:16):

Constantine, again, as we’re, as we’re talking at a broader level, initially with what Bobby and Heather have shared, what would you add?

Constantine Limberakis (20:23):

No, I liked how you guys phrased that in terms of coming off of the highs from Covid and, kind of, that slowdown. And we’re trying to see — I think the other factor here is inflation and to be able to — and to purchase and see where things are going to happen. Because you’re starting to see — I think of the first, they made have mentioned this week or last week about the fact that they say that inflation is overall down for this quarter or for this month.

Constantine Limberakis (20:49):

And so, as that, as that kind of, tapers off, people might be willing to buy more. And as we’re seeing pressures off of some of the macroeconomic things like fuel coming down, we’ve all felt that a little bit better in our pockets. So, some of those dynamics, I think, have an impact here. And you’re always trying to see, well, what’s that going to be now, I guess, into Q3, right? So, what — where are we going to be at? What is that going to look like for the holiday season, I’m sure? How does that all impact? So, those are just some interesting observations, I would say.

Scott Luton (21:18):

Agreed. Very interesting indeed. I’ll move from there. We got five more key takeaways and the reasons why you should check out this report each quarter. And I want to move to, Bobby, it sounds like the southwest region had something in common as — with the Charlotte airport. It was humming. It was busy. So, let’s talk about this act of southwest region, Bobby.

Bobby Holland (21:39):

Well, again, if you look at the southwest region, it’s one of the less impacted regions if you — I’m trying to figure out the right way to articulate so I don’t overstate or understate. But anyway, the southwest, you know, shipments were actually up slightly. And this is — we attribute that in part from the data to Mexico border trade. Trucks are actually up, three percent over first quarter 2023, and five percent over year over year up.

Bobby Holland (22:12):

So, you know, again, we state these numbers but we want everybody to keep them in context. There are still the overall truck market, truck freight market, freight market in general is still expanding. It’s just — we’re seeing the results of hundreds of thousands and millions of decisions that people are making to try to adjust to the various market forces. So, we see that that’s the way it’s shaken out in the southwest. Again, we’re going to see a common theme of lower/stable fuel prices, which are helping to keep spend down. So, that’s what we’re seeing in the southwest.

Scott Luton (22:53):

Excellent. And you mentioned that robust U.S. and Mexico cross-border trade traffic. I saw — I’ve seen some reports that’s outpacing 2019, and largely one of the big factors there is fueling it is, of course, automotive trade. And it’s good to see — hey, I’m about you all. And Heather, I’m coming to you next. But it’s great to see our car lots at dealerships around the country finally start to gain some inventory.

Scott Luton (23:20):

Heather, your thoughts there as we were — as Bobby was talking about the second takeaway focus on the southwest region.

Heather Shilt (23:25):

I totally concur with, you know, the cross-border traffic with Mexico. When I was preparing my strategic summary internally, you know, one of the things that I referenced was that the Kearney Reshoring Index stated that the American imports from Mexican manufactured goods have grown by 26% dating back to spring of 2020. And so, I think many companies like Fortive, manufacturing companies, shippers, right, are looking assessing supply chains on the heels of Covid. Looking at how we can de-risk ourselves from what’s going on geopolitically. You know, all these terms we’re hearing. Reshoring, nearshoring, friendshoring, right? I mean, what — however you want to call it. There’s definitely, I think, a continued theme.

Heather Shilt (24:17):

And I thought that was really good of U.S. Bank to point that out, like of what’s specifically happening in the southwest with the cross-border. And it’s just a reminder, you know, for people like myself, shippers, right? Like I’m in close communication with my direct materials lead, right? As they’re making resourcing decisions in our supply chain, you know. These are happening, happening globally, but it’s interesting to see the impact that it has on domestic freight, right, as we make these changes globally, so.

Scott Luton (24:52):

Excellent point. And you know, that friendshoring is an interesting term. Who knows? Super friendshoring might be right around the corner, too, as we get Superman and Batman to help us in global supply chain.

Scott Luton (25:04):

And the other thing, kidding aside, Constantine, is this nearshoring and, in particular, the reshoring trend. It’ll be interesting to see as these plants are built and start to produce and add to our domestic freight markets where we’ll be, you know, two or three years from now. But Constantine, chat, what did you hear there from Bobby and Heather as we — as — on the second key takeaway focused in on the southwest region?

Constantine Limberakis (25:27):

Yes, I think, again, it’s just more evidence of the nearing relations on a regional basis. And, you know, because of the amount of automotive manufacturing in places like Mexico, that’s certainly a sign. But I think there’s just going to be other industries where that’s going to also increase, right? As there’s increased investment in that production, anything semiconductor related is going to also have an impact. I mean, there were discussions about where things are going to be happening in places like even like Costa Rica, and we talked about that. Where, where is that going to go? How’s that going to come through?

Constantine Limberakis (26:02):

And again, because then you’re not relying on these shipping aspects and the concerns of, you know, things coming from overseas, if it’s coming vertically and you’re dealing with more of a regional trade, it’s an expansion of our ability to get things there quicker. And that even more so, than I would say as to why the freight rates are going to be important because it — it’s how — where does it have to go through. It’s got to go through the southwest. So, it’s a very interesting dynamic that these numbers show that I just, again, are so pivotal for planning and understanding of what you need to do from a manufacturing standpoint.

Scott Luton (26:37):

Agreed. Agreed. Well, it’s going to get better. And I like, I like Bobby’s searching to find the right and most accurate term. Bobby, I’ve always liked that about how you do business here going back for three or four years because folks need to hear it. They don’t need to hear it dramatically put or blown out of proportion. We just need a little — take a level head and with context, data driven context, understanding what’s going on out in the market.

Scott Luton (27:03):

So, that brings us to our number three key takeaway, the southeast region metrics. Seeing the surprise a few folks out there. Is that right, Bobby?

Bobby Holland (27:12):

Yes, and the reason we call it a surprise is because if you look at what traditionally happens in the southeast, they usually have capacity shortages. But as we were seeing in the data, we see that the shipments dropped very slightly. The shipment volumes dropped very slightly, which almost if you look at the graph looks like a rise. But we see that the spend element dropped more.

Bobby Holland (27:37):

So, you know, minus 2.2% on shipments, but a 2.5% drop in spends, which means to us even when we see that we think, you know, capacity is greater and then we start to look at — try to figure out why it might be. And some of the things came back and as — and Heather actually, you know, said that earlier, is the shifting in goods and, you know, from goods to services. And again, that’s another theme that we’ll find throughout the index that as that happens, it affects the regions somewhat differently, but it still affects the truck freight volumes and spend.

Scott Luton (28:20):

Yes, that’s right. Everyone wants to get out and travel. They want to break out and see new places like, Everett, Washington or who knows that wherever folks getting out, eating new things, Italian sandwiches, Bobby, all that stuff we touched on earlier.

Scott Luton (28:35):

Heather, what would you add when we talk about key takeaway number three and what’s going on in the southeast?

Heather Shilt (28:41):

I always — being from the southeast, I always have heard and, you know, I think this has something to do with, you know, there’s a lot of highways, right? The intersect in the southeast with 95, 85, right? And just with everything that we’ll get to the West Coast region shortly but, you know, everything going on there with ports and things. I just, I also, see that, you know, as we are looking at, you know, this whole idea of nearshoring restoring, we are looking at a supply base, and some are in the southeast, surprisingly. So, you know, that didn’t surprise me to see that just thinking about, you know, the travel that takes place in the southeast and that highway system that we have.

Scott Luton (29:32):

Yes, agreed. Heather and Constantine, I’m coming to you next. But hey, don’t sleep on I-20. I-20 Prospects, Aiken County, South Carolina, where I grew up. And of course, it goes all across the country. And also, Heather, as you also pointed out, of course, here in the Atlanta area, let’s see here, 75, 85, I-20 —

Heather Shilt (29:52):

It’s all —

Scott Luton (29:52):

— and of course, the perimeter.

Heather Shilt (29:53):

Yes.

Scott Luton (29:53):

It’s — yes, it’s just like the —

Heather Shilt (29:54):

Merging.

Scott Luton (29:55):

Yes. And one other thing about Georgia, which of course is a very active region in southeast, is all these new plants that are going up. I think three mega plants have been announced, and at least two of them, I believe, have broken ground. It’ll be really interesting to see the ripple effect there in some of the clustering that goes on in industries like automotive and others. So, we’ll see.

Heather Shilt (30:18):

With labor rates, right? To —

Scott Luton (30:19):

Yes.

Heather Shilt (30:19):

— be what they are.

Scott Luton (30:21):

Heather —

Heather Shilt (30:21):

Different areas of the country.

Scott Luton (30:24):

Yes, that’s a great call out. And one other thing I saw last night is a nuclear power. They just — they started operation of the first nuclear reactor in the U.S. in like 30 or 40 years in Georgia with plans for a fourth one to come online soon. So, you know, that access energy is so critical for manufacturing and industrial activity in general.

Scott Luton (30:46):

Constantine, sorry, went on a diatribe there, but the southeast, your thoughts.

Constantine Limberakis (30:50):

Well, again, you guys are there more so than me. I’ve been experiencing, having traveled there. What I’d be really interested to understand is what that index portends with regard to some of the manufacturing in places like South Carolina where you have a manufacturing, particularly with automotive like the BMWs and of the world. Where you’re hearing stuff, for instance, with the German market where they were saying they had a slowdown, they had some kind of recession. Is that going to have an impact? How much of what percent of that index is related to some of that automotive and other new investments maybe that’s more sustainable type of investments that are going on.

Constantine Limberakis (31:28):

So, why that region? Again, I’d be interested to get some of your guys’ feedback on that to see how that dynamic’s different.

Scott Luton (31:35):

I agree. I think we’re going to probably touch on that as we get to these next couple of take — key takeaways. I want to talk about, Bobby, key takeaway number four, the northeast. We saw some big drops in northeast, didn’t we?

Bobby Holland (31:51):

Yes, we saw some big drops. And again, this — the interesting thing about the northeast region is if you look at the way that we have it broken out on the region maps, it, in effect, economically punches above its weight. It’s the smallest region, but it has such high population density that we can see the — some of these impacts that we’re talking about.

Bobby Holland (32:14):

For example, travel spending according to the Census Bureau to was — personnel lays is up two and a half percent from a year earlier, much lower spending on travel which was up 15 to 20% over the same period. So, we’ve got a lot of things going on that are affecting these numbers, and again, making them interesting as they are. We also have bad housing starts up here.

Bobby Holland (32:45):

But we also have, you know, stable fuel prices that are not, you know, they’re not plunging, but they’re not, you know, shifting like the stock market either. So, that definitely affects, you know, northeast. And northeast, like I said, has always been traditionally a hard — a harder one because of a variety of reasons in the truck freight market. But — so, we see some mixed influences here.

Scott Luton (33:08):

Yes. Agreed. Agreed. Heather, weigh in on the northeast and that fourth key takeaway here today.

Heather Shilt (33:16):

Yes. So, for the northeast, I don’t have anything like specific, I think. I think, just, you know, for me, just reading in the index right, that the major factor just based on the population density, right, really affects that area with if that region makes changes in their household consumption, right? That you do see the shift, you know, correlation to the freight. So, that was a point that I hadn’t thought of as I was reading through the index of just how much, you know, population didn’t city, right, and couldn’t impact that area.

Scott Luton (33:52):

Excellent point. And on that note, as I shift over you, Constantine, and we talk about population density and consumer preferences, you know, one of the numerous factors is BOPUS, you know, buy online, pick up in store. Of course, when we as customers, consumers select that option, which we are more and more, I’ve got — I walk past lanes at my local grocery store and they’re full of cars that I’ve ordered, and now their groceries are brought out and put in their vans or what have you. Of course, that impacts, freight and we’ll do — continue to do so more and more. But Constantine, the northeast, your thoughts on what Bobby and Heather have shared?

Constantine Limberakis (34:29):

Yes, I think that the thing I always am impressed by when you go to a place like in that region is the concentration, like, you were hinting at Heather, not only the population but of where people also go in, in the summertime, right? And also, what people would be demanding in those regions because there are so many of those places that are regionalized that could have an impact too, particularly on the consumer side, right? Where they’re like — there are certain places where they might be wanting to go.

Constantine Limberakis (34:56):

And then the other interesting factor is, again, the weather. Is this heat aspect — is the after effect of, you know, people are saying, I want to go to a region, or has it been too hot, it — the costs of air conditioning, and we’ve had a really hot summer. Has that region been impacted more? And also, a lot of the rains that we’ve seen, right, from the weather aspect of how does that impact people on what they’re going to then buy? Or does it have a negative effect of them being able to go somewhere and being able to get the stuff that they needed because of, you know, the heat or weather-related events.

Scott Luton (35:33):

I’m — Constantine, that’s such a great call out. As I’m — I was asking my wife, Amanda, the other day and our three kids, hey, you want to go to a Braves game? You want to go check out these waterfalls? She’s like, Scott, it’s way too hot. It’s way too hot. Let’s wait until we get into fall. And she’s so true. And Constantine, that certainly plays out into some of these consumer decisions and industry decisions we’re all making.

Scott Luton (35:55):

A couple quick comments here from the chat. Josh talks about how the India rice export ban, how that might factor into some of the data we’re talking about. Excellent point, Josh. And hopefully it’s cooler up in Seattle where you are. John makes a great point. We’re talking about Atlanta earlier. Atlanta was formerly known by state name Terminus due to its role as a centralized railroad hub. That’s a great piece of supply chain trivia there.

Scott Luton (36:18):

And finally, Tom speaking your language and speaking to you here to Constantine. He says, we should contact old Hank Hyatt at the Greenville Chamber to talk about some of the upstate manufacturing and manufacturing in South Carolina. Hey, we’ll do that and we’ll follow your advice. Tell him I sent you, Tom said. We’ll do that, Tom. Great to have you here today.

Scott Luton (36:37):

OK. We are, by my account, and I can be a little bit slow sometimes, but I think we’re coming up on number five. The fifth key takeaway here today, Bobby. So, we’re going to be talking about, I believe, challenging conditions out west. Is that right, Bobby?

Bobby Holland (36:49):

Correct. Basically, what’s going on with the west headwinds. Again, we can see that’s kind of reflected in the numbers where we have spend is down, in some ways out of proportion with the shipments. And again, when that happens, we look at why? You know, where is the extra — even if it’s a small amount, where is the extra capacity coming from? Well, it looks in the West like port volumes are reduced as, you know, shipments continue to — continue onto other ports. We see the imports in general are lower.

Bobby Holland (37:24):

But then we also see like a huge drop in housing starts, you know, 15 to 20% during the quarter, 15% compared with a year earlier. You know, things like that. That’s — those are big drivers of truck freedom. When they drop like that, you know, again, it makes impact.

Bobby Holland (37:42):

So, even if the economic activity in general is high, these big shifts can change the distribution of freight. We also know that the west has gone through a bunch of issues with, you know, strikes and threats of strikes and all of the decisions that are made to, kind of — how do you say, buttress against that happening, you know? Again, decisions are being made to keep prayed out of until, you know, that shows more stability. So, all of these decisions, we’re seeing the results of it. And this is what it looks like in the west with the numbers.

Scott Luton (38:18):

It’s never easy. Global supply chain, domestic supply chain is not for the faint of heart for sure. And you touched on those imports, Bobby. Did you know, Bobby, Heather and Constantine, U.S. imports in June hit a seventh month low. So, Heather, what — that or some other things that Bobby was talking about in terms of what’s going on out west, your thoughts?

Heather Shilt (38:41):

Yes, my thoughts went straight to the ports. Not only, you know, our U.S. West Coast ports, but our Canadian West Coast ports with the labor challenges, threats of strikes. You know, I know myself as a shipper constantly I’m reaching out to my peers at other companies, you know, as we’re trying to assess, you know, what are they doing, you know? Because it does cause a freakout factor for shippers, right? We’ve all lived through labor situations in the past.

Heather Shilt (39:14):

And so, I do think we have a little bit of battle going on now between East Coast and West Coast ports. I know a lot of shippers for fear of what would — could happen on the West Coast moved a lot of volume over to Savannah, Charleston, New York ports, right? And I think it’ll be interesting, thankfully, that was resolved, right? And I think it’ll be interesting now to see if that volume actually returns to the West Coast.

Heather Shilt (39:43):

And, you know, it — that does correlate too with what’s going on with the ocean market. We’ve got capacity there now. The rates have come way down. So — and, you know, the ocean carriers are more reliable now servicing the ports. So, lead times are better. You know, you’re not waiting as long in the ports to get your containers. So, I think all that has a direct correlation on what’s happening in domestic freight.

Scott Luton (40:10):

Excellent. Excellent analysis there. And I would just add, Bobby, if you heard Heather say that we got a new metric we got to add to the Freight Payment Index, that’s the freak out factor.

Heather Shilt (40:19):

The freak —

Scott Luton (40:19):

We got to start tracking that.

Heather Shilt (40:20):

We’ve been doing a lot of that lately.

Scott Luton (40:23):

Hey, no one’s immune. No one’s immune. Constantine, let’s talk about — we covered a lot of ground in that fifth takeaway with what’s going on out west, your thoughts.

Constantine Limberakis (40:31):

Well, when you guys brought this up and we were talking about this pre-show, Scott, about the freight index. And I was thinking out of one area that you keep hearing the most about with the impact on deglobalization or in regionalization into that, it’s that west. You know, aside from the route coming up from the southwest to the Mexico, you’re thinking about the countries that are shipping in the ports in Long Beach and et cetera. We’re thinking places like Vietnam, China, Taiwan, South Korea.

Constantine Limberakis (40:57):

And if you look at the graph, it’s really fascinating. There was a graph in the Wall Street Journal that’s published. It shows sinking Asian exports are slowing this economy, that has a direct ripple effect then on where those numbers are heading, right? Because there’s just not as much exports that are happening. And I think the Chinese exports, for instance, a number that they quoted was like, it fell 24% in June compared to a year earlier.

Constantine Limberakis (41:20):

So, I mean, that number alone just kind of makes you think, why is that going on, right? What’s going on in China? Why are those changes happening? They’re also having troubles over there in their economy where they’ve got like 20% plus unemployment for the youth, like, 25 years and under. So, there’s a lot of dynamics happening here. So, there’s these pressures that are forcing those things to go down, and then as a — an instant ripple effect on what those prices are going to look like in the freight index, right?

Scott Luton (41:50):

Well said. Well said. And John points out another factor that we may have touched on or may not, excess inventories. That all sorts of companies are trying to work their way through. Excellent point there, John, as always.

Scott Luton (42:03):

OK. Bobby, all this leads us to the sixth and final key takeaway from the Q2 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index. And that is the Midwest where we saw some big declines. Is that right?

Bobby Holland (42:17):

Yes. And the interesting thing about the Midwest is that, well we have software manufacturing, and so that’s bringing down freight in the region. But housing starts are up. So, you know, again are those, kind of, balancing each other out? But we also, see that cross-border trade is probably preventing the region from going much worse because the imports from Canada are up four percent from the first quarter and three percent from a year earlier.

Bobby Holland (42:50):

So, again, different market forces, different distribution, different pain points. But we can see from the numbers that spend went down, shipments went down a lot less. Again, indication of decent capacity, or at least some excess capacity that allows them to make better decisions shipped for less. And again, one of the things, like I said, that’s been a constant across the country is the lower and more stable fuel prices, which also drive the cost down.

Scott Luton (43:26):

Bobby, excellent point. Excellent point. Year over year, regular and diesel gasoline prices are all down. But you look at the last couple of weeks, folks, keep your eye on the regular and diesel pricing. I wish I had better news to tell you, but I’m sure we’ll be tackling that in the Q3 version of the Freight Payment Index, Bobby.

Scott Luton (43:44):

Heather, as we — as Bobby shared that sixth key takeaway focus on the Midwest, your thoughts?

Heather Shilt (43:50):

Yes. My in-laws live in Midwest, in Missouri. And they’re always commenting like, you know, how great their fuel prices are, right. compared to what it’s like in Seattle here, where I am. over $5 a gallon right now. But I actually learned something through the index was that the cross-border Canada piece that, Bobby mentioned. I wasn’t really thinking about that trade lane, you know, falling into that Midwest region. So, I was happy to see that that was a bright spot that was calling out for the region as well as the — as Bobby mentioned, the housing starts we’re outperforming the Midwest as well. So, yes.

Scott Luton (44:34):

Interesting, interesting, interesting. You know, Heather — before I move to you, Constantine. Heather, I loved you sharing some of your career supply chain stories in the pre-show. We’re going to have to have you back on an episode. We’re going to dive deeper on some of the really cool things you did earlier.

Heather Shilt (44:48):

Yes. We should do a show on, like, what’s the most interesting freight you’ve ever moved?

Scott Luton (44:52):

Yes.

Heather Shilt (44:53):

Or I’m sure, like, people would chime in with some really funny comments.

Scott Luton (44:58):

And —

Heather Shilt (44:59):

Because people, I think, like, until Covid, I’m — I always say like, people had no idea what logistics professionals even did. I feel like most people just assume freight just shows up on the shelves and, like, it just magically got there. And now, like I tell people I’m in logistics or supply chain. People are like, oh, you know. Like, they have a real understanding when, you know, we couldn’t get toilet paper and things like that, so.

Scott Luton (45:23):

That’s right. And that’s a great thing, but it’s also a challenging theme because consumers are cracking the code more and more. And are asking better questions, tougher questions. And of course, all that rolls into continued to heightened expectations. So — but Heather, we’re going to have that show because everything has a supply chain. I appreciate you sharing.

Heather Shilt (45:41):

Yes.

Scott Luton (45:41):

Constantine again, sorry, I went — I took a hard right turn there. I’ll say it, at Albuquerque, since we’re talking about the Midwest in the sixth key takeaway. Your thoughts on what Bobby and Heather shared there on the final takeaway.

Constantine Limberakis (45:53):

Well, when it comes to fuel prices, and there’s a difference between Chicago fuel prices and like Hannibal, Missouri. When I’m thinking Midwest, you know, I’m like, you know, smack deck in the middle, you know, we’re dealing with Cook County and dealing with that, kind of, local, kind of, sphere of pricing versus the rest of the Midwest. You know, places like Michigan, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Indiana.

Constantine Limberakis (46:17):

So, there’s a dynamics there. I mean, you start seeing a lot of, you know, investment too. We’re seeing a lot of activity like with housing. It might be increased in some of these regional locations where they might be college towns. I saw an article where there’s been increased interest in some of these regionalities like, West Lafayette, Indiana or South Bend, Indiana, where there’s been people moving to these regions because they want to have a little bit less cost pressure from some of the big metro areas in these Midwest cities. But then at the same time again, the dynamic from the fuel, it’s — we also have seen that decrease in pricing.

Constantine Limberakis (46:53):

So, that — that’s a good thing. But I — where you draw the line on Midwest, for me, is always interesting. I don’t know. I’d like to get better insight from you, Bobby, on where you guys draw that line because I live here and it’s just an interesting thing to see —

Bobby Holland (47:06):

Yes, in the index, we did call out the fact that it’s, you know, a lot of this is in more the northern states that are born than northern.

Constantine Limberakis (47:14):

Yes, because of Canada.

Bobby Holland (47:15):

Out into the Midwest. So, that, you know, to your point, that’s probably why some of these things that we’re talking about, you know, don’t — may not necessarily trickle down, if you will, to the state you’re in. Part of the — or part of the state you’re in. I used to live in Chicago too so I know exactly what you’re talking about.

Constantine Limberakis (47:34):

Yes.

Scott Luton (47:35):

We’re going to have to get —

Bobby Holland (47:37):

Not like the rest of the world.

Constantine Limberakis (47:38):

Yes, that’s right. That’s right.

Bobby Holland (47:39):

Not like the rest of the world.

Scott Luton (47:40):

We’re going to have to get you all to share some of those Chicago stories in another — that’s a different episode coming up soon. But hey, I’m sharing this graphic here. I know that might be a bit of an eye chart. You all can check out how we define each region in the report. But, Dino, that kind of gives you, if you know your geography better than I do, that kind of gives you a sense of the states that are rolled up into the Midwest region there.

Scott Luton (48:02):

OK. So, now we’re going to arrive, as we start to kind of come down the home stretch here. Of course, Bobby, we’re not going to ask you. You’re not going to wear your futurist hat today or ever with us as always. But Constantine and Heather, I want both of you all to break out your crystal ball because — and Heather, we’ll start with you. What do you see in the next few months? What lies ahead for the freight market here in the U.S.?

Heather Shilt (48:27):

Yes. So, as I mentioned earlier, I do have my crystal ball out right now, because I’m in my pre-strap planning for 2024 already, which is just crazy that, you know, we’re already trying to think about 2024, you know. We’re at Fortive really going through it by mode, because every mode is really different right now. You know, ocean and air are stable. We got good capacity, right?

Heather Shilt (48:53):

But then there is some uncertainty right now in the domestic trucking. We do know that some recent events have happened in the market, particularly in LTL. And I think a lot of shippers, like myself, are questioning, you know, what the capacity situation’s going to look like. And then, you know, are other carriers able to absorb capacity as well as what will be the cost of absorbing that capacity. So, that is something that we are watching very closely right now because we do feel like there — that we will have exposure to that.

Heather Shilt (49:31):

So, just — it’s never a dull moment here in the domestic freight market, you know. Everybody knows, like, what’s been in the news with parcel as well. So, it’s been interesting times.

Scott Luton (49:46):

It really has. And I love what you shared on the front end of your response there. You got to take it mode by mode.

Heather Shilt (49:52):

Yes.

Scott Luton (49:52):

Really break it apart and segment it out as you determine your strategies to drive success and profitability and less headaches in the months to come. Well said.

Scott Luton (50:02):

Constantine, what about you? What’s your prediction here?

Constantine Limberakis (50:05):

Well, I’m going to defer to the experts here in terms of the nature. Your nose is the grindstone, Heather. I mean, you’re seeing this stuff day in and day out, you know. And what we’re doing is we’re looking at these macro factors and kind of the consequences of that. I think when I’m looking at this, one of the big questions is going to be what’s going to be some of the impacts of things like interest rates, on costs, and on people’s capital controls and where they’re spending, how they want to spend that, where they’re — and aha, they’re able to defer to alternative providers, what their increase is.

Constantine Limberakis (50:36):

So, it’s interesting to see what the wider manufacturing outlook is going to be on the ability for people to get their product to market and what they’re willing to spend to do that. So, you know, I don’t know if I have a prediction, but a lot of what the people are saying is that they’re increasing rates again. And so, are they trying to slow things down? I don’t know. And what the impact does a recession or, you know, slow down have on everything else?

Scott Luton (51:05):

Yes. Well, let me put — let me pose a follow up quick question to you, Constantine, if you weigh in. Yes or no, the Cubs. The Cubs have been on a tear here lately. Are they going to make the playoffs in a strong finish or not? Yes or no?

Constantine Limberakis (51:18):

Yes. And I have to confess, I’m not like the biggest baseball fan.

Scott Luton (51:22):

That’s OK.

Constantine Limberakis (51:23):

But I’ll say yes just for the sake of, because I’m a north sider. So, north side’s, I’m north side. So, yes, I am a Cubs fan.

Scott Luton (51:31):

All right. Good, good, good. Smartest — one of the smartest folks I know. So, I’m going to take that yes to the bank. Speaking of smartest people, I’ll tell you, between Constantine, Bobby and Heather, man, we have got a brain trust here today. And what I want to do, I’ve really enjoyed the last hour, really appreciate you all’s approach as we broke up all this data and these market observations that what we’re seeing and what the data is telling us into six key takeaways that hopefully folks can take and take some action with, right, as they start to plan for the rest of the year and into next year, like Heather and her team are going through.

Scott Luton (52:06):

So, Bobby, I want to — as we start to wind down, I want to make sure folks know how to find the Freight Payment Index, and of course, take the step to subscribe. Where would you point people to?

Bobby Holland (52:18):

I’d point them to freight.usbank.com. And again, you can subscribe to it, it’s a free publication. And it’ll be de delivered to you quarterly to your e-mail box.

Scott Luton (52:29):

That is right. It doesn’t get much easier than that in these challenging times. But really appreciate, and of course, Bobby’s team and information’s all on the report. You can connect with Bobby Holland there and the U.S. Bank team. Bobby, really appreciate all that you do on a quarterly basis here to help people, you know, be more informed. I got to come up with a tagline for what you do. I got to play on that stronger, safer, smarter. I’ll have one ready for the next livestream, Bobby.

Bobby Holland (52:57):

You guys as well.

Scott Luton (52:58):

Heather, Heather, Heather, Heather. Really enjoyed all of our chats. Especially not only your expertise here, but some of those pre-show stories that we’re going to get to in a future episode. How can folks connect with you and the ever-growing Fortive team that’s on the move?

Heather Shilt (53:15):

Yes. So, probably the easiest way is LinkedIn. I have actually been trying to make a conservative effort to be more active on LinkedIn. I think it’s a great platform. I’m thinking like, I love logistics. I love my job. I’m doing it every day. And I’m like, I make a post and like, people actually, like, are interested in this. Like, I went to career day at my daughter’s preschool and did preschool for logistics, and that blew up on LinkedIn. And I’m like, who knew? So, but yes, probably LinkedIn would be the best way or you can e-mail me at heather.shilt@fortive.com.

Scott Luton (53:53):

I love that. And Heather, I love logistics for preschool. Is that what you said? I get that right?

Heather Shilt (53:59):

Yes.

Scott Luton (54:00):

You know, I love those approaches at really baking things down into really approachable ways that anyone can understand. Supply chain or logistics or manufacturing or whatever. So, I’m going to check that out too, Heather.

Heather Shilt (54:12):

Especially our future youth, right?

Scott Luton (54:14):

Yes.

Heather Shilt (54:15):

It is such a growing industry and such an important field. And I think sometimes it gets overlooked. So, I felt like I was giving back by, I’m like, at least I’ve imparted this knowledge on a young group of people, so.

Scott Luton (54:29):

Well said. Attacking that aware — awareness gap which is so real. You know, Constantine, you — you’re — I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this. But we used to be in elementary schools with kids talking supply chain one-on-one with thousands of kids. And Heather, as you’re implying, man, the light bulb that goes off, they figured out really quick, and then they’re asking questions and cracking the code further. So, that’s so critical to what we do is we take care of the craft that is a global supply chain industry.

Scott Luton (54:55):

All right. So, before we sign off here — and I’m going to keep Bobby, Heather, sit tight just for a second. We’ll be signing off in just a second. And folks, I really appreciate all the audience that that showed up. I know we couldn’t get all the comments. But Constantine, if you think back through the last hour in what Bobby has shared, and Heather has shared, and what we’ve talked about. What is one key takeaway that you believe our global audiences got to take with them?

Constantine Limberakis (55:20):

I think — what I was observing here is just paying attention to the nuances of these regionalization and seeing how that could have an impact on, you know, what you’re trying to accomplish within your business. And, you know, do you go — do you shift? Do you pivot to the southeast? Do you go to the southwest? How does the west look? What are those dynamics? How are the — like, what — like Heather was saying, this capacity with some of these changes in some of the providers out there, how are you going to be able to handle that? And where is their concentration so that you’ll be able to get your product out and be able to move? So, that was just some interesting observations of how unique these regions are with what they are with the freight payments.

Scott Luton (56:02):

Agreed. That’s a great, great way to put a period on a great outstanding conversation here today. Folks, you can connect with Heather on LinkedIn, one click away there. Connect with Bobby on LinkedIn. Big thanks.

Scott Luton (56:15):

Hey, Tom, appreciate the feedback. Great segment. Thanks for the intel. You bet. Always here to deliver and help you. Hey, John, really appreciate that. He says, great content insight to the panel here today. I agree John. And I’m only slightly partial. But Bobby, really appreciate all that you do. Bobby Holland, Director of freight data — freight business analytics at U.S. Bank. Thank you for joining us here, Bobby.

Bobby Holland (56:38):

Thank you, guys.

Scott Luton (56:39):

And Heather Shilt, Director at Global Logistics at Fortive, thanks again for your time.

Bobby Holland (56:44):

Thank you.

Scott Luton (56:45):

Constantine, always a pleasure. Thanks for joining us here today. I look forward to the next conversation. Thanks for being here.

Constantine Limberakis (56:52):

Thank you.

Scott Luton (56:53):

But folks, to all of our listeners out there, one of our — we got the smartest audience in the world. Now, the onus on you to take something, all the brilliance that Bobby, Heather and Constantine dropped here at the last hour, put it into action. Do something with it, right? Deeds, not words. On that note, be sure to check out the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index. Download your copy and then you can get future copies that you can see the links there we dropped in the chat. Connect with our panel. But take that action. Deeds, not words. On behalf of our entire team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenge you to do good, to give forward, and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (57:36):

Thanks for being a part of our Supply Chain Now community. Check out all of our programming at supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain Now anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain Now.