The freight industry is constantly going under the knife – each time, to come out better than the last time. It’s in a shock-state due to some unseen changes such as new patterns in goods flow, unheard challenges and roadblocks in the demand-supply network, and exceptional innovation leadership to seek off-the-wall resolutions. Rising market volatility is pushing the freight personnel to up their adaptation ante. Accompanied by the digital-native customer expectations, the new market dynamics are throwing weight around the supply chain efficiency. Above all this, new-age logistics teams that aim for a green supply chain are now tasked with contributing heavily to the triple bottom line.
Sustainability, efficiency, innovation – whatever the goal, smart freight allocation will offer you the mother wit to sidestep any hiccups. Simply put, freight allocation matters the most. Think of the capability and leverage you can benefit from if you have a dependable primary carrier on each lane, a bouquet of backup options ready to act upon, and a spot strategy to stave off risks. Besides leveling up your operational excellence, you can now withstand any headwind from a market that is on a high to tighten up and contract. Here are 10 key considerations that will define your freight tendering process throughout:
The super-tight “contract freight” world
The annual RFP process is the main contract for most of the shipment volume. It aims to find the best carriers at reasonable pricing to create a predictable and rewarding supply chain. Albeit the freight market is not immune to drastic shifts like wild swings in pricing, spike or decline in demand as they can happen during a year-long contract. For the carriers, this means nothing else but reneging the contracts.
It’s the recital of the same verse: carriers/transporters and brokers bid as low as possible to win business but often decline later, eyeing better margins on spot markets. Below are few points in your RFP critical to selecting a service provider:
1. How much do they haul contracted freight?
A very promising step for you to validate your carriers contesting your RFP. Presumably, you can expect quality services from a carrier who is adept at contract freight and trustworthy to other shippers.
2. Do they guarantee trucks’ safety and quality drivers?
Availing second-rate carriers might cost you legal, financial, and ultimately brand damage. Each carrier must be vetted on their compliance, security, and asset-based performance stance.
3. How likely are they to meet the tender acceptance benchmarks?
High tender acceptance rates and the necessary resources determine how likely your carrier hauls your freight during a market crunch.
Our TruKKer platform is built up around this philosophy. With almost 500+ strong clientele, we employ carriers with the highest standards and best-in-class quality and compliance practices. Before bidding, our platform’s advanced predictability features identify the optimal lanes so that our carrier network can service them as promised.
Saving the day with “backup freight”
Ideally, racking up your backup freight service providers would have been an apples-to-apples measure of the secondary carriers. You can easily rank them based on the RFP bid responses or in the order of preferences. But however easy it looks on the outset, it’s innately confusing and complicated. Often when freight rates soar high above contract pricing, your frontline carriers decline tenders to win more rewarding loads. Now, there are high chances that your backup carriers might leverage your situation. Worst, if none of them accepts and your last resort is the spot market, which means increased rates and higher uncertainty.
Let’s quickly run through the points that can help you evaluate backup freight providers:
4. Do your carriers value data and real-time pricing models?
Each price point should have a reflection of the current market dynamics and factor in the load specifications. Carriers who support their numbers with data are the most reliable ones.
5. Do you spend enough time for carriers to respond?
There isn’t enough time to wait for hours to find out if a load is being accepted or rejected. Vouch for a fully automated system that runs on real-time approaches and is instantaneous.
6. Are your carriers able to offer coverage for their accepted loads?
Look for the vendors who promise coverage on the tenders, as it will save you time and any additional routing effort.
TruKKer’s instant pricing model, an industry-first in MENA, provides businesses with innate transparency and curbs uncertainty. On booking, the pricing algorithm predicts the best price for the most frequented lanes by evaluating market behavior to forecast demand and the expected cost. These results are fused with other decision-making abilities to offer shippers the perfect allocation and introduce them to reliability. Loads proffered in this platform are readily bookable and come with a price point preview. Thousands of MENA’s shippers are now free from the grasp of long wait hours and last-minute spot rates.
Too fast, too raw “spot market”
The spot market spikes or falls are the direct results of the market conditions. Spot rates adjust dynamically, impacting truckload prices that can change within an hour.
There are some key questions you need to have to help normalize the costs of the spot market:
7. Do you prioritize a history check of tender acceptance for carriers?
The more you cut down your reliance on the spot market, the more effortless your freight experience becomes. In other words, this means your primary carriers must have high tender acceptance rates.
8. Will an unfamiliar carrier increase your risk?
Associating with new carriers often gets on your nerves regarding freight safety, service levels, or customer satisfaction. Always make sure the carriers can meet your service and quality requirements.
9. Is your carrier providing you with shipment visibility?
A live track-and-trace feature should be on the top of your list of expected benefits from your carrier. Go with those who offer real-time GPS-enabled tracking or other supply chain visibility options.
10. How to reduce the time for booking confirmation?
Spot-buy means urgency for your shipment. So, look for carriers with real-time quotes capability that can save up time for you.
TruKKer operates MENA’s largest digital land freight network, giving you access to carriers across the nations. This has helped us offload the truckloads as soon as possible at the unloading points or docks and get them moving. Today, we’ve around 25,000+ trucks that connect all the dots in the MENA region every day. That’s why even at times when capacity is too tight, TruKKer helps businesses keep the wheels rolling, riding high on the waves of new-age technology and robust inland connectivity.