In 2021, U.S. Bank processed $37 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.

According to a summary of the Q2 results released by U.S. Bank, “Spending on truck freight was up 3.3% compared to the first quarter and 19.7% year-over-year […] The West and Southwest regions had the highest year-over-year spending increases at 30.2% and 29.7%, respectively.”

In this interview, Bobby is joined by Donovan Kirkland with The Clorox Company to share the results of the Q2 2022 report with Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton, interpreting what they may mean for the economy and the shipping industry in the short and longer term.

• The changes in household spending, labor challenges, and fuel prices that are creating headwinds for the freight industry

• Some surprising data coming out of the Northeast region

• The “opportunism” that may be going on in the marketplace

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 (00:31):

Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Based on wherever you are, Scott Luton, Greg white, here with you live on supply chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream Gregory. How we doing?

Greg White (00:42):

You know, I was just feeling, I was just thinking about how fortunate I feel that there are really only those three classifications morning, afternoon, evening, because we’re probably covering 20 time zones right now. So you could go really deep if you wanted to good late ear, late morning, early afternoon. But I think that you covered it. <laugh>

Scott Luton (01:03):

Well, you know, we try to keep doing

Greg White (01:04):

Well, how are you

Scott Luton (01:05):

Scott doing, doing wonderful. You know, we try to keep it as simple as we can around here. So, but, but most importantly, we welcome everybody where they’re tuned in globally. Uh, our global supply chain now family and Greg on today’s episode, we’re gonna be talking about some critical key insights from one of the leading transportation. And it’s your resources. It’s the us bank for eight payment index for quarter 2 20 22. Can you believe we’re already in, uh, in quarter three? It’s unbelievable, Greg.

Greg White (01:35):

Yeah. And, uh, all I have to say about these last couple of index, uh, presentations is dude <laugh> man stuff is getting expensive.

Scott Luton (01:47):

You’re quoting Ashton. Kucher from dude. Where’s my car here on supply chain. I love it really.

Greg White (01:52):

Where’s my freight

Scott Luton (01:53):

<laugh> well, so on, uh, kidding aside, we’re gonna be gaining key takeaways from the freight payment index from, and what’s really going on right out across the market coast to coast. We’re gonna dive into what the data’s saying and getting some, uh, uh, key perspective from a couple business leaders here with extensive experience in, uh, global supply chain, transportation markets, you name it, but Greg, before we say hello to a few folks before we bring on our guests, Hey, we’ve enjoyed ongoing collaboration with us bank for several years now. Um, one of the leading financial institutions involved empowering the transportation industry Ford, as we all know, that’s the backbone of the global supply chain, uh, industry here. So it’s been quite a series, huh?

Greg White (02:38):

Yeah, it has. And, uh, man, it $37 billion worth of transactions, right in 2021. Wow. And every indication is that just sheer on sheer dollar volume. It, this year will blow that away. But the number of transactions, not just the dollars is what matters as well, because every one of those is a data point that allows us to determine what’s going on regionally and nationally in terms of transportation. And are, are people shipping more? Are they paying more? Are they both? And sometimes the answer is no to one and yes to the other. And like I said, this quarter, it’s gonna be an emphatic yes. To one. And I bet a lot of people can guess what that is. So yeah. I, I’m glad that they gather this data. They touch so many freight transactions and that’s what makes this analysis so valuable.

Scott Luton (03:28):

Yeah. Well said there 37 billion last year, uh, alone. So, okay. Let’s say hello to a few folks and then we’re gonna welcome in our guests here today. Hey, quick side note to the, uh, production team. Big, thanks to Chantel Amanda and Catherine for all the work they do. Y’all may have seen, uh, the notes check on, uh, the sound for everybody. If we would Catherine, Amanda and Chantel, make sure everybody’s plugged in. Okay. So Greg, we’ve got quite an audience around the world side from Bangladesh via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. Uh, I’m looking forward your perspective on the conversation we’re having here today. This is, uh, this individual is from Scottsdale, Arizona. And folks, if you get, Greg’s gonna say something about this probably, but if you get this notification and it says LinkedIn user, rather than your profile, it just means you’ve got a setting on your LinkedIn profile that doesn’t share your information with third parties. You can change that or you can keep it like that. Our team will try to figure that out. Okay, look here. We got

Greg White (04:25):

Don’t need a weather report from Scottsdale Arizona now <laugh> that’s right. So if, if the calendar hasn’t shifted much, it is monsoon season. So it will be sunny a day. Use of rain. The streets will be flooded in 30 minutes later. They’ll be completely dry,

Scott Luton (04:39):

Man. I’ve I’ve seen some pictures here lately of that, that post storm. But, uh, I love have to come back to that. Look at, look at this legendary listener right here. Uh, Dave has tuned. I saw where Dave and Peter Bole got together. Yeah.

Greg White (04:53):

Um, good pick too, by the way. Yes. Right.

Scott Luton (04:56):

Dave, you’re looking great, man. Great to have you here with

Greg White (04:59):

Like, they were watching some UFC while they were hanging out together.

Scott Luton (05:02):

<laugh> looks like they were eating some great food. So, uh, Dave and hope this finds you well, great to have you back. Of course. I mentioned Katherine, uh, Chantel, Amanda making a half and behind the scenes, Monica via LinkedIn. It’s back with us from Seattle. You remember that, Greg, right?

Greg White (05:17):

Yeah. I, this new sunshine logo or, uh, emoji or whatever is, is that new? I haven’t seen that yet, but I, I dig that

Scott Luton (05:26):

We’ll uh, we’ll get our research team on, uh, LinkedIn emojis. Yeah.

Greg White (05:30):

I’d like to find out where that’s come from Scott.

Scott Luton (05:33):

Okay. <laugh> Michael aver is back with us, uh, of course from the ATL. Great to have you here V. LinkedIn. I always enjoy your perspective, uh, Chico from Scottsdale, Arizona via LinkedIn. Great to have you here today, looking forward to your perspective, Nazare Nazarene, uh, good morning to you, uh, via LinkedIn, let us know where you’re tuned in from. We love to make those connections, Greg. David’s a current hall of Famer. Shelly’s working on being a hall of Famer with us too, right?

Greg White (06:00):

Yeah, no doubt. Yeah, no doubt. We gotta, uh, we need to learn more about her story. Don’t we?

Scott Luton (06:06):

Yes, we do. Anne. Uh, she hails from Colorado and who knows? We might have one of our esteem panelists headed to her neck of the woods soon. We’ll see. Uh, Joey, great to have you here. Us bank stadium. Let’s go. Yeah. From Minnesota. He’s head of New York shortly. Uh, Joey. Great to have you back with us here today and Dave and is confirming, he had a great dinner O other night. Uh, Greg, I saw pictures from Peter Bole. I think also Buku I say that right? OSU.

Greg White (06:37):

Buku also Buco

Scott Luton (06:38):

Thank you. Yes. Sorry. You know, I’ve got the wrong. I always have a, you

Greg White (06:42):

Nailed it the first time.

Scott Luton (06:43):

Oh, did I? <laugh> put the wrong and fastest on the wrong salable, you know how I’m really good at, at doing that? Um, Brenda Allen, great to have you back with us here today. Congrats on your big opening. I think I got that right. Um, Kenny Bob’s foods opened their production lines and it looks like the chamber was out there. The whole community was supporting it. So great. That’s great news, Brenda. And good morning to you. And finally, Steven Bush from London. Wait a second. Kenneth saw Georgia. Okay.

Greg White (07:12):

I could see how you could confuse the tooth, right? Um, both full of Epicure and delights.

Scott Luton (07:20):

That’s right. <laugh> Steven. Great to see you here today. Looking forward to your perspective. Okay. So we are going to welcome in our two guests here today. Are you ready to do this, Greg?

Greg White (07:33):

Uh, gimme a yes.

Scott Luton (07:35):

Okay. All with no further ado, we have an incredible, uh, panel here with us today. We’re gonna be bringing on Bobby Holland, director of freight data solutions at us bank, right. And Donovan Kirkland, vice president global logistics with the Clorox company. All right. Well good after or good afternoon, everybody Donovan. How you doing? Doing

Donovan Kirkland (07:55):

Great. How’s it going? Scott? Great.

Scott Luton (07:57):

Doing wonderful. Yeah.

Greg White (07:58):

Good. Have you wonderful.

Scott Luton (07:59):

Okay. So I think so we can hear Bobby, but unfortunately Bobby, you still could not hear us, is that right? So Donovan let’s do this as Bobby experience with his speakers. We all have what 17 speakers that choose from. Let’s start off the conversation with at least getting to know you a little bit better. So let’s start with, you know, your journey and then we’re gonna ask you about, uh, one of your passions, uh, after you tell us little bit about what you’ve been up to in supply chain.

Donovan Kirkland (08:25):

Yeah, it sounds good. Uh, one just thank you for this opportunity. I’m excited to be here with you today is said I’m Donna MC Kirkland and I have the privilege to lead the global logistics organization for the Clorox company actually been in this role for since January of the year. So I’m a little bit new. Yep. Um, but coming up speed, fast, been with Clorox eight years. But if you look at the totality of my career, all supply chain and, and I’m a little bit here and a little bit there, uh, transportation, planning, quality, uh, manufacturing, quite frankly, um, was the, was the lion share of my career, especially

Scott Luton (09:01):

Early

Donovan Kirkland (09:02):

On,

Scott Luton (09:02):

Uh, manufacturing has gotta be, uh, you know, my time I spent manufacturing, I met some of the brightest brilliant, innovative, hardworking people. I mean, it is, uh, it’s a wonderful sector to be in it. And Dunman

Donovan Kirkland (09:16):

Absolutely, I mean, you know, I was raised that the heartbeat of the supply chain is inside the plant. So, uh, you don’t make it, you can’t sell it, um, or actually makes it ly difficult. So, uh, sure. It

Greg White (09:29):

Does. You sell it, you just can’t deliver it.

Donovan Kirkland (09:31):

Yeah, exactly. And that doesn’t last long, right, Greg. Right. But, but the, the, the really the thing that I love the most about the plan is is the people. Yeah. Right. You know, uh, you, you have to get the results, uh, through the people. And, um, you know, I always had a say, I’ll take a good team with a old line over a new team. I mean, a new line and a bad team day. Cause that good team will make a old line run. They’ll they’ll figure out how to make it run.

Scott Luton (10:00):

So it’s true. I’m true. Yeah. All right. So Donovan, I thought you were, I thought you were making a soccer or a football, um, illusion there with different lines, line changes and whatnot, but you’re talking production lines, but it’s still a great segue into learning one of your passions in life. And I’m gonna ask you about that in a second. So Donovan and we’ll, we’re gonna get the, we’ll get audio AV fix with Bobby here momentarily, but Donovan, we we’ve had an opportunity to have a couple pre-show conversations with you really have enjoyed those. Uh, you bring so much to the table, but you are very passionate about the Atlanta United, right?

Donovan Kirkland (10:36):

Absolutely.

Scott Luton (10:38):

And, and the game itself, right?

Donovan Kirkland (10:39):

The game itself, I’m probably non-traditional if you look at my, my age range being an American, but I love soccer or football as the world re right. Refers to it. And, uh, I’ve been in the, I live in the Atlanta Metro area, been here since the, you know, around 99. And, and so when they introduced the team in 2017, I finally found a team that I could call mine in the Atlanta Metro area. So yeah. Tried to

Greg White (11:04):

Ride arrived after you, right. Yeah.

Donovan Kirkland (11:06):

Right, right, right. Right. So I tried to go as many matches as I possibly can, rough season a lot of injuries, but we’re only one win outside of the, of the postseason. 14 matches to go, I’m betting, we’re going to make it. And we’re gonna level out, get our chemistry back and make a run at it that, that I love. That’s, that’s what I’m get back to that prowess of the 20 18, 20 19 season.

Scott Luton (11:30):

Man. I love that. And you know, they’re making, we’ve had a leadership change, right. The coach, I can’t remember the gentleman’s name. Um, got a really big, uh, uh, opportunity

Donovan Kirkland (11:40):

The president. Yeah. Darren eels. He’s going to, uh, new castle. I want to say new castle. So, but he was the architect right. Of, of the whole club. I mean, which quite frankly, you know, it’s probably a Harvard business case study cuz when you think about it, you know, the Atlanta United, they lead league attendance by far. Right. Um, so Atlanta United is probably 45,000 a match next closest I think is like 27. So wow. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he, he architected it all. So, so yeah. We’re gonna miss him.

Greg White (12:12):

Well, fantastic facility, but I gotta ask you Donovan, are you one of those loos that comes in with the drums and everything and sits in that

Donovan Kirkland (12:18):

One? I, I have, I have yet to sit in a supporter section as it’s called, I have marched in with them. But no, I, I, I don’t, I, I’m not gonna jump for 90 minutes straight up and

Greg White (12:29):

They’re animals. They are animals. Yes. But

Donovan Kirkland (12:32):

That’s part of the, that’s part of the, that’s part of the mystique of coming to the, yeah. To the bins and playing the, the five stripes as we like to call ourselves.

Greg White (12:40):

Yes. It’s, it’s intimidating for the other team. You can see it happen when they get down to that end of the field.

Donovan Kirkland (12:45):

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Luton (12:47):

All right. So we gotta go to a game. Uh, I’m gonna hold you to it. Um, I’m a newbie. Uh, maybe we get Greg up from, uh, uh, from where he is and, and we all go to a game together. We tailgate and you gotta teach me the, uh, what I should be looking at as our former world champion, Atlanta United continue the fight. The good fight. Is that a deal?

Donovan Kirkland (13:07):

We’ll do that. We’ll definitely do that.

Scott Luton (13:09):

Okay. So Bobby, how you doing?

Bobby Holland (13:13):

Uh, everything was working fine in the, in the green room and then

Greg White (13:16):

Right. Funny how that works.

Scott Luton (13:18):

Hey, Murphy’s law is alive and well, I really appreciate making the adjustments on the fly and it sounds like we got you now we can hear you and you can hear us, right? Yes. Okay. Wonderful. Wait, uh, we’ve been getting to know Donovan Kirk a little bit better, right? Feeling in a little bit of time. Hey, that those things happen on, on live TV, live programming, all those things happen, but let’s, let’s refresh everyone’s memory of your background, right? So Bobby, tell us a little about yourself.

Bobby Holland (13:44):

Well, I’m, uh, I’ve been with us bank for going on six years as a product manager for the freight data solutions team. Prior to that, uh, I had a pretty extensive background in software engineering and software architecture. So it kind of dovetails well into my responsibilities as a technical product manager at the bank.

Scott Luton (14:03):

Yes. Where you’ve got your finger on the pulse. We talked, we talked about the scope of all the data that you and the team are looking at, but Hey, really quick, Greg, I’m gonna turn over to you in just a second. As we keep, you know, level setting before we dive into the second quarter, 2022 freight payment index, David, it’s rolling out a red carpet for Donovan. I appreciate that. And David, yes, it was all planned to keep Donovan on his toes. I love that, David. I just saw that earlier this LinkedIn users talking about, uh, the monsoon season and the Arizona, Greg, you can probably speak to that a little bit. Looks like there’s some programming and coding, uh, to navigate through it. Michael says we gotta UN uh, he gotta understand operations from the ground up working the floor was a great experience early on in his career and helped him relate to what the workers deal with as, as his career progressed. Great comments here. Yeah. Uh, Michael, we can all relate to that. Joey love soccer, Minnesota just built a new stadium. Okay. Joey, we’ll have to have a, um, supply chain and soccer, uh, live stream conversation at some point, uh, soon. Uh, let’s see here, Dave, and it wants to place a friendly wager on that September 10th game Donovan <laugh> he says TFC forever.

Donovan Kirkland (15:16):

<laugh>

Greg White (15:17):

Is that Toronto football club.

Scott Luton (15:19):

Okay. Yeah. All right, David, you’re making a splash and you’re comeback here at supply chain. Now,

Greg White (15:24):

While we have Bobby let’s talk, have him share a little bit with us about what makes us bank such a great resource for this data. Look, we’ve been doing this Bobby, we’re going on three years now, man, but there have to be people who haven’t seen us do this yet. So maybe just share a little bit about, you know, what makes you such a great resource at us bank for this kind of information?

Bobby Holland (15:45):

Well, if our perspective on the freight marketplace, uh, we developed this processing transactions, 37 billion, uh, of currently 37 billion annual invoice processing. As you can imagine, we generate a lot of data from that. And so our quest to add value to our customers using this data, we produce the freight payment index and it’s our view of the marketplace. And it provides another data point for our customers and other, uh, users of to be able to make decisions about their business.

Greg White (16:16):

Yeah. And while Bobby, we might as well, let everybody know this. Now Bobby works for bank. He can’t use forward looking statements, but I think a lot of companies use this kind of what’s happening to identify whether there are trends in the marketplace. But Donna, I’m curious in your role at Clorox, tell us a little bit about how you use the index.

Donovan Kirkland (16:39):

Yeah, absolutely. And you, you gave me a great segue, but actually start, I mean, the index really and the in more, so the insights that come from the index, right. We start with rear view mm-hmm <affirmative> um, the strategy we employed, did it play out as we expected and if it didn’t why, right. And what do we believe that to be the case? And then we use it as a proxy, if you will, to say, uh, you know, that whole principle of what happened will continue to happen and let something changes. Let’s look at that going forward and what might change, what do we know that’s out there that could potentially change? And so it helps us to hone our strategy to critique it to benchmark, you know, where are we sitting against the, um, the industry average? And should we be making moves left or right.

Scott Luton (17:27):

Love that.

Greg White (17:28):

Yeah. That is a great analysis.

Scott Luton (17:30):

It really is. Uh, Hey, really quick. Wanna welcome in, uh, Shahi back with us. He was with us yesterday, made a lot of great contributions. Shahi great to see you. I, I believe from the AE, um, UAE, Shahi correct me if I’m wrong, but great to see you here today. Okay. Now we’ve, we’ve set the table a little bit, Bobby and Don both have shared a little about, uh, their journey and what they do. We’ve talked a little bit about the freight payment index and, and us the scope of it all. And then Donna just shared, you know, how he and his team use it. Uh, Bobby, we’re ready to dive right into, uh, this quarter, quarter twos, uh, freight payment index. You ready to go? Yes. So let’s start then. Uh, like we always do, let’s start at the national level right. Coast to coast. Uh, give us some observations that you’re seeing kind of generally, and then we’ll go region by region.

Bobby Holland (18:16):

Okay. So the national index was up about 2.3% overall. There’s a, and shipments. The spend index, um, was up as well, uh, 3.3%, uh, small numbers, but, uh, considering that it had good velocity, uh, those are, are, are pretty good. And again, I think the terminology is being bannered around is headwinds. There’s so many head, head being faced. You know, we have spending patterns, you know, go moving more from household, good spending as we go into the middle of the year. Uh, we have high prizes. I think it hit record level in June. We have, you know, labor issues on the, on the west coast. There’s a lot of things going on manufacturer put is up, which will best more as we walk through the regional indexes. But there’s a lot of, of things that are going on a mixed bag of things, if you will. And to, to see that, that things are still going up, it kind of takes away a little bit from the I’ve been thinking that we were headed into a freight recession. We’re not in a freight recession again, there’s a lot of different reasons for why, you know, the data shows that that’s not true and empirically the same, but again, there are, you know, some transition thing, transitory things going on in the marketplace.

Scott Luton (19:30):

Okay. Uh, I, I appreciate those initial thoughts. We’re still losing, um, about every seventh or eighth word by my count, at least Bobby, but Hey, we’re gonna work through it. And the good news folks,

Greg White (19:42):

It’s one of his five sisters playing Fortnite.

Scott Luton (19:47):

It could be his, it could be his brother too. Right?

Donovan Kirkland (19:49):

His was,

Bobby Holland (19:50):

And you guys can, you

Donovan Kirkland (19:52):

Is crowded. Yeah. I think that’s a little better.

Scott Luton (19:54):

Yeah, Bobby, I think that is better. And thank you. You you’re a Saint, um, you know, sometimes, you know, technology throws all kinds of last minute challenges at us. I really appreciate your patience and innovation working through it. Hey, really quick folks, if you’d like to download a free copy of the second quarter, 2022 us bank freight payment index, we’ve dropped a link to the comments there and we can, well, we’re having a little, little snafu there. You can download it and you can read along as we’re offering up analysis, right. We’re just about once we’ve got Bobby back, we’re gonna be going region by region. We’re gonna get him to share with us, uh, what the data is is saying. And then we’re gonna get Donovan’s, uh, comparison and contrasting from what he and his team are seeing boots on the ground. Okay.

Donovan Kirkland (20:39):

You know, Scott, what I was gonna, if I could throw something in there, please, please. I mean, it’s getting it at this level industry level is great. And then, you know, know folks like ourselves, you gotta tease out, you know, how it applies to you. E even Bobby mentioned some things around specific industries, right? And, and, and it does apply differently in different quarters to industries. And there’s also a level of, if, especially, if you look at the shipments, you gotta look at where in your supply chain cuz each part of the supply chain and how you ship, right? Whether it’s to the customer, whether it inter plants to your warehouses, you know, have different phenomenon that aren’t the same every quarter. And so that story, you have to start to distill down and get a little, you know, double click, triple click to get, to get to the level where you can actually take some action or make adjustments in your strategy.

Scott Luton (21:26):

I love it. Great

Greg White (21:27):

Using different modes based on the different node in the supply chain that you’re talking about, right.

Donovan Kirkland (21:32):

Modes, different supply chain strategies, you know, um, you know, one of the things we saw you back up before that, you know, the consumer and consumption, at least for our markets hadn’t changed, but you heard a lot around the customers was starting to bring down their inventory levels. And so, you know, that influenced shipments, not so much the consumption of consumer, but the customers themselves were saying, Hey, we’re a little bit too heavy. We wanna pull down.

Scott Luton (21:59):

Yep. So Greg Don illustrating why we like to marry, you know, the data side and what Bob and his team are seeing with the senior, you know, practitioner side with what, you know, how they use it and, and what they’re seeing out there, boots on the ground. Let’s go region by region. Well, Greg, hang on a sec before Bobby, we got, can you hear us some?

Bobby Holland (22:16):

Oh yeah. I can hear you guys fine. It’s me. That’s I good. I’ve heard you the whole way through. Okay. I just don’t know why my stuff is going haywire all of a sudden, so I

Scott Luton (22:24):

Apologize. Well, we’re gonna get through it. We got you back and we’re gonna get through it. Like we always do. Um,

Greg White (22:29):

Is it snowing up there yet, Bobby? I mean, it is, it is July. It’s almost time for winter. So,

Bobby Holland (22:35):

Uh, tornadoes are threatening though.

Scott Luton (22:36):

Oh

Bobby Holland (22:37):

Man. That’s another story.

Scott Luton (22:39):

Another story. Hey, really quick. We’re about to go region by region, but Greg, based on kind of what you’ve heard Bobby share, as he was talking about those general observations coast to coast and what Donovan just shared your quick initial thoughts.

Greg White (22:50):

Yeah. My initial thought was exactly one of the things that Bobby opened with, which is remember last quarter, we were all speculating on whether we were on the edge of a, of a freight recession. Right. And clearly, while in some cases, few cases, actual shipments did go down. They didn’t go anywhere near where kind of the frenzy was last quarter. And also rates went up so dramatically that, that obviously the dollar volume went up. But, and we’re gonna talk about this as we kind of tease out each, each region, even the shipment volume went up right. Far more than I expected coming out of Q1. So yep.

Scott Luton (23:36):

Well said, all right. Lot of we consider everything level set. Uh, we are ready to go ready to dive in region by region. And we’re gonna start with Bobby the Northeast region. So tell us some key observations there.

Bobby Holland (23:50):

Oh, the Northeast region had a couple surprises. It recorded the strongest gain among the five regions. It was up 7.3% over first quarter when the largest gain in three years higher factory output is likely helping volumes up here. And you know, and it it’s interesting because you know, when we were coming out of 2021 into 2022 manufacturing was, you know, teetering a lot of struggles, but it seems like all the decisions that were made to try to mitigate the risks from supply chain issues while those issues are still there, you know, we can kinda see how that’s, that’s shaking out. So manufacturing output was up

Scott Luton (24:29):

So really quick. Uh, yeah. In fact, manufacturing output, uh, according to a variety of third parties, mm-hmm <affirmative> was up and actually expanded all three months of second quarter to your point, Bobby.

Bobby Holland (24:39):

Yep. 4.8% in may 3.6% in June alone, according to some estimates. And the thing to take into account as well with all of these numbers is if you compare them to, in most cases to the year over year, it’s still, we can still see that the velocity is still high, where we still are 17% in spend, uh, year over year above last year for the Northeast at a modest rise in spend of only 2.1%. But again, 17% over last year, right. And shipments 8.8% over last year. Uh, so, you know, Northeast, like I said, is pretty solid far as our numbers go this quarter.

Scott Luton (25:16):

So Donovan let’s let’s mix in you and your team’s perspective what’d y’all see in Northeast.

Donovan Kirkland (25:21):

Yeah. That’s, it’s interesting. This part, like I say, where you have to then tease it out and apply it to yourself. If you look at our network, we don’t have the level of manufacturing footprint in that region. So we didn’t experience that same phenomenon, but, but it’s simply a factor of, we are not represented as such, when you look at the way we’re laid out, most of our transportation would be around customer shipments in that space. And so it wouldn’t be linked to either manufacturing, raw materials coming in or even plant movement. So we didn’t quite see that, but it it’s, it’s related to our current, our network and how we’re designed.

Scott Luton (25:56):

Yeah. I, I appreciate that, Greg.

Greg White (25:59):

Yeah. I think that’s interesting to think about it from that standpoint because, um, you know, to the point you made earlier Donovan your customers, if they had facilities or they were station or headquartered in those areas, that that is why you would be shipping there. And if they’re not, then this particular region doesn’t impact you. Like it, it does globally. So it’s fascinating to see how the, the geography of a company, right. And, and it’s customers impact that. And I think, you know, as, as I’ve thought about Don and everything you’ve said, it really exposes the complexity of supply chain, not just where your company is, but where your customers are. Yeah.

Donovan Kirkland (26:39):

And it is customer base. Right. But that’s one in, that’s the farthest in the supply chain, but there’s also that element of transportation to your actual manufacturing facilities. So our customer base exists there that didn’t change, but we don’t have a manufacturing footprint that as heavy in the Northeast, like some others may.

Scott Luton (26:54):

Mm. Got it. Um, alright really quick. We’re gonna move on to the Southeast here. I wanna welcome in Danny via LinkedIn, Danny. Great to have you here. Let us know where you’re tuned in from, uh, Nazare from Iran. Great to have you here as always let us know what you’re seeing. Uh, in fact, to all the folks, uh, in the cheap seats, uh, the sky boxes or whatever, we’re calling it here today. Let us know what you’re seeing. Lows level. Yeah. <laugh>, that’s a new one. We’ll add that too. Uh, let us know what you’re seeing in the freight markets. Okay. Let’s dive into the Southeast Bobby, what what’d, y’all see there.

Bobby Holland (27:26):

Uh, the Southeast on the shipment side, um, was down not only quarter over quarter 4.3%, but also, uh, 12.1% year over year, but on spend, it was up 3.2% quarter over quarter, but 14.3% over last year. So, uh, shipping volumes were down and again, there are a lot of, uh, reasons for that. Um, housing drives a lot of, uh, breakdown in there. For example, when we, you know, see, um, natural disasters that usually occur in the Southeast hurricanes and, and sometimes major storms subsequently down, down the road, you’ll see a rise in housing starts as they, as they rebuild, but that’s down, but tourism is up. But because services as tourism is, is considered versus household goods, you know, retail tourism is up, but it does, it’s not as truck intensive, right. As, uh, some of the other as goods are so

Scott Luton (28:23):

Well, Bobby, unless you pack like my family <laugh> we, we got <laugh>, we got about three trucks loaded and ready to go. And that diesel prices man, killing us, but I digress. Uh, so tourism isn’t as, uh, truck Laden. What else? Uh, in the Southeast there, Bobby,

Bobby Holland (28:39):

Uh, still being affected by, uh, high diesel prices. Again, if you kinda look at either coast, they have the, the higher diesel prices with higher, the highest diesel prices with the west, kind of beating us, beating us all up, but you they’re still pretty high on the east coast as well. So a lot of that is, is boiling up the spending as well. So,

Scott Luton (28:58):

Yep. I appreciate that. Okay. Donovan Southeast, what sticks out

Donovan Kirkland (29:03):

Something very similar, but here goes a, I guess if the other one’s a double kick, here’s a triple click. Okay. So we do have a manufacturing footprint in that space, but then you have to look at, you know, what commodities, what products are reproducing. We have a heavy disinfecting, uh, footprint there, and the reality is cross this quarter. And even this is somewhat quarter before, you know, the, the phenomenon associated with consumption and disinfecting people have level out, right? I mean, there, there, there was obviously at the beginning of the pandemic, it was significantly influenced. And even as we saw different, uh, strands, you know, know, particularly in, in, in the us, as we’re talking Southeast, you would see reactions and we’ve gotten to a point now where those reactions are, are, are not as significant as they were before. And so as a result, uh, we’re starting to see because disinfection is, is mainly in that region, stabilized and starting to kind of tailor off, uh, to some degree.

Scott Luton (30:04):

Yep. I appreciate that. Donin uh, Greg, what sticks out to

Greg White (30:06):

You? I would think with all this tourism that you’d be selling the heck outta Kingsford charcoal down here, but that may not produce a lot of charco loads Dono.

Donovan Kirkland (30:15):

Oh, we do

Greg White (30:17):

Produces a lot of joy. So that’s what matters.

Donovan Kirkland (30:19):

Yeah. Well go light over light up tonight and then that’ll be another truck I can ship into today.

Greg White (30:24):

Count on it. Well, uh, I think another thing we gotta think about is, I don’t know the depth of this impact, but the backup at the port of Sanna just continues to grow last quarter. When we were looking at, at it, it was around 14 to 17 ships on average now is averaging almost 40 ships waiting outside of the port of Savannah, uh, because they’ve gotta lift down and I’ve gotta believe that that is keeping some trucks off the road. You know, there’s a ton of intermodal that goes down I 95 and I 16 interstate 16, the only interstate that doesn’t cross a single state line. And, uh, and it’s, it’s notable. I mean, frankly, you know, to drive between Atlanta and where I am, I can’t not drive down 95 or 16, but it’s noticeable the level of volume tail, uh, that is tailed off over the course of the last three months. I don’t know how much impact that has, but it’s gotta have some impact.

Scott Luton (31:17):

Agreed.

Donovan Kirkland (31:18):

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of that backlog is also contributed to, you know, folks are looking for alternate ways to get into the country with, I won’t steal the, to tagline to the west coast just yet. And so, yeah, but, uh, you know, if there’s any other port you can get into, you know, I think folks are looking at that

Greg White (31:36):

Option. They are a you’re right. They, I think said, I think they are more actively looking than when we first started to see these backups on the west coast. Now I, I think the shipping companies are much, much more flexible to rerouting the vessels.

Scott Luton (31:50):

Yep. Hey, uh, we gotta, anytime your mom joins a live stream as evidently, my mom has here, you gotta give her a platform. I love your mom. She says, please tell Donovan that I love my Clorox products.

Donovan Kirkland (32:05):

You, I see it in the chat. I see you to let know if, to let know if there’s any specific ones.

Scott Luton (32:10):

Okay. Get back to you. <laugh> I promise it’s

Greg White (32:14):

Funny. Did she join when we had Rick on also, or

Scott Luton (32:17):

I think she did.

Greg White (32:18):

I think so.

Scott Luton (32:20):

She, uh, hails from Aiken, South Carolina. So love you mom. Great to have you here. Okay, nice. So let’s we we’ve covered the Northeast. We’ve covered the Southeast let’s move, uh, Bobby to the Midwest. Tell us what you see there. Okay.

Bobby Holland (32:32):

If the Midwest Midwest was up shipments wise, 6.8% down year over year, just a slight 0.3%. Hmm. Uh, in spend, it was up 2.4%, but it’s still cruising at 16%, almost 16% over last year. So wow. Again, really solid again, strong manufacturing output is big in the Midwest. And so we kind of see evidence of that, you know, given their numbers. Yep.

Scott Luton (32:58):

And Donovan let’s talk about in the Midwest. What, what, what did you see there?

Donovan Kirkland (33:01):

We line up very closely to that, especially when we talk about the manufacturing output, two of our products that saw uptick at the beginning of the pandemic and have not tailored off they’re produced in that, in those regions. And so yeah, we’re seeing exactly what we’ve seen here, manufacturing output, and fortunately we don’t see it actually going down. So that’s a, that’s a positive

Scott Luton (33:23):

Thing. That is a good thing. Okay. And then switching over to, uh, Greg, who some folks may know is home state, uh, Kansas center center right there to Midwest. What do you hear between Bobby Donovan and your owner observations, Greg?

Greg White (33:36):

Well, you know, we were talking about, uh, automotive last quarter, right. And some of the concerns around that, and now vehicles are starting to hit lots, right? It’s not, you, you don’t go to your new car dealer and buy a used car. Now you can actually buy a new one. So I think we’re starting to see some of the impact of, of that, you know, as so many cars are produced in the Midwest.

Scott Luton (33:57):

Yep. Agreed. Okay. Moving right along, we’ve covered a Northeast Southeast Midwest and folks you can, as I mentioned, you can download this report for free and sign up for, it comes out every quarter with the link that we’ve drew up in the comments also freight.us bank.com. Bobby, let’s talk about the Southwest. What’s going on there.

Bobby Holland (34:15):

Southwest. Um, modest gains 2.2% quarter, quarter and shipments 2.6% year over year in shipments, 4.8% in spend. Um, but almost 30% over last year in spend. Wow. Again, same thing. Uh, a lot of international trade, cross border trade with Mexico, some of the highest, uh, border crossings, uh, truck, truck, truck wise, you know, in the season. So again, a lot of that, that cross border traffic is buoying them up. There’s still energy production, uh, in the Southwest. So again, we see that reflected in the numbers.

Scott Luton (34:51):

Yep. Well said there, and, and also speaking of, uh, that cross border trade looks like, uh, Canada and us are, are challenging me, Mexico, and some of its energy policies a lot more to come that may impact that cross border trade in the months and the months to come. But Donovan from the, a Southwest perspective, what do you see in there?

Donovan Kirkland (35:09):

Yeah. It is interesting insights to read again, this is a function of our network. Not that cross border trade is not as big of a play for us, so we didn’t see that. I mean, we see more of it probably from a raw material perspective, but it, it wasn’t as big of a impactor for us specifically.

Scott Luton (35:27):

Okay. And Greg, the Southwest you’re deeply familiar with the Southwest from your Arizona pursuits. What, what are you seeing in the Southwest there? Some mysterious we’re building Greg up like he’s um, where in the world is Carmen San Diego or something, but Greg, tell us about, uh, what you saw in the Southwest.

Greg White (35:44):

Uh, yeah. And I may or may not have set foot in Texas a few times also. Um, I’m legally obligated to state that I am actually allowed back into the state. Um, no, I, I, I mean, I think, um, the, what, what we’re seeing in the Southwest is just a slight uptick in shipments, but a huge uplift in, in terms of, of the cost and a stunning frankly, uplift. And I gotta tell you I’m at a loss to try and figure out why that is. I think cross-border, yes. We’re finally getting the us M C a, I think we’re starting to see some of that traffic build and we did have kind of a, a breakout of, you know, cross-border transportation, but that can’t be all of it. Could it right? I mean, I just don’t, I don’t know. I don’t understand because a lot, I don’t know how those transactions get booked. Bobby, if, if it’s coming from Mexico, does the payment occur through your bank or a Mexican bank or both, or what?

Bobby Holland (36:50):

Well, I don’t know if we’re talking about, you know, the, the same, the same transactions. I mean, when the ship, the, when the shipments come across the border, you know, it still has many more steps to go before it gets to the destinations. And a lot of those carriers, the, the American side of the, the transactions are, are what we look at another. And then, you know, and again, it’s kind of the same way too. Another aspect of that is seeing how the traffic and the Gulf ports is picking up, which is going to push a lot of freight, um, in inland, from there as they’ve migrated, um, port volumes from east of congestion, California, but also on the east coast, because you remember originally when we were talking in a couple of indexes ago, it, you know, we were seeing this huge uptick on the east coast, right.

Bobby Holland (37:38):

And then you, you know, of course we’re talking about the Gulf of Savannah, uh, port of Savannah uptick, but even, you know, ports in Houston as well, um, are starting to see, uh, traffic, you know, large queues there. Because again, as you said, and as was mentioned earlier, as the shippers seek ways to get, you know, get their freight, somehow mm-hmm, <affirmative>, they’re looking for report that they can. So that may also be responsible for it because, you know, any of those charges that are coming off of the, um, off the ships are related with moving that freight out of the ports are gonna be reflected in downstream and, and service charges.

Scott Luton (38:15):

So you are bringing us right into, uh, the west region, right. Which by the way, uh, before you share your insights here, Bobby, gosh, the port of LA in long beach, both set records for the busiest June ever on record speaking to some of your comments here, Bobby. All right. So Bobby what’d, y’all see in the west west

Bobby Holland (38:36):

West coast was, uh, another one of those mixed bags. Uh, it’s pretty com uh, complex there. Uh, we had, uh, just a minor drop in shipment, volumes of 0.7%, but we had and nine, but it was still up 9% over last year from spend perspective. It was 4.3% up, but still over 30% higher this year than last year. So, you know, a lot of stuff going on in the ports, um, that are causing that, you know, the, some of the congestion is ease, but now, and I think it was mentioned, uh, possibly by you Donovan earlier about the congestions have moved from ships offshore to containers, you know, stacking up in the ports. I was reading an article that talked about, you know, the possibility of introducing fines, that if they were levied as of the beginning of this week, would’ve amounted to $6.3 million. Wow.

Bobby Holland (39:33):

So you’ve got, you know, you’ve got that, that thing taking place where containers are stacking up over nine days in port, which is, I guess, a huge metric for them, um, normally supposed to be around a couple days, but then also now you have AB five causing problems. Uh, you got strikes, rail strikes that are, are being threatened or that are in place. So we have, um, you know, slowdowns due to AB five and the turmoil that that’s causing as independent contractors, struggle to figure out where they’re gonna go and what they’re gonna do about that. And then there’s also, now there’s a national version of,

Donovan Kirkland (40:08):

Of AB five.

Bobby Holland (40:08):

You mean? Yeah. The national version is called pro something. I’m sorry, don’t have it.

Scott Luton (40:12):

That’s all right.

Bobby Holland (40:13):

It’s but anyway, the national version is being threatened. And so that may possibly enter, you know, the, I think 85 impacts possibly around 70,000 up to 70,000 independent contractor truckers, but the pro act would add, that’s what it’s called pro act. The, there we go, um, 350,000 truckers. Um, wow. So there’s a lot of, a lot of, as we said, headwinds turmoil a lot of complexities going on on the west coast, which kind of yields some of the, the interesting results that we’ve got. But, um, so some of the things that we’ll be watching as we continue to look down downstream, those are some of the things that we’ll be keeping our on is how those impacts shake out, going into the holiday season.

Scott Luton (40:54):

That’s right. The west is always a bit of the stone suit, man, whatever, whatever can go wrong, sew it in the pot with everything else. Right. Um, Donovan talking about the west. What did you see out there?

Donovan Kirkland (41:05):

Uh, I’m gonna give you one word. Okay. Uncertainty <laugh> I mean, that’s, that’s really, what’s driving folks are just, you know, uncertainty, whether it’s the labor situation, right. And what you do, and the west is so linked right. With the ports to the global ecosystem. So, and then you, you know, what are, what’s gonna go on in Shanghai? And, and, and so folks, folks are just uncertain. And I think that’s where you’re seeing some of this kind of, Hey, let’s pump our breaks a little bit. Um, you know, maybe we find some alternate ways to go in and out. And, um, you know, it’s, it’s interesting. This is just another scenario in which in the past two years I’ve been doing this kind of supply chain thing, almost three decades. Now, <laugh>, I’ve never heard people in such senior roles in organizations talk about transportation as I have in the last, uh, two years. And this is just another element where I probably get a paying at least every other day saying, so what do you think’s gonna happen now? Right. And what are we and what are we doing? Um, so, um, and I’m not the only one, everyone in my seat, in the other organization. Right. Uh, they’re, they’re getting, they’re asking themselves and being asked the same question.

Scott Luton (42:21):

So man, on one hand, it’s great recognition. On the other hand, man, you’re, uh, supply chains in the hot seat and they gotta do something about it. So I appreciate you sharing that. And someone tip everybody’s tongue, um, really quick.

Donovan Kirkland (42:33):

Hey, Scott, that’s the kinda recognition like getting invited to the principal’s office. I dunno. That’s I dunno. I dunno. That’s the recognition that you

Greg White (42:39):

Never

Scott Luton (42:39):

That’s true. Super good. Right. Hey,

Greg White (42:41):

You don’t get a medal for that kinda recognition. Do you?

Scott Luton (42:44):

<laugh> uh Nazare I appreciate the feedback there. Um, and I appreciate your expertise, uh, into financial services. Uh, mom’s answering Chlorox for my washing machine and Clorox wipes. How about that? And folks, we also

Greg White (42:56):

That’s the answer for a lot of people.

Scott Luton (42:59):

<laugh> right. We also dropped link again. Uh,

Donovan Kirkland (43:02):

Do my daughter’s college funds. Thank you for that. So

Greg White (43:05):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (43:07):

Try y’all, y’all check out the freight payment next link there again, and really quick, you know, this and Greg I’m coming you next, uh, as we start to wrap, but you know, the cost of diesel obviously was a big, you know, theme throughout the freight payment index data point there diesel fuel averaging about five 50 a gallon currently nationally up 68% from a year ago. What we already know. Uh, alright, great. Just under

Bobby Holland (43:29):

$7 on the west coast.

Greg White (43:31):

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Scott Luton (43:33):

So let let’s, let’s take it from the top. So let’s talk about, uh, we’re gonna get all three of y’all’s key takeaways from the quarter to, uh, 20, 22 freight paint index. Let’s start there. So, Greg, uh, let’s get your key takeaways first

Greg White (43:46):

Opportunism. I, I think that there is unquestionably some arbitrage occurring occurring in the marketplace. The fact that shipments were up mid single digits, and yet in some of these regions, uh, up as much as 30% in terms of spend, there is there is some opportunism occurring in the marketplace, right? People taking advantage of a tight market and jacking up the prices. That’s all I can believe because you know, this is not a subs substantial leap in the overall index number over last quarter, right? Yeah. It’s like nine points higher, uh, on the index number. So look, that’s a, a wild audacious guess, but there has to be some aspect of that occurring and, and probably for all the reasons we believe agreed. Um, you know, we’ve talked about in, what is it? You said Donovan uncertainty, right? Yes. Where there is chaos, there is profit.

Scott Luton (44:47):

So let’s keep going with our, our key takeaways from the Q2, uh, freight payment index and Don wanna come to you next, uh, key takeaway beyond uncertainty being kind of the word of the day, maybe the word of the year, maybe the word of the decade. I don’t know. But what key takeaways from, uh, our conversation here today?

Donovan Kirkland (45:04):

Yeah. I mean, key takeaways and I guess even looking forward, right. I mean, we’re, we’re keeping our eye on where this spot market is going and, and, and Greg’s made some great points there and, and we’re asking ourselves, Hey, what, how do we need to leverage that, to understand where we’re going forward, both manage and service and cost. Right? I mean, cuz they’re both in that equation. Um, and then there’s this piece of, we’re just, we’re watching very closely what’s happening out there on, on the west coast and the ports cuz because we know if it goes in a way we don’t desire, it can turn our life upside down. And so, and quite frankly, to be very transparent, there are not a lot of other levers to pull to just to just figure that out if it does go for verbally south. So, um, so yeah, we’re keeping our eyes on that and then we’re figuring out what, what other, um, I’ll call ’em, um, contingency plays we may have.

Scott Luton (45:59):

Yep. Uh, I appreciate the kind of a mix, a hybrid of a key takeaways and kind of a forward looking Bobby specifically asking you only a key takeaway or two. And then Greg, we’re gonna finish off with your Ford looking, uh, prediction, but Bobby what’s been for you amongst all the regions, all the data of conversation here. What’s a couple key takeaways from Q2.

Bobby Holland (46:23):

One of the key takeaways I guess, is that we can start to see some of the success of a lot of the decisions that were made. Um, the end of 2021 going into 20, 22, we’re starting to see the impacts of those and how it’s, it’s helping to, to mitigate some of the headwinds. But just as some of those get mitigated, we see other ones coming into play again, particularly on the west coast, but uh, you know, nationally. So you can say that things may be inching back to normal, but there’s still, we just want to keep our eye. There’s a lot of things we’re gonna keep our eyes on, you know, and be there to document and, and lend perspective to, as we see more of these decisions starting to shake out.

Scott Luton (47:01):

Yep. Well said Bobby, so Hey, we got some things, right. Uh, we’re learning from our lessons. Right. And applying ’em that’s good. That’s good news to wrap on, uh, from you Bobby. All right. So Greg, while we still have Donovan and Bobby and we’re gonna make sure folks and I connect with, uh, both of our wonderful guests here in just a minute, but uh, give us, Greg, what are you expecting moving in the third quarter, moving in the second half of the year. What’s your thought there?

Greg White (47:24):

What I’m expecting Donovan already said uncertainty. I mean, honestly, I’ve never looked at one of these before and felt so blank <laugh> in terms of what to expect in the future. Uh, the O the other word that comes IM immediately to mind for me is thankfulness that I am not one of the people like Donovan, who has to navigate this uncertainty right now, because it is significant. And it could honestly go either way. And I can’t tell you of a time before or during the pandemic that it has been so uncertain that’s, uh, at least right, that this report, right. This analysis foam so much uncertainty

Scott Luton (48:03):

It’s like did y’all watch double dare on Nickelodeon growing up with Mark Summers, right? Um, at the end of this game show, there was an obstacle course, a really messy obstacle course that the contestants had to go through. That is what global supply chain has been going through for a couple years. Now we need Mark Summers, just giving us play by play, but, uh, big thanks to Donovan and Bobby, both of y’all joining us, uh, Bobby as always, we enjoy these quarterly breakdowns. I appreciate everyone’s perseverance as we have navigated our own, uh, technological, uh, challenges here today. But Hey, we’ve persevered and I’ve really enjoyed the discussion. So Bobby, before we let you and Donovan go, uh, Bob, let’s make sure folks know how to find the freight payment index and connect with you. How can they do that

Bobby Holland (48:47):

Freight, do us bank.com. We’ll get you a subscription and it’ll be delivered to your inbox quarterly. Or you can email me at Bobby dot Holland, us bank.com, and I’ll see that you get a copy or get signed up. And my LinkedIn is another way to get ahold of me as

Scott Luton (49:03):

Well. Wonderful. Whenever you are not head down and to big vats of data, right. Bobby

Donovan Kirkland (49:09):

<laugh>.

Bobby Holland (49:09):

Yeah, we’ll go with that.

Greg White (49:11):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (49:12):

Way. Always a pleasure. Uh, appreciate that. But Hey, before, uh, we let Don and Kirkland go diamond, really have enjoyed our appreci show conversations. Thanks for, uh, all that you’ve brought here today. Uh, really had a lot of fun and a ton of value. Um, so Don, how can folks connect with you and, uh, the world renowned the Clorox company.

Donovan Kirkland (49:32):

<laugh>, it’s easy. Uh, LinkedIn just, just, uh, send me a request on LinkedIn Donovan Kirkland and we’ll connect up. I look forward to, I’ve been, I’ve been looking at the chat. It’s been some great chat coming through and, uh, had a blast. Thank you for the invite. Um, yeah. Thank you for Kirk being on with you, Bobby. I learned a lot from you.

Bobby Holland (49:50):

Yeah, same here.

Scott Luton (49:52):

Same,

Bobby Holland (49:52):

Well, Hey,

Scott Luton (49:53):

Don, I’m own that note. Uh, we’re we’ve gotten an Atlanta United game in our future and Hey, any cool frosty adult beverages will be on me. So, uh, Hey, really, thanks for all of, of your help. Bobby, always a pleasure. Appreciate your collaboration and partnership. Enjoy your trip coming up. Uh, big thanks again. Before we let him go. Donovan Kirkland, uh, vice president global logistics with the Clorox company and Bobby Holland, director of freight data solutions at us bank. Thank you, gentlemen.

Greg White (50:21):

Thanks chance.

Scott Luton (50:26):

All right, Greg, man, I gotta just share this, uh, back to we were all, we launch it for a second. Diamond’s like, well, whenever I freeze I’m in like, uh, the, the most awkward position Steve’s like so true. Greg always looks good in a frozen state and Dave goes, uh, like Han solo. So man, how about that? Yeah.

Greg White (50:45):

Is that, is that how Han solo was? He was like frozen

Scott Luton (50:47):

I, so, so we’ll go with it. We’ll go with it. Oh man. Um, alright. But Greg, I’ll tell you this, this panel we’re gonna have to have them back.

Greg White (50:55):

Uh, undoubtedly. Yeah.

Scott Luton (50:57):

Yeah. When we got nice smooth sailing, because I really, I mean, to get the Y and the yang, the data like Bobby brings, and then that, you know, that senior level practitioner, you know, with their fingers on the pulse, like Donovan brought today, I thought it was, uh, a great conversation. Huh?

Greg White (51:15):

It is. And it’s good to understand the double clicks and the triple clicks, as he talked about, you know, the level of depth that you have to go down to, to understand the impact on a particular company. Right. I don’t think we’ve had somebody share that much with us regionally, how that, how a particular region does or doesn’t impact their business. It’s really interesting to, to learn that. Yeah. I have to tell you, you nailed, nailed the word uncertainty. Um, I, I mean, looking at this and studying this report, I I’m baffled, I don’t know about you. I’m sure it came through as we were talking about it, but there are just some things I just can’t explain here. Yep. Um, well, and, and I think that probably pretends more uncertainty to come’s unquestionably that’s

Scott Luton (52:01):

Right. But you gotta lean into the data and the resources out there. So you can be more informed whether it’s the conversation we’ve had here today with Bobby diamond and Greg and all the folks in the comments, things like the index freight payment index. Y’all check that out again. We’ve got the link here. Uh, one click away from signing up for that. But healthy. Think

Greg White (52:18):

The tells you Scott is that there is to expect uncertainty. At least you’ve got eyes on that. Right. And you can provision, right. The thing we need to do more in supply chain is anticipate uncertainty and provision for it.

Scott Luton (52:33):

That’s right. And lead differently. Right. We’ve had so many planning and forecasting conversations here lately on supply chain now, uh, that has been a masterclass in and of itself. Um, but I’ll save that for later. Um, Greg, I appreciate you joining us on these quarterly conversations as always, uh, big thanks to, uh, Dan and the gang at us bank. Big. Thanks again, to our production team. Uh, appreciate all of your wonderful work today. Chantel Amanda, Catherine, clay, you name it. And folks, thanks for everybody that showed up and brought their comments. Uh, it’s great to have you be a part of this, uh, conversation. Uh, so on behalf, our entire team here on behalf of Greg and, and, uh, Scott Luton, your fearless host, I think, uh, we wanna challenge you Hey, 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 you now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (53:25):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now community check out all of our programming@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.