Shippers should start with alignment instead of price. “Too often, selection begins with bids rather than values,” she says. “The right partner should share your view on safety, service, and transparency. When we evaluate a partnership at YMS, we look for cultural t rst—how the provider treats its people, how it manages safety programs, and how it communicates during disruption. A provider that invests in training, technology, and proactive communication will be far more reliable than one that simply offers the lowest rate.” It’s also crucial to understand the total cost impact on supply chain operations. “Unreliable service creates hidden costs—missed appointments, product loss, overtime, customer penalties,” Mitchell says. “The most cost-effective service provider is often the one that prevents those costs through consistency and communication.”
An ideal transportation partner should possess a variety of capabilities including comprehensive service o erings, consistent transparency and communication, the right cultural fit, modern technology solutions, flexible cost structures, and the ability to enable and adapt to growth.
PUSH TECHNOLOGY AND DATA TO THE FOREGROUND The most critical best
vague, that’s a sign their internal culture may not align with yours.” Digging beyond simple responses is helpful. “Don’t just ask if a provider can meet your current volume, ask how they’ve helped similar clients grow without breaking their operations,” Axelrad suggests. “Request concrete examples of how they’ve adapted to unexpected challenges, whether that’s weather disruptions, surging demand, or last- minute changes. “Simply put, carriers who can articulate their problem-solving processes and technological advantages are the ones equipped to become partners, not just service providers,” he adds. Similarly, shippers should ask providers questions that “probe their systems, data integration, and resilience,” Axelrad says. For instance, how many manual interventions are required and how many processes are automated? Or, what historical KPIs have you hit and how are they tracked? “Also, ask about their ability to integrate: how easily will they connect to your own TMS and ERP, and how seamless are carrier onboarding and rate changes?” Axelrad says. “If the provider struggles to answer these clearly, you’re likely headed toward operational friction later.”
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practice for shippers is to evaluate a carrier’s technological capabilities alongside their operational performance. “Companies should assess whether potential providers can integrate seamlessly with their existing systems through APIs, provide real-time visibility into shipments and adapt quickly to changing demands,” Axelrad says. “Look beyond capacity and pricing to understand how a carrier’s technology stack enables transparency, accountability, and agility. “Ask to see their dashboards, understand their data-sharing capabilities and evaluate whether they can provide the kind of granular, real-time information your customers now expect,” he adds. The preeminence of data in today’s AI-powered supply chain means that it is critical for companies to consider what data a carrier can provide and if it is the kind of data their operation needs. “It’s another part of understanding what you require—and making sure the carrier understands what you require,” Hane says. The logistics sector has reached an in ection point where technology capabilities have become the primary
ASK STRATEGICMINDED QUESTIONS As part of viewing carriers
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as strategic partners and not merely transactional ones, Hane recommends that shippers evaluate transportation providers with an eye on how they can help grow their business. The best provider will enable a company to use transportation as a customer service differentiation or a competitive weapon. “Shippers should ask, ‘Is there something that we could be doing with our providers to help grow our business?’” Hane says. Mitchell recommends asking questions beyond the proposal packet, arguing that the most revealing questions are the ones that uncover how a carrier thinks. “What’s the carrier’s process when a driver reports a safety concern? How does it coach the team after a preventable incident? What technology does it use for real-time visibility and exception management?” Mitchell says. “A good provider should welcome those conversations. If they seem defensive or
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