A Lack of Routing Guide Compliance Dooms Many Freight Bid Projects

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A Lack of Routing Guide Compliance Dooms Many Freight Bid Projects

9 years ago

Many shippers don’t achieve the cost savings they expect from their freight bid exercises. This can happen despite the time, energy and costs that go into these projects. Based on our work with shippers over the past twelve years, these are the main reasons why this happens. A Failure to Provide Full Disclosure of Requirements […]

Managing Accessorial Charges – Part 1

9 years ago

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the new pricing processes that LTL (and small parcel) carriers are employing to improve the profitability of their operations. I noted that freight carriers are emulating some of the activities that have been undertaken by the airlines such as dynamic pricing (i.e. adjusting rates based […]

How do you know when it is Time to Conduct a Freight Bid?

9 years ago

Recent stock market and currency value declines in China and Canada point to a challenging year ahead for the economies of these two countries and many others around the world. While the United States has remained fairly stable amidst current world turmoil, its high valued currency may slow exports to its key trading […]

Freight Carriers – How to Achieve Success with Freight Bids – Part 2

9 years ago

In my last blog, I outlined a set of tips to help carriers achieve greater success with Freight Bids. Here are a few more. Put your best foot forward early in the process We observe both incumbent and new carriers hold back on their pricing to see where they need to be at the […]

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Freight Carriers – How to Achieve Success with Freight Bids – Part 1

9 years ago

Freight Bids or Freight RFPs have been around for over two decades. Every year we hear comments about their imminent demise. Unfortunately for many motor carriers, this is wishful thinking. While these exercises are often detested by freight companies, they are popular with shippers across North America. Why? When well done, they provide the […]

It’s all in the Numbers – Part 2 – Action Steps that Shippers can take to Reduce Freight Costs

9 years ago

In the last blog, I highlighted some of the opportunities that shippers miss out on to save money on freight when they don’t manage their freight spend data effectively. What steps can a shipper take to correct this situation? Here is a partial list. • Utilize a Transportation Management (TMS) System. TMS systems have changed […]

It is all in the Numbers – Part 1 – Manage your Freight Spend Data to Improve Your Bottom Line

9 years ago

A company’s freight costs often represents between two and ten percent of total revenues. For many companies in the manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors, their freight spend has a direct impact on their bottom lines. Nine years ago I wrote a blog with the title above. In that blog, I identified one of the consistent […]

Becoming a Best in Class Shipper – 9. Carrier Friendly

9 years ago

As we all know, freight capacity throughout North America is tightening. A shortage of drivers, new government regulations and rising fleet costs are making it increasingly challenging for trucking companies to operate their fleets. As a result, carriers are being selective in terms of the shippers for whom they will offer their fleet capacity. Smart […]

Becoming a Best in Class Shipper – 6. Technology

9 years ago

The previous blog focused on some of the core freight management processes that are part of a company’s supply chain. For many years, prior to the age of computers and tablets, these processes were performed with manual procedures, calculators and spreadsheets. Some companies still use spreadsheets to manage a few or all of these processes. […]

Becoming a Best in Class Shipper – 4. Freight Spend Management

9 years ago

In many firms, freight costs can be in the millions or tens of millions of dollars. This large expense can represent a significant percent of a company’s revenue. As a large expense item, it needs to be managed very skillfully. The first blog in this series (http://www.dantranscon.com/index.php/blog/entry/becoming-a-best-in-class-shipper-1-freight-data-management) looked at the need for detailed, accurate, freight […]