Know Your Lanes
Road freight encompasses a lot of different types of freight services. Knowing what you are shipping and where your shipments are going is crucial. Not all lanes are not equal and talking with your freight providers about the best way to move the lanes you have is a great place to start driving down freight costs. If existing partners can’t help you drive down costs, look to other providers who may offer insight or are potentially better suited to work with you.
Know Your Volume
Your volume is really important. Understanding your volume (number of shipments) is important so you can understand how you can work with your freight providers. The more volume you have the more you are spending. A lean supply chain is crucial for driving down costs and making your supply chain a competitive advantage in the marketplace you are in.
How Many Carriers Should You Have?
More than 1!
Relying on one carrier is a liability for a company. Any number of things can cause a partnership with a freight provider to collapse and if you are tied to one provider, that is a liability. Diversity is required in order to protect your supply chain. Of course, you do not want to be a rate shopper, rather, you should have a few providers that you work with that can service your needs. As mentioned in number 2, your supply chain can be your competitive advantage.
If your organization has set lanes and/or has difficult requirements, you’ll find partners that will manage your dedicated lanes, but you should have a portfolio of companies that you can always reach out to.
What To Expect When Moving Road Freight?
Accidents, Damage and Delays come with road freight but should be exceptions. If those are not, you likely should find new freight providers to partner with. Once you have a provider that is meeting your minim expectations, you should understand what requirements you have for on time performance, communication, service etc.
How To Make Sure You Get The Best Pricing?
Ask around! Ask connections in your area who they use. Contact a trucking company in the area. If the local provider can’t service you they will likely know a good company you should consider. But step one in the road freight process is where you help drive down costs… Quote with multiple providers.
This brief article was written by the Digital Freight Group team. DFG inc. is committed to helping users manage and book their freight with their carrier at their best price through the application DigitalFreightQuote.com. The program has a low cost of ownership with a huge ROI on freight spend.
Book a demo to see the platform in action and find out if it’s right for you.