By Holly LaBoda, Partner and Co-Founder, Luminaries Consulting

By Michael Cardwell, President, Digital Brew

As an affiliate member of TMSA, we at Digital Brew know how chaotic the essential supply chain industry can get, even without a pandemic sweeping the nation. And when information changes without a moment’s notice, it becomes extremely difficult to keep everyone in-the-know. 

HALO Branded Solutions, a TMSA Affiliate member, is offering TMSA members special access to the COVID-19 (KV-95 & N-95) Protective Masks. These masks are of particular value to motor carriers, asset-based 3PLs, and other operations that have have a need to protect their essential workers (professional truck drivers and dock workers) from COVID-19 virus. Keeping these "mission critical" employees healthy enables transportation companies to deliver critical freight that keeps people safe and healthy - ranging from food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and even PPE equipment for our health care workers. If you have extras, consider DONATING THEM to your local hospital or health care facility!

So many of us are working remote from home this week, and probably for a while, amidst the nationwide effort to prevent further spread of Covid-19. With restaurants, coffee bars and many other remote working locations also closing up shop, that means most of us are under the roofs of our own homes, doing our best to be both productive and collaborative in entirely new ways.  

Addressing Sick Leave, FMLA, Pay, Privacy, and Actions You Need to Take

By Terri L. Dougherty, PHR, SHRM-CP, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents new challenges in the workplace as employers strive to keep businesses running, comply with regulations, and support the health and well-being of their workforce. A business’s response to this crisis needs to minimize the spread of the disease in the workplace while reducing the risk of noncompliance with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations and employment laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The COVID-19 (coronavirus) is a crisis with complex potential impacts on companies in transportation and logistics. According to some attendees at the TMSA Connections event at MODEX in Atlanta yesterday, shippers are implementing new procedures for professional truck drivers making deliveries and arriving for pickups. Third-party logistics providers and motor carriers are being asked by their customers to provide them with detailed information about how they’re addressing this crisis in their own operations to help them maintain a safe, secure supply chain.

Internet search giant Google is playing with the idea of identifying slow-loading websites by displaying a “Usually loads slow” splash screen in place of a homepage when someone is trying to visit such sites, according to an article in Transport Topics. The move, which Google detailed in a recent blog post, would have a chilling effect on any transportation industry website that Google deems too slow to load. A “Usually loads slow” splash screen served up by Google would pretty much be the kiss of death to your website, encouraging a web surfer to move along to a competitor’s site with better performance.

The difference between a leader who achieves commitment from employees versus one who achieves compliance, is effective coaching. The most effective leaders are those who see themselves as coaches and leaders rather than managers or supervisors. But what makes a leader an effective coach? It’s their mindset.

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The third of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the members at large of the TMSA Board of Directors - individuals who volunteer their time, talent, and expertise to help the organization become the best it can be in serving marketing, sales and business leaders in the transportation and logistics industry.

Lina Acosta, Chief Marketing Officer, GLT Logistics, gives back in knowledge and empowerment to the industry. She's volunteers as a member of the Board of Directors at the TMSA and as the Vice President of Programs and Marketing Chair for the CSCMP South Florida Roundtable. "I have also created with GLT an educational program for people working in the logistics and supply chain business called GLT Logistics Sessions," says Acosta. "These sessions are events that offer insightful material about specific business topics, providing information and tools that attendees can apply on a daily basis, boosting efficiency and developing higher skills in the people of our industry." In fact, earlier in February Lina hosted TMSA's CEO Brian Everett to present a session in Miami on the importance of marketing, sales, and business strategy in transportation and logistics. 

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The second of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the current chairpersons of TMSA’s many committees. All of these individuals also serve on the TMSA Board of Directors.

One of the primary ways TMSA members find value from their involvement in the association is by gaining access to relevant content and education through monthly webinars, our annual conference in early June, and specialty programming such as TMSA Sales Training Workshops and the TMSA Digital Transformation Conference in the fall. Co-Chairs of the TMSA Education Committee are:

TMSA is a volunteer-led professional association, and we have built the strength of our community as an association through the hard work, dedication, creativity, and strategic leadership of our volunteer leaders. The first of a three-part series recognizing our volunteer leaders, this article recognizes the current TMSA officers team.  

This Valentine’s Day, instead of expressing your love to friends and family, why not spread some joy to the industry in which you work? In fact, what makes some of our volunteer leaders so unique is because they are motivated to give back to the industry. Let’s take a look at some of our amazing leaders who love to give back in the form of volunteering.

The Transportation Marketing & Sales Association has named two new individuals to its board of directors, effective Jan. 23. Their industry knowledge and expertise will be vital to the continued success of TMSA!

Meet Leigh

Leigh Sauter has been named co-chair of the TMSA Marketing Committee, and will be responsible for leading this committee to utilize new and traditional media to help practitioners stay on top of emerging trends through relevant content, innovative communication while driving new membership and engagement in the organization. She has more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and sales, is HubSpot Inbound-certified, and is a Certified Transportation Broker with the Transportation Intermediaries Association. An active member and committee volunteer since 2017, Sauter is marketing director for Tucker Company Worldwide. 

By Jennifer Karpus-Romain, Director of Marketing Services and Industry Outreach, Faye Business Systems Group

The faster the world moves, the quicker the transportation industry needs to move to get it there. So what do logistic firms need? The technology that will support this rapid evolution. The good news: This technology exists!

By Joe Pulizzi, author, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, and speaker at past TMSA events.

So, another Super Bowl is here. For those advertising during the Super Bowl, the average 30 second spot will cost approximately $5.25 million dollars to reach over 100 million viewers worldwide.

Happy employees positively affect workplace operations. Statistics show that companies that foster employee happiness outperform their competitors by 20%. It’s no surprise, then, that some companies are taking more active measures to promote positive employee experiences. 

As with any successful business, companies in transportation and logistics continue to look at ways to effectively communicate with and engage their workforces. With 45% of TMSA members directly responsible for communications and another 8.5% for HR/driver recruitment, many look at internal communications and engagement strategy to be the glue that holds together the company.

TMSA asks a several marketing and sales executives their perspectives about marketing, sales, and industry issues. This is the fourth and final installment of a 4-part series that provides perspectives from TMSA members on predictions for freight transportation in 2020 – and the impact Marketing and Sales can have on overall business success.

What do you see as the most significant challenges in freight transportation in 2020 – and solutions to them?
Chuck Everett, Director of Business Development, Red Classic Transportation Services: The single biggest challenge will be the continued contraction of capacity. With ELD rules impacting operations, drivers continuing to exit the profession, and the closing of some significant carriers, the coming year will continue to be very challenging across the industry.

By Brian Everett, CEO of TMSA

This is the third installment of a 4-part series that provides perspectives from TMSA members on predictions for freight transportation in 2020 – and the impact digital transformation and CX can have on overall business success.

“Digital Transformation” is a hot topic these days, and a very real challenge in 2020 is going to be determining the right technology to adopt, according to Greg Roberts, Director Business Development, Matson Logistics, a leading provider of ocean transportation and logistics services.

64% of applicants wouldn’t respond to a job posting with a poorly written or confusing job title. And 60% find jargon to be annoying. Writing effective job descriptions is a challenging task, but it has a major impact on the quality of applicants your business receives. Small businesses can be especially susceptible to poorly written job descriptions — with a smaller staff and more at stake per individual performance. So, attracting the right talent is critical to business success.