Boutique freight is not a term I see frequently, especially during a period of dueling freight over-capacity and freight under-demand. The last instance I found of boutique freight via a search engine was in August 2023. The term boutique means, essentially, personalized — i.e., customized to you, for you. It’s all about you. Doing what is necessary to make your freight experience successful.
Hot shotting freight might be viewed as a boutique freight model. Getting your freight safely and reliably to any destination you want in the fastest road time. FedEx, UPS, Purolator, DHL might conceivably be viewed as boutique providers for premium overnight services.
I stayed in a self-described boutique hotel in Seattle a few years ago for a family wedding. Aside from the conflicting retro-avant-garde remodeled 1920’s building, the hotel had an elevator, front desk, bathroom, bed, and remarkably, nothing else distinguishing itself from any other hotel I’ve stayed in over the decades.
There was one boutique hotel, in North Carolina when I was presenting at an NC State Institute for Transportation Research and Education event, that incorporated an art museum into one of its floors. Now that was unique. But I’ve also seen this at a major hotel in Dallas and in Washington DC, so an art museum does not necessarily qualify a hotel as boutique.
At the heart of freight boutique-ness is customer satisfaction, which seems like the foundation of just about any freight business relationship, and something that every freight company – whether truck, train, ship or airplane – should have as a focus. Alas, that is not always the case.
Companies should all have freight key performance indicators (KPIs) that include customer satisfaction, delivery speed, on-time performance, and customer perceived value.
Nearly everything I do now, from doctor appointments to eating at a restaurant seems to include some near-mandatory customer feedback on my satisfaction level. Doctors, insurance companies, my vehicle dealership, etc. send me emails requesting that I voice my opinion of them based on my most recent transaction. Nearly every food outing seems to require me to decide whether or not to tip, and how much. That is a direct measurement of my customer satisfaction. Many want me to post my satisfaction on social media.
