Transportation vs Logistics with Marty Wadle

Marty Wadle and Joe Lynch discuss transportation vs logistics. Marty is the Chief Commercial Officer of Ruan Transportation, a transportation company providing Dedicated Contract Transportation, Managed Transportation, Value-added Warehousing, and Brokerage Support Services.

About Marty Wadle

Marty Wadle currently serves as Ruan’s Chief Commercial Officer leading the Commercial Solutions team, which includes sales, marketing, and solution engineering. Previously, Marty served as Senior Vice President of Ruan’s Supply Chain Solutions division, consisting of Value-Added Warehousing, Brokerage Support Services, and Managed Transportation. Ruan manages $1.35 billion in annual supply chain spend, employs 4,600 drivers, and operates 4,000 power units and 12,000 trailers out of 300 locations across the U.S. In addition, Ruan operates 1.5 million square feet of dedicated warehouse space and $500 million of managed transportation. Marty has held multiple positions at Ruan over his 25-year career that have given him a wide base of experience in sales and operations. Prior to Ruan, Marty worked for LTL carrier Central Transport and institutional food wholesaler Martin Brothers Distribution. Marty is a graduate of Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in transportation and logistics. He currently serves on the Iowa State University Supply Chain Forum.

About Ruan Transportation

Ruan provides Dedicated Contract Transportation, Managed Transportation, Value-Added Warehousing, and Brokerage Support Services to customers across the U.S. Ruan’s Integrated Supply Chain Solutions services encompass all aspects of transportation and logistics, providing our customers the ideal combination of asset- and non-asset-based solutions that get your products from point A to point B safely and efficiently. With more than 89 years of transportation management experience, Ruan is one of the top 10 privately owned transportation companies in the country with 300 operations and 6,000 team members.

Key Takeaways: Transportation vs Logistics

Marty Wadle is the Chief Commercial Officer at Ruan Transportation Management Systems, a family-owned transportation management company, providing Dedicated Contract Transportation, Managed Transportation, and Value-added Warehousing.
In the podcast interview, Joe and Marty discuss transportation vs logistics, even though those words are used interchangeably, they mean different things.
According to Council of Supply Chain Professionals, a Third Party Logistics (3PL) Provider is “A firm which provides multiple logistics services for use by customers. Preferably, these services are integrated, or “bundled” together by the provider. These firms facilitate the movement of parts and materials from suppliers to manufacturers, and finished products from manufacturers to distributors and retailers.”
There are 5 different categories of 3PL services: Logistics, Transportation, Warehousing, Special Services, and Technology.
Logistics services add value through planning, while transportation services add value by executing those plans.
Transportation services include: Small Package, Air Cargo, Ocean, Less Than Truckload, Truckload, Fleet Acquisition, Equipment / Drivers, Dedicated Contract Carriage, Intermodal, Final Mile, Rail.
Logistics services include: 3rd party logistics, 3PL, 4th party logistics, 4PL, Just-in-Time (JIT), Payment Auditing, Freight Auditing, Payment Processing, Freight brokerage, Freight broker, Digital Freight Brokerage.
Warehousing services include: Warehouse Storage, Pick and Pack, Sub-assembly, Site Location, Distribution Center Management, Inbound Shipping, Outbound shipping, Receiving, Putaway, Put-away, Order processing, Replenishment, Pulling, Restocking, Picking, Validation, Sorting, Distribution Center Management System (DCMS), Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Inventory Management, Cross-docking, Cross-dock, Ecommerce Fulfillment, Packaging.
Special services include: Direct to Home, Direct to Store, Sustainability, Green Logistics, Reverse Logistics, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Security Analysis, Contingency planning, Crisis Planning, Global Expansion, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), Logistics Consulting, Transportation Consulting, Import / Export, Customs, Labor Management, Marketing Services, Customer Service
Technology services include: Supply Chain Technology, Freight technology, EDI, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Predictive Analytics, Technology Services, Web Services, Global Trade Management (GTM), Transportation Management System (TMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), Supplier Management, Customer Management, Cloud Based Solutions, Wireless.