it with other large retailers, where they have large private fleets and then a large part of their transportation business is outsourced to other carriers.” Te more important question he wants us
to ask is “What is going on in retail right now as an industry that is going to change the trucking business?” For Williams, the answer is omnichannel
fulfillment. If you’re thinking, omnichannel what?
Williams defines the term like this: “Tis really means that shoppers can purchase across a retailer’s platforms in many different ways. Tat means in stores. It means online. It means mobile. Maybe even more specifically, it means, those channels can blur.” Te way that customers increasingly want
more options for not just what they buy, but how they buy, is what can drive changes to the system. And “customer as catalyst” is echoed in
Amazon’s comments about their new fleets, “We are always looking for ways to innovate for customers. Tese new trailers empower Amazon to speed up order delivery times for
customers and offer later order cut-off times by increasing capacity for Amazon package delivery between fulfillment centers.” Increased control over its delivery network
seems like a natural extension of the company’s custom-focused philosophy on innovation. Williams agrees that certain retail
trends show consumers demanding more personalization, and when it comes to delivery, consumers are not only demanding faster, but they are also demanding delivery within specific time windows. “For example, if I work 8-5 in the office and
get home at 6,” Williams explains, “and I’m getting groceries delivered to my door. I really don’t want them delivered at 10 am.” Amazon Fresh offers the service Williams
references, and it isn’t alone. Walmart and other grocers are delivering products that once only shut-ins and the elderly may have ordered.
RETAIL HISTORY IN THE MAKING E-commerce itself, with
Amazon.com at
the helm, is changing freight business because the model allows consumers to have more say in
fulfillment and delivery, according to Williams. “If you look at the retail industry, it has
kind of gone from mom and pop general store in a local community to a period in the 60s or 70s when the department store was king. Ten, in the 80s, when mass retailers and big box retailers started to roll out, you started to see a consolidation in the industry.” Now, the pull of e-commerce and the
increased power of the consumer deconsolidates the retail systems of the past. “In some ways, the revolution feels a little bit
unprecedented,” Williams says. “Tere are people out there that say, ‘Te
brick-and-mortar store is going to die,’ and I couldn’t disagree with that more. I do think that the role of the brick and mortar store changes over time. And it becomes more integrated with a retailer’s digital interface with the customer,” Williams explains. “I think about subscription services from
Walmart.com or
Amazon.com, the way that we start to have good ready-for-pick-up-at-store or site-to-store services. All of that is leading me to say that shipments are going to continue to be decreasing in size.”
Grand Opening Celebration 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Wed. June 22
Peterbilt of Lincoln invites its Customers, Fleets, O/Os and the entire Trucking Community to the Grand Opening Celebration of its new full-service truck dealership.
� Truck Parts Vendor Tent � Tours of the New Facility � See the New Peterbilt Trucks � Door Prizes, Gifts, Factory Reps � Catered Lunch and Dinner
Peterbilt of Lincoln 402-858-8400 • 877-499-7383 8
View event online registration form, event updates, a map and a video of this new facility on our website:
www.pbtruck.com/PBLincoln or scan this QR code:
6262 Arbor Rd. Lincoln, NE I-80 Exit 405
www.pbtruck.com
NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 2, 2016 —
www.nebtrucking.com
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