Here’s my beef!
An F&L The European Freight and Logistics Leaders’ Forum series of short personal comments on the global freight logistics market
Louis Yiakoumi; These insights come from multi-year conversations with executives across automotive, tech, consumer sectors and logistics, including beverage and oil & gas.
Here’s what your customers say they really want from LSPs
Across years of conversations with leaders in automotive, tech, consumer and logistics, one message is clear: supply chain moved from cost centre to competitive advantage. Here’s what shippers want LSPs to bring to the table.
What they value
- P&L impact: measurable lifts in OTIF, cost per unit, inventory days, and CO₂ per shipment.
- People → process → tech: reliable teams, standard SOPs, then tools that speed decisions.
- Data before “digital”: clean, shareable data and clear Source–Make–Deliver ownership.
- EV reality: dual-fleet (ICE + BEV); DG rules, charging in compounds, battery reverse flows.
- Sustainability as ops: higher fill, smarter modes, better networks—lower CO₂ and cost.
- Sector fluency: generic scale loses to specialists who know the rules and rhythms.
How LSPs win
- Bring redesign ideas before the RFQ; propose gain-sharing.
- Publish your EV/DG playbook and yard readiness.
- Run an exception cadence that protects sold orders.
- Start AI where it helps today (clerical clean-up, ETA/exception triage).
- Be easy to integrate (APIs/EDI, shared dashboards, shipper-owned data).
I’ve pulled this into a practical guide for LSPs—quick wins, and pitfalls. Read the short article here & I would value your thoughts.
Perhaps we can then present an article for your customers: What the LSPs want the customers to know.
