10 Freight Bid Tips

4 months ago

The Labor Day weekend signals kids going back to school, the start of the NFL season, and the preparation of budgets for the coming year. For manufacturers and distributors, this process incorporates the construction of the annual freight transportation budget. For many shippers, this involves the execution of an annual freight bid. To help companies […]

How Frequently Should a Company Conduct a Freight Bid?

6 months ago

This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive from our shipper clients. Here is our perspective. The Forces that Shape our Views on this Subject For 20 years, during my early years in the transportation industry, I led asset-based carriers and non-asset-based freight broker organizations. My colleagues and I were on the […]

Shippers Need to Prepare for Rising Freight Rates

7 months ago

Freight expenses often represent 2 to 10 percent of operating expenses. For shippers seeking to maintain stability in their freight spend, they should begin preparing their next freight bid or freight RFP project. An RFP allows shippers to negotiate multi-year agreements with a team of dependable business partners. These agreements can be solidified with annual […]

It’s Freight Bid Season Again

1 year ago

Shippers across North America are in the process of conducting their annual or mini freight bid exercises. What is in store for shippers and carriers this year? This is a unique year. The supply/demand curve shifted during the early stages of Covid. Consumers transitioned to working from home, cut back on travel and dining out, […]

Freight Bids are Back in 2019

5 years ago

During the wild and woolly 2018, freight bid activity subsided as shippers searched for capacity wherever they could find it. As we have seen, 2018 was an anomaly, a one of a kind. As we pass the mid-point of 2019, the dynamics of the freight market have changed significantly from the prior year. Business […]

Creating an Effective Shipper-Motor Carrier Freight Agreement – Part 2

9 years ago

The first part of this blog focused on the operational, service and equipment issues that constitute a strong shipper-carrier freight agreement. This blog will address the financial and business issues that need to carefully captured in detail. 6. Rates and Service Charges The rates, fuel surcharges and other accessorial charges need to inserted […]

Becoming a Best in Class Shipper – 1. Freight Data Management

9 years ago

Best in Class shippers have high quality, granular, historical freight data. They capture clean, accurate, complete data on all of their inbound, outbound and inter-branch transfers, across all modes. The most fundamental building blocks are the individual boxes, parcels, envelopes, cartons, drums or pallets. Capturing this data correctly and completely allows a shipper to address […]

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Freight Bid Tip # 9. Sign Contracts with your Large Core Carriers

10 years ago

If your company provides hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in revenue to certain carriers, they are a critical part of your success, or failure and vice versa. While a rate quote may be a suitable form of agreement between shipper and carrier, for low volume service providers, it is not adequate for larger […]

Shippers – “You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate”

10 years ago

This year, major freight carriers have been seeking general rate (GRI) increases, higher fuel surcharges (at a time when energy prices are at their lowest levels in years), accessorial charge rate hikes and the implementation of dimensional LTL pricing. In other words, shippers, particularly in the small parcel and LTL sectors are facing a barrage […]

The Top Freight Transportation Stories of 2013

11 years ago

As the year 2013 winds down, it is time to reflect on the major transportation trends of the past year. While I saw and read about a wide range of developments, these are the ones that resonated most with me. 1.Technology Comes to Freight Transportation Last year I predicted that we would see a flurry […]