8. Vet the carrier’s backup capabilities. To ensure reliability, carriers need the resources to respond to unforeseen events, such as equipment breakdowns. “Things go wrong in trucking every day,” Moses says. Check that the carrier has drivers and locations that can be leveraged for support. These resources can smooth over normal disruptions and help to avoid service interruptions. 9. Be transparent. Shippers that provide accurate information regarding their transportation requirements, volume expectations, and service conditions—including any limitations on cargo liability and accessorial
schedules—tend to gain better service, says Jim Ward, president of the Truckload Carriers Association. In addition, the more knowledge motor carriers have about the characteristics of a shipper’s freight, the more precise they can be in pricing the business. 10. Manage LTL shipments. The LTL market has always been capacity constrained, so shippers should look for carriers that have been investing in their networks and adding capacity in their service centers, equipment, and labor. Also look for LTL providers that offer large, national networks, understand their capacity needs, and are willing
and able to allocate additional capacity to existing customers. The following steps can help shippers maintain more effective relationships with existing carrier partners. 11. Use technology to run competitive RFPs. Shippers need a robust, automated transportation procurement process to effectively manage their carrier partners. Relying on manual processes makes it less practical to change carriers if one doesn’t meet service requirements. “You want to reshuf e the deck throughout the year versus relying on manual RFP processes and hoping all carriers are meeting service levels,” Lease says.
BECOMING A SHIPPER OF CHOICE
Shippers of choice—or ones that carriers like to work with—tend to gain easier access to transportation capacity at better rates, increasing operational e¢ciency and reducing costs, says Anthony Hoereth, senior vice president of sales with XPO. These steps can help shippers achieve this status. Longer-term contracts. Through strategic engagements, like multi-year contracts rather than annual or biannual bid events, the carrier and shipper can evolve together without the disruptions created by an annual bid process, says Jaime Jones, vice president of van network customer service and fleet planning with Werner, a transportation and logistics solutions provider. Reliability, e£ciency, and reasonable terms. The attributes carriers look for when considering whether to work with a shipper tend to be those that help them eectively manage their own businesses. This includes the ability to promptly load and unload trucks that arrive within the scheduled time frames, as well as reasonable transit times based on government regulations. “Avoid the use of fines or other penalty charges for late-arriving trucks and work collaboratively to resolve identified ine¢ciencies,” says Jim Ward, president of the Truckload Carriers Association.
If space is available, shippers should provide a safe area for drivers who cannot legally drive to another location, he adds. Visibility. A lack of visibility into a shipper’s operations and delivery stops can hamper driver e¢ciency and utilization. The biggest unknown is how long or how frustrating a customer stop will turn out to be. Friction in a shipper’s operations cascades to carriers and drivers. Addressing factors that create uncertainty and ine¢ciency on both sides can alleviate this.
38 Inbound Logistics • September 2023
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