Inside Univar Solutions’ Carrier Kickoff

FreightWaves Today broadcast live from the Westin in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, for Univar Solutions ’ annual Carrier Kickoff event, where roughly 100 transportation providers and more than 200 attendees gathered alongside Univar Solutions’ procurement and operations leadership for a supplier conference built around the fact that relationships, not just rates, win freight when trucks get scarce. The room reflected a cornucopia of modal opportunity, with liquid bulk, truckload, less-than-truckload, rail, air, and parcel providers all represented under one roof. After a four-year freight recession that hollowed out capacity across the industry, tender rejections are climbing again and insurance costs are spiraling. Soft-market leverage doesn’t last forever, and some shippers are learning that the hard way. FreightWaves’ interviews with carriers and brokers at Univar Solutions’ Carrier Kickoff made clear that the companies which invested in carrier relationships during the downturn are the ones that will keep trucks moving now that the market has turned.