One of the most crucial decisions when it comes to building a successful business is choosing a shipping carrier. As a shipping partner will significantly impact the day-to-day operations of your business, it’s important to take the time to carefully evaluate all of your options and analyze the carrier that will best fulfill your business’s supply chain needs.
Below, we’ll go through several factors that you should consider when selecting a shipping carrier.
Quality & Cost
While pricing is a deciding factor it is also important to consider the quality of service and delivery times. If the cost of service is most important for your business and you choose to ship with an inexpensive carrier, you could be sacrificing quality and delivery time – already compromising your business’s functionality. It is always necessary to analyze your supply chain needs before seeking a carrier as you should also know which services your business requires.
Are They Reliable?
Businesses often rely on the arrival of their products within the ETA (estimated time of arrival). This is where reliability on your carrier’s behalf comes into play. A reliable carrier can help to build your company’s positive reputation while meeting customer expectations – therefore, growing your business. It’s also important to partner with a carrier who provides transparent communication and visible insights. This keeps the carrier accountable for all shipments while giving you full visibility into shipping statuses.
An unreliable carrier may have a great reduction in costs but is it worth shipping with a carrier that never delivers products on time? This could cost you your company’s reputation and customers will end up turning away from your business.
Stability
One of the first factors to check is how long the carrier has been operating. Do they possess their own transportation vehicles that have a proven track record of accurate delivery times? How do they compare to other carriers in the industry and will they be able to offer competitive rates and services? Choosing a carrier that is stable in the marketplace is essential to provide your business and customers with the best services possible with little to no risks.
Understanding Asset vs Non-Asset-Based Carriers
Simply put: Assset-based carriers own all of the equipment needed to transport your freight while non-asset-based carriers outsource transportation services to asset-based carriers and do not always own the equipment being used to transport your freight, which means there could be more room for error.
Using a 3PL
Simple Global offers a range of different logistics and supply chain management services, including transportation, warehousing, picking and packing, inventory forecasting, order fulfillment, packaging, and shipping handling. By placing your transportation needs in our hands, we’ll ensure your products are delivered to your customers within the estimated arrival date while offering competitive rates.
Simple Global’s services work to help you stay competitive in the marketplace with the fastest shipping options and full shipping transparency – allowing you to scale your business while we handle the complexities of backend operations.
