Follow us on Twitter!
Blog Header Logo
DG&A's Transportation Consulting Blog
Posted by on in Freight Bids
  • Font size: Larger Smaller
  • Hits: 2735
  • 0 Comments
  • Print

Final Reflections on Freight Bids

b2ap3_thumbnail_dreamstime_l_37182757.jpg

Freight bid projects have become one of the most commonly used methods of sourcing freight transportation services over the past two decades. They have become popular with shippers for obvious reasons. When done well, they produce good results. Manufacturers and distributors can strengthen their supply chains by selecting a dedicated group of professional transportation companies and save money on freight costs.

The carrier perspective on freight bids is often quite different from that of most shippers. They tend to dislike them for several reasons.

1. Many bids are not well done.

2. The process of responding to these bids is a lot of work and they often don’t produce any business.

3. Shippers often tend to focus more on price and less on service and capacity.

4. Freight bids tend to breed tactical, adversarial relationships rather than collaborative long-term partnerships.

Frankly, from what I see and hear, these are often legitimate concerns. Poorly conducted freight bids produce weak or no results. Some shippers conclude that the process doesn’t work since they do not achieve the results they were seeking. On the other side, carriers are frustrated for the reasons outlined above. It is this feedback that was the inspiration for this series of freight bid tips.

A freight bid should not be used to bludgeon carriers into submission. Being an aggressive, selfish shipper does not guarantee low rates. On the contrary, a poorly conducted freight bid can end up costing the shipper in terms of poor quality transportation companies and bad service.

For shippers who follow the eleven tips contained in this series of blogs, and avoid the temptation to take shortcuts or bullying tactics, freight bids can produce excellent results. They can be a stepping stone to building solid partnerships with a company’s core carriers.

The freight market is expected to be quite different in the next few years. Many pundits predict that rates will rise significantly as capacity tightens, new regulations take effect and the economy strengthens. These are the headwinds that shippers will face as they seek to procure transportation services. A well conducted freight bid project combined with methodical implementation and compliance tracking take work. It has been our experience that the ROI is worth the effort. In fact, the level of success achieved correlates directly with quality of the bid. Take the time to do it right.

 

I would welcome feedback from shippers or carriers on how to improve the process. If I receive some worthwhile suggestions, I will capture them in a future blog. For shippers that don’t have the skills or resources to do the work internally or for carriers that need help in responding to freight bids, feel free to contact me at dan@dantranscon.com.

0

Comments

  • No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment

Leave your comment

Guest Thursday, 28 March 2024

Most Recent Posts

Search


Tag Cloud

Entrepreneur Blogging CN Rail Education truck drivers risk management Surety bond last mile delivery Tracy Matura Dedicated Trucking Microsoft CSA scores USMCA Justice shipping wine autos Yield Improvement BlueGrace Logistics Spanx Accessorial Charges Business Strategy Crude Oil by Rail Canadian truckers tanker cars Global experience peak season robotics driver shortages Covid-19 Blockchain Stephen Harper Trade Vision broker bonds Montreal Canadiens BNSF economic forecasts for 2012 transportation news Inbound Transportation Whole Foods Map-21 cars USA Truck Leafs EBOR Load Boards professional drivers employee termination Swift Canada asset management Associates fuel surcharge Canadian Protests Hockey 2012 Transportation Business Strategies. Jugaad Adrian Gonzalez Life Lessons Deferred Packaging APL shipping Omni Channel Conway CP Rail FCPC 2013 Economic Forecast Failure New York Times Freight Matching ProMiles Loblaw Social Media in Transportation Colilers International economy FCA Broker $75000 bond MBA Freight Recession Carriers dark stores freight RFP Canada U.S. trade capacity shortages technology marketing Freight Shuttle System freight payment home delivery Politics Uber Freight Freight 3PL Railway Association of Canada Sales financial management trucking company acquisitions 360ideaspace Trump Rail Success failure entrepreneur small parcel Trucker Protest business start-up freight costs Infrastructure Transplace 2014 economic forecast Global Transportation Hub Transcom Fleet Leasing Load broker Search engine optimization Emergent Strategy Doug Davis automation driver Rotman School of Business network optimization Habs Training Canada's global strategy digital freight matching Success derailments KCS Sales Strategy Outsourcing Sales Finance and Transportation Consulting Coronavirus ShipMax drones Canadian Transportation & Logistics shipper-carrier collaboration ELD Hudsons Bay Company US Election Canadian freight market trade freight transportation in 2011 NAFTA solutions provider US Housing Market Leadership Business Development economic outlook business security Social Media truck capacity 2015 Economic Forecast CITA Shipper Pulse Survey Cleveland Cavaliers freight cost savings Freight Rates driverless supply chain management Government capacity shortage driver pay truck driver Donald Trump mentoring Freight Management shipper-carrier contracts cheap oil Transloading Toronto MPG Tariffs Sales Training freight transportation conference natural disasters laptop Business Transformation Strategy home delibery CSX future of freight industry Transport Capital Partners (TCP) Digitization freight transportation UP Distribution TMP Worldwide Anti-Vax University of Tennessee carrier conference Retail transportation Bobby Harris NCC freight forwarders Transportation Buying Trends Survey Management Climate Change IANA Digital Freight Networks LCV's Wal-Mart cyber security Career Advice Otto Derek Singleton Canadian economy Fire Phone NMFC freight payment freight audit Freight contracts dimensional pricing Amazon Werner Freight Capacity TransForce Ferromex the future of transportation FMS selling trucking companies consumer centric Sales Management Rate per Mile CSA CRM CN Toronto Maple Leafs Twitter small business 2014 freight forecast recession energy efficiency NS freight agreements Shipper computer protection Transportation YRCW Celadon intermodal Business skills Truckload Crisis management FuelQuest computer security Geopolitics JB Hunt freight audit Keystone Pipeline Dan Goodwill David Tuttle Transportation service autonomous vehicles FMCSA US Economy bulk shipping Harper Davos speech Reshoring RFP freight rate increases 2014 freight volumes buying trucking companies Horizontal Supply Chain Collaboration Facebook Warehousing coaching customer engagement freight broker Online grocery shopping Dedicated Contract Carriage dynamic pricing Electric Vehicles computer freight bid Value Proposition Doug Nix Retail Masters in Logistics Grocery pipelines US Manufacturing broker security 3PLTL US Auto Sales online shopping Comey freight marketplace shipper-carrier roundtable e-commerce Packaging LinkedIn Regina Muhammad Ali TMS Software Advice Trucking China Schneider Logistics Job satisfaction Scott Monty Impeachment rail safety transportation audit Freight Carriers Association of Canada Training New Hires General Motors Canada-U.S. trade agreement YRC routing guide Driving for Profit President Obama Driver Shortage hiring process LTL transportation newspaper Right Shoring

Blog Archives

March
February
December
October
September
August
June
May
April
March
January