Hurricane season began this month and continues until November. Between hurricanes Harvey and Irma last season, the Southeast experienced devastating impact. Harvey alone caused nearly $180 billion in damage, and that isn’t counting the residual impact caused by the ripple effect across the supply chain. Damage on that scale causes road closures, as well as damage to trucks, warehouses, ports, shipping centers, fulfillment centers and more. As the supply chain reroutes resources to send aid to these areas, plenty of unexpected exceptions occur as well. Things get extremely complicated at a time when resources are needed more than ever.
These are times when accurate, trustworthy tracking information and seamless connectivity can have an overwhelmingly positive impact on the situation.
Advanced Visibility and Tracking Produces Real-Time Results
In order to mitigate the impact of a disaster, adjustments need to be made the moment a change occurs. As far as supply chains go, that means communicating to shippers and carriers where supplies need to go, what resources need to be shifted around in order to make that happen. People tend to start stockpiling supplies before a storm hits, which frequently results in stockouts. Many people are left not having enough food or water to ride out the storm. Home improvement centers feel a similar impact as people try to brace their homes, then after the storm hits, deal with the damage. These are valuable supplies that often need to be rerouted to disaster areas rather quickly.
Then there’s the impact the rest of the supply chain inevitably feels as a result of resources being rerouted. Capacity becomes tighter, shipments take longer, and companies not leveraging modern technology experience a breakdown in communication. This can actually cost millions of dollars. This is another area where trustworthy and accurate data can greatly minimize any negative impact by providing shippers the information they need to effectively respond to exceptions when they need it. When seconds and minutes matter, you can’t rely on legacy tracking technology with incomplete and stale data during an emergency.
Predictive Insights
Addressing the needs of disaster areas after the disaster has occurred is crucial, but what if we could get a leg up by sending exactly what is needed to where it will need to go before a storm even hits? As we continue to use modern supply chain technology to record data, our ability to leverage predictive analytics increases. Using metrics based around past mistakes and solutions, we will soon be able to use resource planning and routing to our advantage as a disaster approaches.
Hurricane season is approaching, and we know there will be unavoidable effects on our supply chains. The annual cost of weather-related disruption for U.S. Transportation is around $9 billion, and 32.5 billion vehicle hours are lost each year due to weather-related congestion. Using project44, which provides the most trustworthy and accurate data available in today’s market, we can ultimately soften the blow that these natural disasters have on our transportation networks, get people the help they need quicker than ever before, and usher in a new era of predictability to transportation and logistics.