ANALYSIS
Carrier contract analysis and negotiation is complex; however, the data analysis tool set and combined expertise of our transportation consultants enable us to consistently deliver savings of 5-20%.
The advanced analytics and business intelligence tools provide a scalable suite of transportation cost management analysis and optimization services that help significantly reduce shipping costs across all modes of transportation, including:
Ocean container
Air freight and forwarding
Rail and intermodal
Less-than-truckload and full truckload
Parcel and courier
In contract negotiations, pricing managers and analysts utilize their technical expertise to produce an in-depth pricing profile, which presents multiple contract structuring options to the carrier(s) throughout the negotiation process.
Our negotiation services for carrier contract ensures that you receive the carrier incentives you are entitled to and deserve. Our company is consistently engaged in multiple carrier contract and analysis projects every month on our clients’ behalf.
ADVANTAGES OF FREIGHT CONTRACTS
With contract negotiations you enjoy benefits, such as:
- Eliminate costly pricing and routing errors with big data automation
- Instantly update and distribute multimodal information across all branches and offices
- Enable automated internal quoting, tendering and e-commerce
IMPROVED MARGINS
IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
INCREASED SALES
STRATEGY
- Be demand-driven
Transportation planning becomes a proactive process, rather than reactive. - Utilize technology to automate administrative tasks and make smarter decisions
Leverage technology to normalize RFP responses and analyze carrier bids at different levels of granularity. Utilize workflow automation tools to automate the RFP process. - Hire smart data analysts
People who understand the intricacies of transportation and bid responses can draw insights that lead to additional leverage in negotiations. Analysts who are well-versed in technology, such as network modeling tools, are especially beneficial. - Disaggregate freight spend data
When analyzing freight spend, the devil is in the details. Information systems should evaluate each mode/equipment type individually, and display each category of charge — line haul, fuel, accessorial charges — separately. - Allow carriers some flexibility in bidding
When conducting a bid package, carriers may suggest alternate options that could create efficiencies for both parties. - Keep in touch with market realities
The ability to quickly identify and capitalize on upticks and downticks in transportation rates by various lanes and modes is essential to create a supply chain advantage. - Adopt performance metrics for carriers
Having a structured approach to monitoring and score-carding carriers ensures that future decisions are based on real data instead of anecdotal evidence.
BEST RATES
Contract negotiation services for freight is a time-consuming process. It is not just a matter of sitting down with a carrier; whereby they name a price and you agree to it. The key is that you really have to negotiate. Shipping freight is an expensive endeavor; therefore, it is your responsibility to get the best rates possible.
An important factor in negotiations will be the type of freight you ship. Freight that is prone to damage or theft is not profitable for a carrier and thus more expensive to ship.
- Basic Parts of a Freight Contract – Certain questions come to mind while considering the freight contract, such as: how often does your company ship product? How much tonnage do you ship? What are you paying your current carrier? How quickly do you pay your bills? What is your shipping schedule? Where do you ship? How much tonnage do you ship per destination? In this example, how much tonnage you ship will directly affect the cost of freight. What is your specific freight description? What freight class ratings do you ship? Are hazardous materials involved? Will freight be pre-paid or collect?
- Sitting Down to the Table – Once you have all your data together, you may either set up a face-to-face meeting with the carrier or send out Requests for Proposals (RFPs), also known as Requests for Quotes (RFQs). RFPs give you a chance to review everyone’s proposal and make a chart of what they are offering. The chart will help you easily compare who will give you what, and for how much.