Similar to many other sectors, transportation is having a challenging year. Trucking volumes increased by 30% during the onset of the Covid-19 due to panic buying, fell by 70%, and have only started to rise again. Deliveries through rail, ocean and last mile are all down at least 20%.
These peculiar times have already impacted operations, including rising labor expenses, declining freight prices, a desire for quick shipment with fewer orders, and generally increased carrier profits. Freight management is a diverse field that involves a series of steps.
Freight Management
The steps of monitoring and controlling the delivery of products or shipments are known as freight management. Any business entity, large or small that deals with the transportation of goods must decide how they will deliver products promptly to the appropriate location while paying the least amount of money.
Even if they hire outside firms to ship their goods, these businesses are referred to as shippers in the transportation process. The logistics process, which comprises everything from warehousing to supplier management and inventory control, includes freight management as one of its many components.
Selection Of Carrier
You must choose the best third-party management, defining tariffs, conditions, and expectations. Your fleet may not require a third-party carrier for freight management if you have a fleet. For instance, Opentrack.co offers variable packages you can customize per your growing demands. This way, you can enjoy suitable management options for your needs.
Route Optimization
Locate the most practical and cost-effective route, select the transport mode, assign cars and drivers, and make sure to balance the load. For the owned fleet, this is critical because your carrier will pick the ideal routes for you. Enterprises frequently resolve minor routing issues.
You can use computational algorithms to lay out routes for faster delivery per your unique requirements, destinations, vehicle restrictions, and traffic. Routing software such as MapQuest or Google Optimization Tools can be incorporated into your TMS via an API and covers many applications.
Regulation Management
This includes completing the necessary paperwork, managing insurance, and ensuring that goods and transportation comply with all applicable laws. There are several regulations and forms to fill out in the transportation sector. Consequently, the majority of all freight management job consists of paperwork.
Shipment Tracking
The carrier typically provides vehicle tracking. This often means assuring full transparency and visibility of the freight. However, you can also track each shipment and container on your own.
Load Planning
Load planning aims to move the most cargo with the fewest available vehicles, trailers, and containers. Given that you want to create the best hierarchy of items to discharge more quickly, it works hand in hand with route optimization. The appropriate truckload should also be computed depending on size, weight, class, warehouse, etc., and the route.
Typically, load planning solutions directly integrated into TMSs allow you to access this data. Many of these restrictions apply specifically to less-than-truckload (LTL) shipment, in which carriers aggregate items from many shippers to fill a trailer.
Claim Management
By filing a freight claim, you may ensure that the carrier, freight forwarder, or 3PL is financially liable for any losses or damages to your shipment. The procedures for filing freight claims vary based on the carrier and whether the shipment is domestic or international.
Either way, you want to set up a uniform digital claim management procedure so you can respond to damage within the typical 3-day window and get payments immediately. This entails submitting a claim digitally, preferably through a system linked to the carrier, and being prepared with evidence such as bills of lading.
