August 17-18, 2021
VIRTUAL EVENT
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Registration will remain open throughout the conference. Register here or navigate to the live event platform.
Elevate your Supply Chain
Breakthrough shipper clients gather annually at Mercury Group to share challenges, opportunities, and best practices in a group of like-minded professionals. The Breakthrough team leverages the spirit of our services and a history of innovation to bring solutions, research, and industry expertise to life through the Mercury Group. This event facilitates deep conversations for peer-based learning and collaboration.
Transportation Industry Best Practices
Freight & Fuel Forecasting
Industry-Leading Benchmarking
Industry Technology & Trends
Look Inside the Mercury Group
Mercury Group Details
The Mercury Group values meaningful professional connections and we are proud to have built upon that for the last twelve years. Keeping safety at the forefront of our priorities, the 2021 event will be hosted virtually. We’re excited to deliver an engaging and interactive experience through Second Stage, an online event platform. Client registrants - watch your inbox as the event approaches for login information!
Agenda
All sessions are listed in Central Time (CT).
Day 01
Day 02
10:00am
Welcome and Keynote
Doug Mueller, Breakthrough
Tune in to a conversation with Doug Mueller to look at the wider impacts the solutions shippers leaned on in the past year are having on transportation networks, and how that is shifting our vision for the future.
10:35am
Freight Fundamentals: Forging through Freight Market Pressures
Brett Wetzel & Matt Snider, Breakthrough
Market pressures in capacity, freight demand, and linehaul rates remain elevated, and the acceleration of these trends through the pandemic indicates elevated pressures may persist for the foreseeable future. This session will break down these trends and discuss opportunities on how to stay ahead of such pressures, leveraging data and insights to effectively manage this disruption.
11:00am
Energy Fundamentals: Creating Clarity in an Evolving Energy Landscape
Brett Wetzel & Drew Collar, Breakthrough
The world oil market has reached supply-demand balance at a higher price point than much of the past decade. As we move ahead, energy demand is rebuilding, supply is constrained, and the regulatory environment is gaining influence as the energy transition accelerates. Join us as we model the realities of the market to create strategic clarity for the years ahead.
11:30am
Discussion / Q&A
Matt Balzola, Jenny Vander Zanden & Brett Wetzel, Breakthrough
Live Q&A with the Breakthrough team to discuss freight and energy market fundamentals.
12:40pm
Freight Market Outlook: Data-led Guidance on the Freight Market Ahead
Matt Muenster & Matt Snider, Breakthrough
The pandemic exerted its influence in the freight market through structural and cyclical change. Shifts in consumer behavior and tight capacity remain keenly in focus. This session will provide the latest updates to our forecasts and data-led guidance across the transportation ecosystem. We are also excited to rollout our latest forecast, the Breakthrough Truckload Capacity Ratio.
1:05pm
Energy Market Outlook: Planning for an Elevated, Diverse Energy Future
Matt Muenster & Drew Collar, Breakthrough
Shippers’ transportation energy costs have been on the rise—whether their goods are transported by truck, train, ship, or plane. How long will this upward price pressure last? What price risks should we be aware of moving forward? Does the energy transition create more questions for supply chains and climate-focused corporate strategies? Our energy outlook will provide the updated guidance needed to begin strategic planning for the years ahead.
1:35pm
Discussion / Q&A
Matt Balzola, Heather Mueller, & Matt Muenster, Breakthrough
Live Q&A with the Breakthrough team to discuss freight and energy market outlooks.
2:00pm
Shipper Conversation on Challenges and Opportunities
Heather Mueller & Jenny Vander Zanden, Breakthrough
By almost every measure, the past year has been unlike any other for transportation professionals. Breakthrough shippers will sit down to discuss those challenges, the lessons learned along the way, and to share their optimism for what lies ahead.
2:35pm
Keynote: The Power of Connectional Intelligence with Erica Dhawan
Erica Dhawan, Best-Selling Author and Award-Winning Keynote Speaker
What lessons can we take away from the past year to meet our corporate objectives and look beyond our historic network in a digital or hybrid work environment? Join Erica Dhawan, author and expert on modern day collaboration, to discuss the tools and mindset to make change real.
3:20pm
Day 1 Closing Remarks
Matt Balzola & Doug Mueller, Breakthrough
Day 1 summary and closing remarks.
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