Reducing freight costs is important in supply chain management as it directly impacts a company’s profitability and competitive advantage. Cost reduction can free up more money for the company to invest in other areas of the business, ultimately increasing the profit margin. Low freight costs can also help companies remain competitive by lowering prices than their competitors.
Efficient freight cost management is about implementing supply chain strategies that align shipping operations with customer expectations while improving the net profit. By reducing costs and optimizing shipping operations, freight forwarders can respond more quickly to changes in demand or supply chain disruptions, which can help them maintain high levels of customer satisfaction.
To successfully reduce freight costs, it is essential to understand the various costs embedded within freight operations.
Understanding Freight Costs
Freight cost is a blanket term that accounts for expenses accrued while transporting goods from one location to another via various modes of transportation, such as sea, air, rail, and road. The major components of freight costs include:
Transportation Costs: These are expenses incurred in moving goods from one point to another, dependent on factors such as fuel, vehicle maintenance, and driver wages. They include charges such as inland transportation costs, port fees, and fuel surcharges.Handling and Packaging Costs: These are charges associated with loading, unloading, and packaging goods for transportation. For example, terminal handling charges.Administrative Costs: Encompasses overhead charges related to overseeing freight operations, including documentation, compliance, and administrative personnel salaries. For example, booking fees and documentary fees.There is a high risk involved when businesses face rising freight charges. Not only is profitability impossible, but growth opportunities are also stifled since businesses are reluctant to launch new enterprises in the high operational cost environment. Failure to cut freight costs leads to increased expenditure, causing businesses to compromise on profit margins and eventually close down.
In addition, high freight costs make planning difficult since businesses cannot estimate their future costs or the value of future inventories.
Strategies to Reduce Freight Costs Reducing freight costs empowers businesses to improve their bottom line, and increase their revenue and profits.
Here are some strategies to reduce freight costs.
Negotiate with Carriers Mastery in negotiating terms with carriers affects profitability and operational efficiency.
A win-win partnership with carriers guarantees favorable service terms such as quick, reliable shipping and customer satisfaction. Delays also diminish since you can negotiate shipment consolidation programs that ensure fast delivery of goods to customers. You can also leverage economies of scale to negotiate lower cost per unit weight, allowing predictability in shipment costs and empowering better planning.
Carrier rate negotiation also affects the profitability of businesses. Clever negotiation minimizes freight charges while allowing competitive pricing, which grows profit margins. For instance, Cardinal Global Logistics utilized Freightify’s analytics feature to identify competitive rates from various carriers. By comparing these rates, Cardinal successfully negotiated with their primary carriers and improved profit margins by 3-4%, demonstrating how data-driven negotiation can significantly lower procurement costs.
A well-crafted negotiation goes beyond keeping costs low. It also improves a company's competitive advantage by ensuring swift adaptability to dynamic environments, a positive brand reputation, and reliable customer service. Cardinal Global Logistics’ partnership with Freightify exemplifies this, as the company streamlined its rate discovery and quoting processes, leading to faster customer responses and higher volume closures. This efficiency allowed Cardinal's sales team to focus more on client engagement, contributing to a 10-15% increase in revenue and solidifying their competitive edge in the logistics industry.
Optimize Transportation Routes To find the most cost-effective routes and carriers, use Transportation Management Systems (TMS) . Transportation Management Systems (TMS) leverage technology and data to identify the most optimal route and carrier for each delivery.Â
Considering variables such as traffic conditions, distance, low bridges, and delivery windows, TMSÂ calculates routes that minimize fuel expense and time in transit.
TMS offers businesses the means to improve freight efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint by finding the shortest, fastest, and most efficient routes and carriers while guaranteeing timely deliveries.
TMS leverages advanced algorithms to analyze parameters such as distance, traffic patterns, and vehicle capabilities to uncover the most efficient routes. In addition, the integration of route optimization software and real-time data empowers dynamic routing, which enables businesses to adapt quickly to dynamic conditions such as traffic congestion or weather disruption. On top of that, the real-time responsiveness minimizes delays and controls the impact of unforeseen circumstances, ultimately increasing cost-saving potential.
Consolidate Shipments Consolidating smaller shipments into full loads is cheaper than shipping the same volume of product in smaller consignments. Most often, consignments only occupy half or two-thirds of a carrier, but you must pay for the entire space. By consolidating shipments, you maximize available space and avoid costs accrued from shipping partial loads.Â
Consolidating shipments combines two or more smaller shipments so that a larger quantity can be dispatched in the same container, ultimately reducing cost per unit weight. You can choose from several consolidation programs to ensure customers receive goods on time. It includes bulking shipments by route proximity, consolidating orders from different suppliers, and seeking to partner with a third-party consolidation service provider.Â
Use Off-Peak Times To attract cost-conscious freight forwarders and maintain consistency in business, carriers often reserve lower rates during off-peak times to ensure business sustainability. Off-peak time refers to days and times when there is low demand for shipping, such as weekends or early mornings.
To find out your off-peak times, analyze the trend of your shipping volume. Once you have determined your peak and off-peak times, you can negotiate with carriers to schedule shipments during off-peak times.
Unless you are shipping perishable goods, there is no need to incur the costs of on-peak shipping. Shipping during off-peak, depending on the nature of the goods, can help reduce the freight cost.
Implement Freight Audit and Payment Solutions Implement a thorough freight audit procedure to uncover billing mistakes, overcharges, and anomalies in shipping invoices. By incorporating an automated auditing process, you will be sure that you are only paying for the services you have received by highlighting inconsistencies.
The freight invoice auditing process involves analyzing and verifying the accuracy of freight invoices to identify and recover any overcharges or billing errors.Â
By reviewing and verifying the accuracy of freight invoices, businesses can identify and recover overcharges and billing errors, ultimately saving them money and improving their bottom line. For example, once you find overcharges and contact the carrier, the carrier can issue a credit or refund for the overpaid amount, reducing your freight costs.
It is important to conduct regular auditing to spot inconsistencies early and act promptly on overcharges and billing mistakes to prevent accumulating costs.
Engage in Contract Management Contract management aims to guarantee that contracts are drafted with clarity and accuracy. Ambiguities in contract terms create room for misinterpretations and, ultimately, additional costs. By carefully assessing contract terms, freight forwarders can eliminate uncertainties and define clear expectations for both parties involved. For instance, outlining the scope of work, deliverables, and payment terms in detail can eliminate conflicts and additional expenses.
When you need to adjust your contract terms due to market changes, assessing their impact on cost estimation before negotiating appropriate adjustments is critical to successful contract management. This ensures that cost estimation remains accurate and aligned to minimize freight costs.
Effective contract management is essential for accurate cost estimation and successful outcomes. By establishing clear terms and managing changes, freight forwarders can control risks, prevent cost overruns, and build strong relationships with carriers.Â
Leverage Technology and Data Analytics To reduce freight costs, freight forwarders must gain visibility into the true costs incurred regularly. Leveraging technology such as freight spend analytics allows freight forwarders to access data on routes, locations, modes, and carriers to spot trends and potential areas for improvement. For example, shipping data can reveal carriers or routes with high rates of damaged goods or late delivery tendencies to help you look into the true cost of shipping and identify potential ways to keep your freight charges low.
Since every shipment is different in terms of value, timeliness, and material, freight spend analysis allows freight forwarders to have the opportunity to select the perfect match from a variety of carriers. In addition, freight spend analysis can reveal consolidation opportunities, which helps to maintain low freight costs.
A well-thought-out freight analytics plan helps drive your goal of maximizing profits, reducing freight costs, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market.
Use Rate Management Solutions Market volatility driven by unprecedented events like the Red Sea crisis causes rapid freight rate fluctuations. When spot rates increase every week, by the time the manual processes in a traditional freight forwarding system are complete, the spot rate is rendered invalid since it takes up to 72 hours to complete the cycle.
By automating the manual process , freight forwarders have visibility to the specific rate prevalent at a particular point in time and accurately respond to queries, providing quotes within seconds.
Freight rate indexes inspire future rate predictions to help freight forwarders anticipate shifts in freight rates and plan accordingly to save costs.Â
How can Freightify Help with Reducing Freight Costs? Strategic freight cost management is crucial as it directly impacts a company’s profitability and competitiveness. Companies can improve their bottom line by lowering costs, leading to increased profit margins. Additionally, cost reduction can help companies gain a competitive advantage in the market and grow.
Freightify provides an integrated solution to manage and reduce freight costs effectively. Here’s how:
Rate Procurement and Management : Freightify offers a unified platform to view and manage rates from various carriers in real time, ensuring you get the best possible rates without the hassle of manual searches.Quotation Management : The platform allows for quick and accurate quote generation, improving your response time to customer inquiries and increasing your chances of securing business.Customer Portal : A customizable portal where customers can view rates, schedules and track shipments, enhancing transparency and customer satisfaction.Track and Trace : Real-time tracking capabilities for shipments, helping you monitor and manage deliveries efficiently to avoid delays and additional costs.Analytics and Reporting : Advanced analytics tools provide insights into your freight operations, highlighting areas for cost savings and efficiency improvements.Automation : By automating routine processes, Freightify reduces manual errors and speeds up operations, directly impacting your bottom line.Freightify’s solutions enable freight forwarders to streamline operations, reduce costs, and stay competitive in a dynamic market. Visit Freightify to learn more about how we can support your freight management needs. Book a demo with us today.
