Freight Bid Tip # 6 – Meet Face-to-Face with Potential Carriers and Perform Due Diligence

Freight Bid Tip # 6 – Meet Face-to-Face with Potential Carriers and Perform Due Diligence

9 years ago

We live in an era of impersonal communication. E mails, text messages, tweets and GoToMeetings have replaced face to face communication in many instances. The decision to award millions or tens of millions of dollars in freight transportation to a set of carriers is a very important one. You don’t want to entrust your company’s […]

Freight Bid Tip # 5. Conduct Multiple Rounds of Bidding

9 years ago

The objective of a freight bid project is to secure a range of carriers and logistics service providers that are best able to supply a shipper with the service (e.g. transit times, customer service, shipment tracking information), capacity (e.g. drivers, tractors, trailers, straight trucks) and pricing to ensure the company has a competitive advantage […]

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Freight Bid Tip # 4. Cast a Wide Net in Selecting Carriers and Freight Management Companies

9 years ago

There are thousands of freight carriers, load brokers and logistics service providers throughout North America. One of the important elements of an effective freight bid is to seek out those carriers that can provide the best combination of service, capacity and rates to meet the unique needs of your business. Over the years, we […]

Freight Bid Tip # 3. Obtain quality data on the company’s shipment activity

9 years ago

In order to conduct a freight RFP exercise, shippers need to secure historical data on their traffic volumes by type of service (e.g. small parcel, LTL, over the road truckload, intermodal etc.) and freight costs by lane (e.g. origin – destination pair). The data serves two purposes. First, by capturing and sharing shipment activity […]

Freight Bid Tip # 2. – Obtain Accurate Product Descriptions and Density Calculations

9 years ago

In an RFP, the carriers are being asked to bid on specific types of freight moving on specific traffic lanes. The rates they quote are based on the freight descriptions that you provide. It is essential that all aspects of the freight be documented in sufficient detail so as to ensure the quotes received are […]

Freight Bid Tip #1. – Obtain Buy-in and Participation from the Operating Divisions

9 years ago

Over the past eleven years, my colleagues and I have worked on a variety of successful freight RFP or freight bid projects. During that time, we have observed a number of factors that are the keys to success. This is the first in a series of blogs that will provide tips on how to run […]

More on Shipper-Carrier Collaboration and Freight Bids

11 years ago

In last week’s blog, I shared some ideas from the recent SCL – CITA annual conference on how to improve shipper- carrier collaboration. Various suggestions were proposed by a panel consisting of two leading shippers and two major Canadian carriers. Some other thoughts were expressed during other tracks that day. The panelists presented some suggestions […]

Shipper-Carrier Collaboration – How do you make the RFP Process work for Both Parties?

11 years ago

The subject of Shipper-Carrier Collaboration and Freight Bids came up in at least three tracks at this week’s Supply Chain Canada Annual Conference, presented by SCL and Canadian Industrial Transportation Association. The subject was discussed at length during a panel discussion entitled, “Shipper-Trucker Relations” led by Lou Smyrlis, Editorial Director, Transportation Media, Business Information Group. […]

Cost Savings is the Number 1 Priority in Freight Bids in 2012

12 years ago

American Shipper conducted their annual shipper survey earlier this year to determine Best Practices in Freight Transportation Procurement. The magazine contacted 275 manufacturers and retailers in May of 2012. The results were published on June 27, 2012. They reveal some interesting changes in shipper behavior. In terms of percentage increase in freight spend, 38% of […]