An Overview of my Internship with Sims Global Solutions

Introduction and Personal Learning Objectives:

Logistics and freight transportation are two things that keep the global economy turning. There is always something that needs to be moved. The opportunity of working in this industry throughout this summer has been an invaluable experience for me. This experience provided me with new knowledge learned, connections, thoughts, and has brought into my mind things I never would have considered with regard to logistics and supply chain management.

Explore a Career Throughout this internship I hoped to gain a better understanding of what a career in supply chain management looks like, specifically with regard to freight brokerage and transportation. During my time as an intern, I had aspirations to identify main tasks of someone who is involved with this work. Through identifying main responsibilities and tasks, I gained a better understanding of what a career in supply chain management can look like.

Develop Skills Through this internship experience I aimed heavily on trying to develop certain skills including communication, negotiation, and problem solving. Working with the carrier representative team on the operations side of a company, these skills were extremely important for me to develop quickly. A key part of my role was effectively and quickly relaying necessary information to carriers while trying to book a load, meaning that my communication skills must be honed and accurate. Through this, I was able to quickly learn what information is relevant when booking a load, and from there how to effectively communicate that information to the carrier as quickly as possible. This growth in communication also helped me to become a better negotiator and problem solver. Communication is the key of both of these skills, and with the solid foundation that I gained in communication through this internship, negotiations with carriers became quick and easy and problem solving became smooth for me as well.

Learn to be Adaptive and Flexible Working in a field where things are always changing and moving in the blink of an eye has been extremely beneficial to me as it has formed me into someone who is now very flexible and adaptive to changing circumstances and situations. When things change quickly, my former self would typically be upset by the fact of changed circumstances. However, from my time this summer with Sims Global Solutions, I now realize how important it is to embrace changes and adapt as quickly as possible to them. Adaptation cannot be stressed enough because without it freight will not move, and the supply chain and ecosystem of freight will fall behind.

Background Review:

Much of the work I completed had to do with our relationship as a company with the carriers in our system. Whether that meant working with carriers that we have an established relationship with or vetting and introducing new carriers into our system. When adding and vetting new carriers to add to the TMS I quickly realized how important it is to examine every aspect of the carrier. Fraud as at an all time high in the industry, which requires thorough vetting to ensure trusted carriers are added into the TMS. Some good practices for this vetting process included looking at authority, validity of insurance, carrier packet completion, FMCSA form updates, as well as carrier scores that can be found on Carrier Assure software.

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Assignment/Duties Details:

Working as an Operations Intern for Sims Global Solutions, a freight brokerage company, there were many assignments and responsibilities that I was working on constantly. However, much of my work was focused heavily on the carrier representative aspect of things, whether that meant building new relationships with new carriers, or continuing to relationships with carriers via booking shipments with them. With that in mind, my responsibilities included vetting carriers in our TMS, adding new carriers to our TMS, and booking shipments with carriers. Vetting a carrier within the system was a multistep process to ensure a carrier could be trusted to do a shipment for Sims Global Solutions. To ensure reliability in our carrier base some of the aspects I considered when looking at a carrier would include insurance standing, DOT authority, safety ratings, potentially fraudulent activity, and carrier packet standing. When vetting a carrier, another key aspect was looking at the FMCSA Safer Web Report for each carrier. This report shows recent changes to the profile of each carrier, and when changes are made recently that can often be a sign of a bought MC number or fraudulent activity. When adding new carriers into our TMS, the process was the same as the process was for vetting a carrier already in the system. Booking a shipment had many moving parts that all needed to be done quickly and efficiently. The process of booking a load started off in the same manner vetting a carrier would to ensure that the carrier was reliable, and someone we would feel confidence in moving the freight. However, before beginning the process of talking with potential carriers, I was tasked with posting shipments on DAT, which is a software used by carriers to find shipments. Posting a shipment on DAT included deciding on the buy rate, which is how much Sims Global Solutions is willing to pay the carrier, along with other details of the load such as the lane, type of trailer, accessorials, and pickup and delivery appointment times when applicable. From there I would typically talk with the dispatcher, taking them through the details of the load. Some of the typical details I would discuss with the dispatcher included type of trailer, whether it was full or partial, the commodity, the mileage, expected transit days, weight and other dimensions, as well as if the load had any accessorials such as driver assist, tarps, straps, of hazmat. This also involved using negotiation to get the best rate possible, allowing Sims Global Solutions to make continual profits. After the rate had been determined, I oversaw sending rate confirmations to the carriers and tracking the shipments until they arrived at their final destination, at which time I would request a proof of delivery (POD).

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Implications for the Company:

The value of creating an ecosystem of legitimate and trusted carriers in the TMS is extremely beneficial and substantial to the overall success of Sims Global Solutions. As carriers are continually vetting for fraud, this will allow for a more streamlined and trustworthy approach towards assigning carriers to fulfill shipments. By keeping this approach in mind when working with carriers, not only will it allow for higher success of shipments, but it will also increase efficiency when it comes to booking shipments wholistically. When you have a system full of trusted carriers, that makes the process of booking shipments faster and easier. Due to the fact that vetted carriers have already been screen for fraud, this means that if they are looking for business with Sims Global Solutions, we will no longer have to go through the entire vetting process as we talk with the carrier about a possible shipment. When they call and give us the necessary information about their company, we will know almost immediately whether or not the carrier would be someone we would allow to move freight for us.

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This vetting process can also be useful for identifying carriers who run certain lanes often. For example, much of the freight we move is from return customers who have many shipments a day. If we are able to identify trusted carriers who run these types of shipments and lanes often that will cut down on the time it takes to book carriers for these customers, allowing us more time to book additional freight, generating increased profits for the company. When such carriers are identified for our customers, we can create a schedule that shows both how many shipments we can give them and also how many of these shipments the carrier would be willing to move for us on a regular basis. By doing so, we will also be able to create stronger business relationships with carriers and customers which will allow for the possibility of continued or increased business with our customers as well as with certain trusted carriers.

Conclusion and Personal Evaluation:

Looking at this internship experience, it truly was invaluable as it brought me a better understanding of the industry, it pushed to develop new skills, and provided me with valuable insight into what a career with a supply chain management degree could look like. I am grateful for everyone I encountered throughout this entire experience, and for the investment they made into me to make this experience so rewarding. I am excited to see how my work with vetting carriers and booking shipments will continue to evolve and better the business practices of Sims Global Solutions!

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