The 3 Benefits of Outsourcing Transportation Management - "The 3 Es" Big decisions never come easy. Especially when the decision involves moving thousands of dollars' worth of freight across the country. With the growth of e-commerce and increases in consumer spending, transportation will only become more complex and more in demand. Your business will be faced with the decision to run your own transportation operation or outsource to a transportation management provider. While both choices have pros and cons, there are 3 definite advantages to outsourcing your transportation that may help make your decision easy:1. Efficiency - Working with a single transportation vendor means that processes are streamlined and communication funnels through one point of contact. Top transportation management providers will have well-developed processes in place to ensure the efficient and accurate shipping of your goods. Processes such as carrier onboarding, shipment coordination, and dispatching are all designed to provide quality service while simplifying day-to-day operations. These efficiencies lead to cost savings which are passed along to your business in the form of optimized rates. 2. Expertise - Your office doesn't need to have specific knowledge of the transportation industry, because you'd be working with experts who have this knowledge to keep everything moving behind the scenes. While you're focusing on growing and operating your business, your transportation provider is using their expertise to service your customers. Your transportation provider will follow your retailer's delivery scheduling procedures while utilizing preferred carriers for the delivery to minimize retailer chargebacks. While outsourcing your transportation to an outside provider requires giving up some control, Transportation Management Systems (TMS) allow for visibility into shipments and report generation for performance tracking, keeping you in the loop for every shipment. 3. Economies of Scale - With a transportation management provider that services multiple geographical regions, you can feel confident that your shipment will reach its destination, no matter the origin. The transportation provider may also have multiple customers that are likely shipping to similar destinations, which opens up the opportunity for less than truckload (LTL) consolidation programs and volume discounts. You won't have to worry about fleet management or carrier screening, your transportation provider takes on the risks and the workload. Once you decide to outsource transportation, deciding which transportation management provider to utilize can be an even more difficult decision. At Continental Logistics, we've been providing quality transportation management services for decades to businesses of all sizes. We focus on more than just moving your freight from point A to point B; our focus on compliance, understanding your business and your customers has allowed us to form long-lasting partnership with our customers and their customers. Contact our transportation operation, Continental Logistics today to find out if outsourcing your transportation or switching transportation providers is the right decision for your business.
