When you need to find something that isn’t right in front of you, the usual human instinct is to search for it. We go to Google to see what results turn up. Maybe we ask our social media contacts for suggestions. Maybe we go really old-school and start working the phones.
A shipper or carrier who needs to find warehouse space is often in a position like that. When you are on the road, you may or may not know where to find warehouse facilities. But even if you know where they are, you probably don’t know if they have space available, or what it costs, or which amenities they have, or whether their particular space or services are a fit for your needs.
So you do all of the above investigative work. You search.
Compare that to how you shop for something in a marketplace. All of the options are right in front of you. You can find information about each one. You can ask questions. The decision you make will be based on a lot more than, “It’s here, and I need it.” In a true marketplace, you can make the decision that’s best for you because you really understand the options you are considering.
Shippers and carriers deserve to be able to choose their warehouse space by accessing the same advantages shoppers enjoy in a marketplace. And that is exactly the type of marketplace pop.capacity has created.
The founders of pop.capacity understand that carriers on the road can’t gather all their warehouse options to one physical place where they can check them out and talk to the operators. But if there was a platform robust enough to deliver the same experience, even in a virtual manner, it would empower shippers and carriers far beyond anything they’ve known.
And that’s exactly the platform pop.capacity built. It delivers a marketplace-type experience for shippers and carriers by:
- Offering a nationwide network of warehouses
- Suggesting the best matches for each shipper/carrier based on needs they specify
- Providing extensive details on the amenities available at each warehouse
- Offering a virtual tour of each warehouse option right on the app
- Facilitating direct communication between the shipper/carrier and the warehouse operator, including the ability of the two parties to make financial arrangements without any third-party involvement
By the way, the warehouses don’t get to be part of the pop.capacity network without first being approved based on some pretty tough standards. You might even say pop.capacity has done your due diligence for you. Because it would be true.
And shippers and carriers need this more than ever. A recent report from Prologics Inc. quantifies just how difficult it is to find warehouse space in the current market environment.
According to the report, vacancy rates at the end of 2021 were at an all-time low of 3.4 percent – even as an additional 270 million square feet in new capacity had entered the market.
Typical vacancy rates are between 6 and 8 percent, according to Bryan Garnder of McIntyre Industrial Real Estate Services – but he adds that the gobbling up of new inventory is driving those vacancy rates to stunningly low levels.
In a market like this, shippers and carriers need every advantage they can get. And pop.capacity offers that advantage.
It’s a new way of thinking: Shopping for warehouse space like you’d shop for goods in a marketplace. It’s never been possible before. But pop.capacity has changed that. And in times like this, when inventories are higher than ever and supply chains are under tremendous pressure, shippers and carriers need access to a marketplace that knows where the best options are, and can connect buyer and seller directly.
Just like marketplaces are supposed to work.
