You're facing urgent last-minute changes in transportation schedules. How do you effectively prioritize them?

Clear communication... always! You need to understand clearly what are the pains of Internal and External Clients and how exactly it would affect them. Cost is an issue or a solution? Are you authorized to spend more to find a solution, or this is not an option? Could them afford some additional days on ana alternative route to keep the budget as it is? Once the full scenario is clear, then go to the next step and have also a same communication with the market to assess potential solutions.

When facing urgent last-minute changes in transportation schedules, prioritize by assessing the impact on key deliveries and customer commitments. Identify the most time-sensitive or high-value shipments and address those first. Use real-time tracking and communication tools to inform all stakeholders and coordinate adjustments swiftly. Reallocate resources, such as drivers and vehicles, to the most critical tasks, and consider outsourcing if necessary. Continuously monitor progress and be prepared to make further adjustments to minimize disruptions and ensure smooth operations.

Rather simple, They can change what they like. But once i've left the yard the pallets are coming off in the order they loaded them. They don't give me a pump truck and most the places i deliver to won't move other pallets to get to theirs.

Test options! One must assess the market and understand clearly the capabilities of your service providers so that you may propose and get feedback from eventual solutions. Be clear on what you can or can not do or allow: time, quality and money are items you must have transparency on needs and allowances. Understand the difference between “must have” and “nice to have” so that you will be able to compare different alternatives through a transparent and effective communication.

Communicate effectively with all stakeholders so that you will be able to understand what is the allowable degree of flexibility that you have. What can you and what you cannot accept to change on your plans, including budget, time and schedule? This will be paramount on any discussions either with your Clients or Suppliers in order to get the final solutions and the less overall impact.

Do not underestimate your contractual terms and conditions mainly if you do not have a smooth relationship with your stakeholders. A quick and solid assessment on what would be the impact of eventual changes on the situation is key to find alternatives. In any case, such eventual deviations on the contract may be discussed under transparent terms that may be beneficial for both parties including in terms of a long-term relationship and future opportunities / contracts.

Lessons to be learned! This may be an opportunity to check what went wrong and that may be optimized and upgraded on next opportunities. Eventual alternative sources or alternative routes / logistics strategies may be identified and assessed in detail for future considerations and tests to avoid repeating the same risks in the future. Events like Covid-19, Ukraine-Russia conflict, closure of Suez Canal and constraints at Panama Canal are examples that may happen again, at least with similar configurations and impacts.

The old action book ! Identify Critical paths; impact on operations; notify stakeholders and look for resources to address the updated plan.