FourKites recently revealed its Premier Carrier List for the fourth quarter of 2020.
The list showcases 382 carriers, brokers and 3PLs that have achieved the highest standards of visibility-related operational excellence, as demonstrated by their ability to provide high-quality, consistent, accurate data on the vast majority of their loads.
By following these best practices, Premier Carriers are providing their shipper customers and the broader supply chain ecosystem with the data that is indispensable to streamlining operations, increasing the speed of shipping dock turn times, reducing inventory levels and better managing labor costs.
“FourKites continues to see unprecedented growth in the number of global carriers and freight forwarders using our platform,” said Jason Eversole, vice president of carrier operations at FourKites. “We remain committed to continuing to provide both shippers and carriers with the tools and resources they need to collaborate and cement deeper partnerships. And as we continue to introduce tools that expand the reach of supply chain visibility, including our automated yard management platform, Dynamic YardSM, carriers that provide high-quality visibility data will see dramatically reduced wait times.”
Now in its third year, the full Premier Carrier List is available only to FourKites customers, but a public-facing version can be found here.
The elite carriers included on FourKites’ Premier Carrier List hauled, on average, 20% more loads in Q4 2020 compared to the previous quarter, clocking 2.5 million loads in Q4. Notably, 119 carriers have now made the list for more than four consecutive quarters, while 28 have qualified for Premier status every quarter since the inception of the program.
Bulk transporters making the list include Andrews Logistics, Bulkmatic, Carbon Express, CBSL Transportation Services, Cliff Viessman, Foodliner Mexico, Highway Transport, Martin Transport, Mountain Milk Hauling, Service Transport Company, Tidewater Transit and TransWood.
“Visibility has become increasingly critical given the supply chain challenges of 2020,” said Bill Kropf, vice president of client management at Capstone Logistics. “The FourKites Premier Carrier List highlights carriers that have truly made visibility a priority during these unprecedented times. At Capstone, we’ve made visibility part of our DNA because we understand the end-to-end value it brings to our partners, and ultimately to their customers.
“We are excited to do our part in reducing supply chain waste.”
In order to be included on the Premier Carrier List, carriers must demonstrate their operational excellence by meeting a set of stringent qualifications. FourKites’ consistency metric evaluates both the number of location updates on a given load and the quality of those updates. To qualify, Premier Carriers must track with 85% consistency. Compared to non-premier carriers, Premier Carriers, on average, achieve 30% better on-time delivery performance, manage over 2 million pieces of equipment and see 15% annual growth in load volume.
The Premier Carrier List is also an indispensable tool for shippers, FourKites said. “At a time when visibility has never been more integral to the on-time delivery of our shipments, FourKites’ Premier Carrier List continues to be a valuable asset, helping us select the carriers that are as committed to data transparency as we are,” said Jeff Covington, supply chain manager at Smithfield Foods. “Being able to easily identify carriers that are executing at the highest levels of service is critical to helping us remain agile through these turbulent times.”