MS software, or Transportation Management Systems, are crucial tools for businesses that move goods. Their core purpose is to optimize and manage the entire transportation lifecycle, from shipment planning and route optimization to carrier selection and real-time tracking. By automating tasks, improving visibility, and streamlining workflows, TMS tackles logistical challenges like inefficient routes, manual processes, and lack of coordination.
The terms less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-truckload (FTL) get thrown around often within the shipping and logistics community. However, newcomers may find themselves at a loss for what these terms actually mean. To clear this up, we are breaking down each term individually before directly comparing them so that you can choose the best shipping modes for your freight. Understanding the difference will help you make better freight choices.
First and foremost, it’s important to know what freight shipping actually is. The term freight shipping refers to the paid process of shipping goods by ground, sea, or air. Freight is typically composed of goods that are being transported to another location in bulk. Two subcategories that fall under the umbrella of freight shipping are less than truckload (LTL) shipments and full truckload (FTL) shipments.
Less than truckload freight shipments, commonly abbreviated as LTL, are shipments that exceed the size limit required to be able to ship as a single package through the mail (a parcel shipment). Despite being too large for a parcel carrier, less than truckload shipments are too small to fill an entire semi-truck trailer, leaving lots of wasted space and contributing to “empty miles.” In order for shipping to be mutually beneficial between the shippers and trucking companies, carriers often ship multiple LTL shipments together to make the trip economically sensible. This way trailers aren’t traversing our highways carrying only air.
• Lessen environmental impact
This method of ‘carpooling’ with LTL shipments from other companies reduces the impact transportation has on the environment. Less fuel is used when fewer trucks are needed to transport the same number of total shipments.
• Decrease warehouse expenses
By adopting LTL shipping, companies relieve themselves of the stress that comes with having too much product built up in their warehouse or staged at their docks. Through shipping consistently, companies are able to keep less in their warehouse and also keep a more accurate inventory as a result.
• Minimizes costs on smaller shipments
Traditionally, the lowest rates are reserved for shippers that can fill the entire semi-truck trailer and qualify for full truckload rates. LTL shipping gives companies that aren’t able to fill an entire truck the opportunity to minimize costs by consolidating their freight with other company’s freight. With LTL shipping, companies only pay for the weight of their freight and the space it uses on the trailer.
Conversely, full truckload shipments (abbreviated FTL or TL) are large enough to fill up an entire semi-truck trailer. Unlike LTL shipments which might ride alongside other shipments, FTL freight is contracted to one carrier and rides alone, meaning there don’t need to be extra stops along the way. This reduces the number of “touches” and reduces the likelihood of damages. When there is enough freight to qualify for a full truckload rate, this is usually the most economical choice.
• Save money on larger shipments
If you have enough freight to fill an entire trailer, a FTL shipment will be the most efficient mode. It’s less expensive to ship a single FTL shipment when compared to splitting up the freight into multiple LTL shipments.
• Lower risk of damage
Shipping a full truckload means that from start to finish, your freight will remain in the same semi-truck trailer. This simplifies the transportation process and eliminates the potential risks associated with LTL shipments being handed off to other trucks along their route. Decreasing the number of “touches” freight undergoes during transport reduces risk.
• Ship products faster
When shipping FTL, the only factors considered in the truck’s route are the origin of the freight and its final destination. With LTL, there may be multiple origins and final destinations involved that can lengthen the travel time and impact delivery times as a result. FTL shipments ensure that freight is arriving as quickly as possible by traveling from point A to point B.
LTL and FTL shipping are both beneficial types of freight shipping. For smaller shipments that are too big to be shipped parcel, LTL shipping is often the best choice. For larger shipments that are able to completely fill or almost fill an entire truck, FTL is less expensive. Both are acceptable options when thinking about how to ship your freight, but each has specific scenarios in which they are most beneficial to the shipper.
It is always a good idea to compare the freight rates of multiple LTL or FTL carriers to choose the carrier with the best rate and service level for your shipment.
Comparing rates is the best method to avoid overpaying. Whether shipping LTL or FTL, different carriers will offer different freight rates and service levels and it’s important to shop around. Looking into what’s available often makes way for the discovery of less expensive rates or particular lanes that have the ability to speed up delivery. Prices constantly fluctuate and what initially seems like the better option may not be best in the end.
Leveraging technology is the easiest way to ensure that you are shipping your freight most efficiently. By utilizing a transportation management system like Kuebix TMS, shippers can compare all of their negotiated and spot rates within a single platform. With the ability to compare rates instantly, shippers have the power to book confidently and quickly.
Kuebix TMS users can also leverage Community Load Match which provides complementary truckload rate assessments to ensure they’re making strategic truckload shipping decisions. Kuebix Community Load Match provides shippers with an alternative source of truckload capacity and allows carriers to fill their trucks!
Apart from acting as a vehicle for finding and booking better FTL rates, transportation management systems also simplify everyday shipping operations. Users can integrate ERP systems such as NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics to increase operational efficiencies and remove the risk of human error. With an ERP integration, orders flow seamlessly between Kuebix and the external platform to reduce manual error and speed up operations.
Many companies also use optimization technology in their TMS to combine LTL shipments into FTL shipments for greater efficiencies and cost savings. Kuebix TMS offers a variety of advanced functionalities including Order and Route Optimizer, which optimizes shipments for maximum rate and route efficiency.
Check out this case study with Hanover Foods to learn how their utilization of Kuebix saved over $1 million in freight spend!
Kuebix, a Trimble Company, has advanced from the High Performers category to the Leaders category in the G2 Grid® for Transportation Management Systems! The grid spotlights the highest-scoring transportation management systems (TMS) based on verified user reviews and aims to help shippers evaluate the best TMS options. Kuebix has an overall score of 4.8 out of 5-stars.
G2 is a respected, unbiased source of real user reviews for all types of technologies. The company scores products and vendors based on reviews gathered from its user community, as well as data aggregated from online sources and social networks. G2 applies a unique algorithm (v3.0) to its data to calculate the customer Satisfaction and Market Presence scores in real-time.
“Being recognized as a Leader in this year’s G2 Grid® for Transportation Management Systems shows the value of our connected community and industry-leading technology,” said Dan Clark, VP of Product Innovation & Strategy at Kuebix, a Trimble Company. “Receiving this recognition proves that we have been able to overwhelmingly satisfy our customers, which is our #1 priority at Kuebix.”
Users of Kuebix TMS who left reviews on G2 said:
Click here to view Kuebix’s full profile on G2 and read other verified user reviews.
About G2, Inc.
The world’s leading marketplace for business software and services, G2 drives better purchasing decisions. Business professionals, buyers, investors, and analysts use the site to compare and select the best software and services based on more than 500,000 peer reviews and synthesized social data. Over 23 million business buyers around the world have trusted G2 to gain unique insights. Co-founded in 2012, G2 aims to bring authenticity and transparency to the business marketplace. The company also offers scholarships to college students who are aspiring entrepreneurs.
To learn more about G2 or write a review, please visit https://www.g2.com/.
Dear Kuebix Customer,
I’m excited to share the news that the transportation industry has taken a giant leap forward today with the acquisition of Kuebix by Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB). Our mission has always been to save companies time and money by leveraging cloud-based technology that empowers visibility, collaboration and efficiency across the supply chain. We have been building a strategic alliance with Trimble over the last year, and when the opportunity came along to become part of Trimble to accelerate the full realization of our vision, we had to be part of it.
This acquisition brings together Trimble’s network of private fleet and commercial carrier customers, which collectively represents more than 1.3 million commercial trucks in North America, with our community of more than 21,000 shipping companies, creating the largest connected network of shippers and carriers in the North American transportation supply chain.
Imagine a world where shippers have visibility not only to the real-time location of trucks, but into the fleets’ operational plans to understand both asset availability and the trucks’ next moves. This kind of intelligence would empower unprecedented efficiency and savings for all parties by achieving continuous truck movements. A world of maximum transportation efficiency only becomes possible when shippers, carriers and intermediaries share a common platform, powered by a common TMS. With the announcement that Trimble has acquired Kuebix, this world will become a reality and every customer and partner of Kuebix and Trimble will reap the rewards.
You are probably wondering what this acquisition means for you right now. Everything you love about Kuebix will remain the same: the ease of use, the customer service, the innovation. In addition to being able to leverage true supply and demand access to assets and capacity in North America’s largest transportation network, Kuebix customers will benefit from Trimble’s investment in our platform and services. This investment will result in the development of new and improved capabilities and even better customer service.
Perhaps most importantly, the Kuebix team, including myself and Dave Lemont our CEO, are staying with the business and are thrilled to be part of Trimble.
Thank you all for your support. You, our customers and partners, are at the heart of our success. Bringing efficiency and savings to your supply chain is our motivation to join Trimble and ensure we continue to provide you with solutions that deliver maximum value. Please be assured that our focus on customer success and our drive to make your logistics operations run as efficiently as possible will remain our number one priority.
If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and the Kuebix team at info@kuebix.com.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year,
Dan
Dan Clark
Founder, Kuebix
A Transportation Management System (TMS) helps companies streamline their logistics processes so that they are as efficient and connected as possible. Instead of manually managing logistics operations over the phone and email, companies can use technology to save money, reduce processing time, scale operations and improve accuracy. At their core, TMSs help companies rate, book and track shipments. Additional functionality like reports and dashboards, integrations, financial management and spot services can be added to increase the value companies realize from their TMS.
Many organizations incorrectly believe that TMSs are only for large, enterprise organizations. This notion may have been true once when the time and monetary expense limited the implementation of technology to only the largest companies. Now, however, technology has advanced and companies like Kuebix have democratized the booking for freight with plans for every size company.
According to Inbound Logistics magazine, “most Tier 1 shippers – those that spend $100 million+ annually on freight – already use TMS solutions.” These companies say that a TMS contributes to critical business drivers, such as complexity, scale, customer experience and freight cost savings.*
Smaller firms still use manual approaches to manage their freight, relying on in-house expertise using spreadsheets, fax, phone and email, often resulting in excess admin time, errors and duplicated efforts.
However, with globalization and the growth of e-commerce opening up new markets and reaching customers around the world, the time has come for smaller firms to take advantage of TMS solutions that can bring better customer service, lower freight spend, improve performance and more.
To get up and running quickly, small to medium-sized businesses can adopt cloud-based TMS solutions – getting rates, booking and tracking shipments and communicating with carriers and shippers in real-time – all on a single platform. Because of the cloud, these systems offer a much lower total cost of ownership, are simpler to implement and require no internal IT support.
• Optimize and consolidate shipments
• Improve service levels, giving customers a great first impression
• Lower admin costs and reduce errors
• Access a large carrier pool
• Address all shipping options and modes, all on one platform
• Monitor shipments in real-time
• Quickly evaluate carrier performance through historical reports
• Increase visibility into what is happening within your transport operations
• Communicate shipment status to customers
• Get much-needed carrier capacity in a tightened market
What if you need more functionality? Choose a TMS that is flexible enough to grow as your business grows, allowing you to add features in a modular fashion as needed. Kuebix TMS lets you begin rating, booking and managing your LTL, TL, parcel, rail, ocean and air freight in minutes. For more complex supply chains, Kuebix can be configured with Premier Applications and Integrations to meet the needs of even the largest enterprise.
Check out our free Kuebix Shipper TMS for unlimited rating, calculating freight cost, booking, and tracking!
*Primary Research in Evaluating the Business Case and Approval Process for Supply Chain Execution Systems Acquisition – Jim Hendrickson, Professor, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University.
The United Kingdom carried out its largest-ever heroin bust at the Port of Felixstowe last week on August 30. Officers from the Border Force as well as the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered a shipping container loaded with 1.3 tons of the drug stowed aboard the Maersk Gibraltar. This record-setting bust had a street value of £120 million ($148 million).
News of this discovery was kept silent until authorities could follow the shipping container’s planned path to Antwerp in an attempt to discover more details about those behind the shipment.
“The smugglers had hidden the drugs within a cover load of towels, stitching the 1 kg blocks of heroin inside some of the towels,” said Jenny Sharp, Border Force assistant director at Felixstowe. “In total, it took my officers nearly six hours — working in the early hours of Saturday morning — to remove the drugs.”
Authorities returned the shipping container to the Maersk vessel after removing all of the hidden heroin and proceeded to track the ship’s progress until it docked in the Belgian port city on September 1st. Working collaboratively, the British and Dutch authorities were able to track the container after it made landfall. The shipping container made its way by truck to a warehouse located in Rotterdam where police arrested four people unloading the now empty container.
By foiling the shipment, organized crime syndicates have been denied tens of millions of pounds of profits, marking an impressive win for Europe in the war against drugs.
The world has gotten smaller with the advent of the internet and increased international trade. This phenomenon, often referred to as globalization, has had a marked impact on nearly every economy. As more and more businesses start to operate on an international scale, efficiencies law-abiding shippers receive from moving larger shipments across oceans provide the same cost-saving opportunities to drug smugglers.
In 2012, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) produced a policy paper that predicted that the global shipping industry “would be used for the transport of narcotics, arms and other illicit cargo.” Container shipping was called out in the paper to be a specific risk. The nature of maritime trade makes it difficult for authorities to monitor and the scale of container shipping means that there are many opportunities for smugglers to capitalize on.
According to the report, “Containerization provides trafficking with the same cost- and time-saving transport mechanisms that have allowed the world’s multinational companies to deliver their products quickly and cheaply, penetrate new markets and expand their global customer base.”
New technologies like blockchain and advanced tracking systems may make drug smuggling via containers harder for organized crime groups. As technology like RFID, GPS tracking, gate check, and connections through transportation management systems make tracking easier for companies (and by extension the police), it will be harder for smugglers to hide their activity.
Container tracking is still a new frontier for many companies who have been accustomed to limited or zero visibility to their inbound shipments across the ocean. As more and more companies adopt tracking technologies, it becomes easier for everyone to understand exactly where individual containers originated from, stopped, and may have potentially had their contents altered.
The level of international trade we see in 2019 is still a relatively new occurrence. For example, international trade with China was practically non-existent in the 1980’s. Now, China represents trillions of dollars’ worth of global trade. Many manufacturers have moved production offshore to countries with cheaper labor costs as well. Increasing international trade will undoubtedly result in an increase of international smuggling. As technology continues to advance, however, there is hope that new tools will become accessible to every company to help fight drug smuggling.
When Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane this past Sunday, it left devastation in its wake. The storm brought with it high winds and extreme flood waters that would rip off roofs and ruin houses. Adding to the destructive nature of the storm was its slow movement up the coast. Instead of traveling quickly over several areas, Hurricane Dorian stalled over the Bahamas, traveling at a mere 1 mph at times. This left buildings and infrastructure along its path to be relentlessly pummeled for up to 12 hours at a time.
Now, Hurricane Dorian has been downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane. While this still poses a threat to the states of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, weather forecasters hope that the storm will blow itself out over the Atlantic without additional destruction in the United States. However, many islands and coastal communities have been evacuated and transportation and supply chains have ground to a halt as Americans prepare for a potential disaster to rival that seen in the Bahamas.
In addition to individuals preparing for the storm, many businesses are also feeling the direct effect of Dorian. Manufacturers and suppliers located in the southeast have been preparing for the impact for more than a week. This means rushed production, rushed delivery and around the clock monitoring of the storm’s trajectory. Many businesses are in a state of unknown paralysis as they’re unable to open business back up until the threat of Dorian is over.
Getting the labor force back to work will also be a challenge when Dorian finally passes later this week. Families are displaced across the country, many homes will be uninhabitable, and communities will still be picking up the pieces. Roads are likely to be dangerous or impassible as well, adding to concerns about shipping necessary products. Some aid organizations are choosing to deliver supplies like food and water by helicopter to areas already impacted since extensive debris litters roads and makes ground transportation impossible.
Hurricane Dorian’s Destruction
The recovery efforts in the Bahamas will undoubtedly be extensive. Many nodes of the supply chain were broken or stalled by Dorian and need to be fixed before recovery efforts can truly move forward. These are a few of the ways that the government and private organizations are working to keep supplies flowing and the supply chain operational:
“We are in the midst of a historic tragedy in parts of the northern Bahamas,” said Prime Minister Hubert A. Minnis said at a news conference late on September 2, 2019. “Our mission and focus now is search, rescue and recovery. I ask for your prayers for those in affected areas and for our first responders.”
While the world watches to see the final results of Hurricane Dorian’s destruction, supply chain and logistics professionals work tirelessly to get things back to normal. Food, safe water, medical supplies, fuel, and just about every other necessity rely on the supply chain.
The supply chain industry is rapidly changing as demographics, consumer tastes, and technology make their mark the world. 2019 is primed to be a year full of new opportunities, as well as its share of challenges. We want to hear what you think will be the biggest challenge supply chains face in the coming year!
All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, began as a Celtic festival where people donned costumes and masks and lit bonfires in an attempt to ward off evil spirits. Over the years, the holiday has changed to be more about dressing up as your favorite character and lighting pumpkins for decorations. Today, Halloween is the second most commercial holiday in the US, creating one of the busiest shopping seasons of the year.
The National Retail Federation forecasted that Halloween spending by Americans will reach $9 billion, the second-highest level in the survey’s history. The NRF study, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, “estimates that those celebrating the spooky day will spend, on average, $86.79 per person, up from $86.13 last year. And the survey, based on 6,900 adults, forecasts that at least 175 million Americans plan to celebrate somehow.”
Of the $9B, $3.2B will be spent on costumes – for adults, children, and pets. $2.7B will be spent on decorations and another $2.7B will be spent on Halloween candy. On average, most people will spend $25 each on candy. That equates to about 90 million pounds of chocolate for the season.
Did you know that the candy industry lobbied to have Daylight Savings Time pushed later into November to allow more daylight time for kids to Trick or Treat for candy?
Where do people shop for Halloween supplies? Forty-seven percent buy them in discount stores, 37.5% buy from Halloween stores and 25% buy supplies at grocery stores. Online shopping for Halloween supplies is picking up and will continue to grow as more and more people become accustomed to the convenience offered by e-commerce.
What about the pumpkins? Back in the days of the Celts, turnips and potatoes were carved with faces to light the way to peoples’ homes for the good spirits to find them. It wasn’t until Irish immigrants arrived in America and discovered the pumpkin, which is native to America, that pumpkins carved as jack-o’-lanterns became the norm.
Most people shop for Halloween goodies in early October, so stores must have items in place before then. Balancing supply with demand requires efficiencies in the supply chain so that stores have the right amount of product in the right location. Too much candy and stores will need to run sales after Halloween, causing them to lose revenues. Too few supplies and stores lose business to competitors.
Candy companies have had to ramp up production over the summer to meet Halloween demands. This means more ingredients have been sourced months early. Once the candy is produced it has to be shipped in temperature-controlled batches to retail outlets across the country and overseas. Shippers need to use a transportation management system (TMS) to make sure deliveries to stores arrive in time.
Kuebix gets the food and beverage industry, working with hundreds of suppliers to help them manage their shipments so Trick or Treaters will have what they need to enjoy Halloween to the fullest.
Don’t get scared by empty store shelves! Try Kuebix Free Shipper today to start rating, booking and tracking your Halloween products before it’s too late.
Companies can’t always control their suppliers’ actions or the efficiency of suppliers’ systems. What they can do is implement a set of Vendor Inbound Compliance Standards (VICS) to help improve supplier behavior. The goal is to increase collaboration to improve supplier behavior and drive out supplier related inefficiencies at the distribution center.
What is a VICS program?
A VICS program is a comprehensive set of compliance procedures which establish rules and processes that must be followed by suppliers when making deliveries. These accountability levels should also extend to the company’s own supply chain/logistics department and procurement group, both of which play a role in ensuring that products get quickly from their origin to the distribution center (DC). The goal? Improve supplier behavior so that their inefficiencies are not wasting time and money at the DC and to forge strong relationships with those suppliers.
Simply going to a supplier and demanding delivery improvements isn’t a productive method for advancing a mutually beneficial relationship. With a VICS program, the goal-posts are clearly outlined and can be tangibly measured. Everyone remains aware of the expectations and violations are clearly outlined. With some simple analytics, it becomes easy to pinpoint the areas which need improvement and take action on them. This leads to collaborating to solve issues as opposed to fighting over claims.
Common VICS Violations:
These common violations can be recuperated, measured and modified with the help of a VICS program. A VICS program shouldn’t be implemented as a solution to “punish” suppliers. Rather, it should be implemented to streamline processes on both sides of the dock door. The program should provide consistency for inbound deliveries from suppliers and internal activities alike.
Vendor Inbound Compliance Standards are just one way to take control of inbound freight operations. To learn more about implementing a VICS program along with other optimization tools to manage the inbound, download Kuebix’s e-book The Art of the Inbound here.
Amazon Prime Day kicks off today at 3:00 PM EST and is one of the biggest e-commerce days of the year, with sales growing over 60 percent year-over-year since 2016. Prime Day features deep discounts for Amazon Prime members and will generate sales to rival those of the holiday season, even during one of the year’s lowest sales periods. Retailers supplying the 560M+ items available every day on Amazon in the USA are upping their game with the help of technology to meet expectations for quick deliveries and excellent service by optimizing their shipments and improving visibility.
Amazon Prime Day is like Black Friday, only in July, and demonstrates how consumers’ adoption of e-commerce shopping is growing at a pace that far exceeds expectations. E-tailers shipping into Amazon fulfillment distribution centers (FDCs) are focusing on improving efficiencies within their supply chains and streamlining operations to keep pace with the increased volume. By leveraging the power of technology, retailers are lowering transportation costs, finding needed capacity, and gaining visibility into operations to ensure customer service expectations are met.
Prime Day comes at a time of year that has been traditionally slow for the supply chain industry. There aren’t any major holidays, and back-to-school hasn’t quite started. However, the popularity of the event coupled with the capacity crisis and driver shortage are causing roadblocks for some retailers who haven’t already optimized their supply chains. To keep up with the heightened order volume, retailers must streamline internal processes, ship products more efficiently and maintain a heightened level of visibility to order line items.
Retailers are turning to technology to improve their internal processes through order integration, rate-comparison and freight pay and audit features. Global logistics communities are uniting carriers and shippers to find optimal routes to share assets and fill empty miles. Powerful optimization tools are consolidating loads and planning the most efficient routes to cut down on transit time as well as costs. All these processes are being made possible by technology and are helping to combat the capacity crunch by making shipping more efficient and utilizing assets to their fullest.
Amazon has set the bar high in terms of order visibility. Companies are now taking advantage of technology to gain visibility into their supply chains, resulting in superior customer service and more efficient operations. The adoption of technology like tracking devices, on-board computers, and cloud-based portals means that retailers can collaborate with carriers to improve performance. Carriers can provide an updated status of their delivery so that retailers know where goods are at all times and when to expect their arrival. If a delay is going to happen, the customer can be alerted, which improves satisfaction.
The industry is braced for “Christmas in July” as the countdown to Prime Day draws to a close. The deep discounts on more than one million items, both Amazon-branded products as well as items from third-party sellers, are guaranteed to have a large impact on the supply chain this year. In order to keep up with increased order volume and inventory turns, shippers are turning to technology to improve their processes and speed up delivery.
Everyone’s talking about the trucking capacity crunch in 2018. Due to weather issues, increased manufacturing output, strong consumer confidence and the ELD mandate going into effect to track drivers’ hours, available capacity is at an all-time low. There is just simply too much freight to move and too few trucks and drivers to move it.
Carriers are benefiting from the crunch by raising rates and being more selective in who they want to do business with. In a recent WSJ column, Heard on the Street, Justin Lahart wrote, “Freight carriers are benefiting from surging demand while passing costs on to customers, a shock for shippers used to years of flat or depressed rates.” He reports that some carriers and freight brokers are charging double-digit price increases.
Gone are the days when a shipper could dangle a load in front of a list of carriers and wait to get their desired price and service. Now shippers are happy to find capacity anywhere they can, even if they have to pick a different mode of transportation – rail, air, ocean – instead of trucks, to help with the capacity issues.
What can help a shipper better manage the capacity crunch?
Technology can – in the form of a transportation management system – leading to improved efficiencies, lower costs and better services.
A TMS, as the backbone of a global logistics network of carriers and shippers, allows trading partners to connect, collaborate and consolidate to find more capacity. A strong network of thousands of shippers and carriers extends the reach to find capacity, allowing shippers to leverage their existing rates and relationships or find new opportunities via the spot market.
Shippers can collaborate with other shippers across the network to find additional capacity with shared loads or to facilitate continuous moves.
Finding opportunities for consolidating inbound shipments to full truckloads to reduce the number of LTL shipments is another way a TMS can help with the capacity crunch. For example, if a shipper has several orders going to the same geographic area, these orders can be combined to create a full truckload shipment to a pool point; from there the truck is broken down into LTL shipments to end customers.
A TMS collects data from transactions between carriers and shippers, then analyzes this wealth of information to identify trends that can improve carrier selection based on costs, service levels and performance. Reports can be created that provide insights into which carriers respond more quickly and reliably so shippers know who can meet their capacity needs.
Shippers who pay their carrier invoices in a timely manner often become preferred shippers. Becoming a preferred shipper means you treat carriers as a partner and strive to have a mutually beneficial relationship. With the help of a TMS with a freight bill audit and payment offering, shippers can quickly reconcile expenses to pay invoices, so their carriers are happier.
Besides paying on time, using scheduling tools to speed turnaround times at the dock doors improves carrier relationships. Carriers prefer not to wait for a dock to open. Using a TMS with a dock or appointment scheduler means carriers won’t be kept waiting in the yard.
While the capacity crunch is not going away anytime soon, using a transportation management system will help shippers better navigate the current rough waters so they can ship their orders to the right location, at the right time, for the right price.
For more information on how to choose the TMS that best fits your supply chain needs, read The Complete Buyer’s Guide to Transportation Management Systems.
Managing inbound freight operations is an ongoing challenge for businesses with large numbers of suppliers. Companies are impacted by the inefficiencies, low levels of visibility and lack of standardization associated with the management of their inbound freight. These problems are exacerbated when companies lack comprehensive strategies for obtaining the lowest possible shipping and unloading costs or a plan to improve the behavior of their suppliers. A complete strategy for inbound freight management needs to encompass the following three aspects; visibility, collaboration and accountability.
Visibility – Although companies control their own destinies on the outbound side of the equation, that level of control dwindles when it comes to inbound freight. In the end, the receiving company does not have full planning and visibility for shipment arrivals and dock reservations. To optimize their inbound, stakeholders can benefit from better visibility of information (e.g., knowing what carrier is being used, exact timing of deliveries, how much manpower is in the DC to load/unload shipments, etc.), real-time data sharing and the knowledge that everyone is working toward a common goal.
Collaboration – By using a comprehensive inbound freight plan based on a collaborative ecosystem of shippers, suppliers and carriers, companies can effectively establish a dynamic rating and unloading allowance program. As companies work in partnership with their suppliers to determine the most cost-effective method to handle each shipment – customer pick-up (CPU) or vendor controlled (VDS), the goal should be to reduce overall shipping costs. By giving suppliers choices, they’ll be able to pick the most effective service and billing procedure. Convert inbound shipments from VDS to CPU shipments only when it’s feasible, and then establish preferred rates with a select group of carriers to handle those inbound shipments at the lowest possible cost and best service type. Use a standard routing guide to establish a set of mandatory carriers that will be used for all VDS and CPU shipments. This will enable LTL pricing improvements, superior service levels and maximize opportunities for LTL consolidation.
Accountability – While companies can’t always control what their suppliers do or the efficiency of suppliers’ systems, they can implement Vendor Inbound Compliance Standards (VICS) to help improve supplier behavior. A comprehensive set of compliance procedures will establish rules and processes that must be followed by suppliers when making deliveries. These accountability levels should also extend to the company’s own supply chain/logistics department and procurement group, both of which play a role in ensuring that products get quickly from their origin to the distribution center (DC). The goal? Improve supplier behavior so that their inefficiencies are not wasting time and money at the DC. It’s also important that a company’s inbound strategy includes leveraging detailed analytics to measure the results of the program and take action where necessary to improve service with suppliers and carriers.
By following this general recipe, companies can work with specialists in inbound freight to develop an unbeatable inbound freight management strategy. But knowing what to do and being able to do it effectively are two entirely different hurdles companies need to jump. It’s for that reason Kuebix has developed SupplierMAX, a program where companies can leverage Kuebix’s technology and logistics experts to manage all or a portion of their inbound freight program. SupplierMAX improves supplier behavior and increases the efficiency of warehouses and distribution centers by incorporating a series of comprehensive strategies to improve inbound operations. To learn more about this program, click HERE to read the SupplierMAX press release in full.
Calculating freight rates is a critical step for any business with product to ship. Freight rates may be for a variety of destinations, multiple classes and different weights, but how much it costs to ship product will always be a key driver of your total cost of goods. Getting all the information is necessary to positively impact your bottom line by lowering your cost of goods and getting your product shipped on your terms.
Enter the Kuebix Freight Rate Calculator – a new free tool for all transportation and logistics professionals to research and get instant estimates on their LTL freight.
Here are 3 Reasons to Use the Kuebix Freight Rate Calculator:
Using the Freight Rate Calculator is simple and only requires the basic information on your freight. Simply visit the calculator by following this link and type in your shipment information. You will need the postal code (zip code) for the origin of the freight as well as the destination postal code. The origin city and state will automatically populate below. Then simply enter your freight’s quantity, weight and dimensions and instantly receive an LTL freight rate.
After receiving your LTL freight rate estimates, you can explore even better rates on LTL, TL and Parcel shipments plus book and manage all your freight by signing up for Kuebix Free Shipper, the free multimodal TMS for unlimited rating, booking and tracking. Kuebix Free Shipper allows you to view all of your carrier rates side by side, empowering you to book the best rate for every shipment.
Begin Calculating Your Rates Now
