Saving on Freight is Not Always Just About the Rate

Often, shipping managers are quick to pick the lowest priced carrier for an LTL shipment. While price is certainly a big factor, there are some other things that should be considered in addition to price. Factors such as transit time, carrier safety records, and on-time performance are key elements in making sure that you pick the right carrier for a given shipment. Frequency with which shipments are damaged by each carrier should also be given priority in the decision making process. Data points should be collected by shipping managers so that a more complete picture can be painted, like the number of shipments given to each carrier used, number of late deliveries by carrier, number of damage claims per carrier and more. After analyzing this data, you may find that the carrier you're primarily using may offer a lower rate (sometimes by only a few dollars), but costs you much more than the industry average in damage claims, insurance, missed pickups or late deliveries. So the cheaper shipping rate is not actually cheaper. Using a freight management system, such as GlobalForwarding.com's industry leading software, can make managing all of these things much easier. A good TMS can eliminate much of the manual work and recordkeeping associated with managing LTL shipments. It can also increase the visibility of your shipments, and help to paint a complete picture of your domestic supply chain. You get what you pay for and the cheapest might not always be the best.