In today’s global economy, companies source materials and ship products farther away than ever before. As a result, most companies’ freight costs have increased significantly in recent years. If your business hasn’t seen this rise yet, you’re in luck.
In any case, your company will benefit from the reduction in your freight costs. Money not spent on shipping can be earmarked for something else or simply used to boost your bottom line.
So you spend less on shipping
Whether you can reduce your freight costs significantly or only slightly, it adds up. And the changes you make today pay off and will continue to do so in the future.
Use these nine tips to save money on shipping:
- Ship larger loads less often. Whether you use a shipping service provider or transport your own goods and materials, there are costs associated with preparing the shipments, which you pay in addition to the costs of transporting the assets from here to there. Less frequent transport of larger loads means lower preparation costs. Making this change will require you to work with your customers to ensure they can accept more goods less frequently, but the time it takes to work out the logistics is well worth it.
- Off-peak shipping. Not surprisingly, shipping companies tend to charge more at peak times. High volume days vary by industry, location, and other factors, but often they’re Tuesday through Thursday. Regardless, shipping outside of these times will save you money.
- Plan ahead and let your shipping company know. The more lead time you can give a shipping company, the better they can coordinate their resources. You don’t want trucks sitting idle somewhere for long periods of time. If you help them avoid this scenario, they might charge you less.
- Establishing and maintaining relationships with shipping partners. While you want to stay alert for opportunities at significantly lower rates, don’t “blip” just because you realize that…
