Freight shipment is a reality of your business. You need it for your business to run, but you can’t let shipping and trucking costs get out of control. In order to stick to your freight transportation budget, you should consider the following tips, which can help reduce your freight shipping charges and streamline your supply chain management.
How to Reduce Your Truck Shipping Costs
Use Transportation Management Software (TMS)
TMS is a great logistics service that you can use to reduce your shipping costs. When you use TMS, you can view custom reports about your trucking services, and you can trace and track specific shipments. You can also monitor performance and safety and check freight insurance with TMS.
Using this management software will reduce your freight trucking and shipping costs by giving you a clear picture of how your shipments are being sent and the costs they incur in transit. When you know how your current transportation of cargo works, you can draw up plans to streamline your supply chain and improve areas where it is currently driving up your transportation costs.
Take Control of Your Freight Schedules
You can also reduce shipping costs by making sure that you control your shipping schedules and routes instead of allowing vendors and suppliers to control them. When they control your shipping schedules and routes, they can add on freight accessorial charges. Accessorial fees and charges extra charges for loading and unloading cargo, long hauls, and fuel increases and surcharges.
The problem with accessorial charges is that they are often added after truckload freight delivery arrives, so you have no idea what you’ll be charged until after you use that vendor’s or supplier’s freight services. You can avoid accessorials by making sure that you are the one who sets the routes and schedules. When you have control of these aspects of shipping, you can optimize them to minimize your costs.
Develop Long-Term Relationships With Shipping Carriers
Some businesses change carriers from year to year, which they may do in the interest of saving on shipping costs. However, this can drive up costs in the long run because these businesses don’t remain with one carrier long enough to develop a relationship with a carrier that can help optimize that business’s shipping process.
By entering into a long-term contract with a carrier, you give your business more time to work with the carrier to reduce your shipping costs. When you develop a long-term relationship with a carrier, they can help you find ways to maximize your assets and minimize transit time and delivery times, among other things. While you should have some control over your shipping, you should maximize your relationship with your carrier as well.
Logistics Services for Your Shipping Needs
At FW Logistics, we will work with you to help you optimize your shipping process so that you stay within your shipping budget. If you are interested in our logistics services or if you have any questions about our other services, contact us today.
