What can your company gain from outsourcing your parcel audit? Find out why outsourcing is an excellent idea here.
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What Outsourcing Can Do for You

Keeping your audits in-house may seem like a great way to simplify the process and keep your expenses low. However, outsourcing to a trustworthy service provider may be the best decision your company makes. Let’s take a look at the benefits outsourcing can offer you:

1. Save time
2. Monetary returns: 1-8% of spend
3. Keep your current accounting process
4. Reporting

1) Save Time

Outsourcing the work of a parcel audit to a 3rd Party removes some of the responsibility for the workload from you. You won’t have to spend time tracking every shipment, filing claims, disputing declinations, monitoring whether a promised credit actually showed up on your invoice, and more. That’s the auditor’s job now! You can spend your time focusing on more immediately important work for your company.

Pro Tip: Make sure you have not waived your right to file claims for late deliveries. In some cases, the parcel carrier may have “slipped” this language into your last parcel contract!

2) Monetary Returns: 1-8% of Spendings

When you hire Freight Cowboy for your audit, our process will inspect more than 55 points on your parcel invoice where lost funds can be recovered, including:

• Manifested but never shipped
• Late deliveries
• Erroneous residential charges
• And plenty more!

3) Keep Your Current Accounting Process

We understand that your current accounting process works for you, and we have no intention of forcing you to change it. Our audit changes nothing about your accounting system. Your accounting process stays the same and we only get paid from secured refunds that are credited to your account. If no credits are issued from your provider, there are no charges. 

4) Reporting

When the audit is over, the final reporting you’ll receive will give you valuable insights into your parcel distribution, which can also help with your next shipping negotiation with providers like UPS or FedEx. Optimize your supply chain and shipping costs with this information as you continue to serve clients. These reports also provide a good standard for your shipping process going forward.

A Good Business Decision

Outsourcing your parcel audit gives you the chance to continue keeping an eye on the process, while also allowing unbiased experts to do most of the work for you. In the end, you’ll have a fully optimized report, reduced expenses, and little to no significant changes to your company plans. 

What other reasons are there to outsource your periodic audits? Connect with us to find out.

The post 4 Benefits of Outsourcing Your Parcel Audit appeared first on Freight Cowboy - Shipment Management.

Don’t let high shipping prices catch you off guard! Learn what goes into price calculation and how you can get a good deal.
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What Variables Affect Shipping Rates?

Understanding the variables affecting different shipping rates can help you choose those parts of your parcel pricing contract that can save you money if negotiated effectively. As you prepare your next small parcel negotiation, keep these factors in mind:

1. Service levels
2. Shipment weight, shape, and size (dims)
3. Zonality
4. Fuel Surcharges
5. Accessorial Fees

1) Service Levels

Simply put, a service level refers to how quickly your package will ship and how much extra service or care you’re paying for. Depending on how important your shipment is, this charge could increase pretty quickly. Pay attention to how much priority shipping will cost you! It may not always be worth it, in many cases, the ground network can get to your inner zone almost as quickly. You should also be aware that the carriers can entice you with large discounts on service levels you don’t really use that often and sometimes your lowest discounts are in the service levels you use the most.

Pro Tip: If your business has an account with a parcel shipping service, you’re probably charged service fees for your package. Make sure to ask about this potential expense.

2) Shipment Weight, Shape, and Size

Weight is a standard consideration for shipping cost calculation. However, don’t forget that the size and shape of your package will influence your final cost as well! The bigger or more oddly shaped your shipment is, the fewer orders can be packed near it, and the less money the shipping service stands to make. Thus, you’ll often end up paying more. More importantly, you will be charged the greater of the two…actual weight vs. dim weight. The dim divisor that is utilized to calculate your dimensions is a negotiable item in your carrier contract and is often overlooked. Both FedEx and UPS also offer package optimization services in order to make sure you are maximizing the density of your shipments, there are also other independent 3rd Party package optimizations services providers in the market you can reach out to as well.  

3) Zoning Prices

Unfortunately, you’ll likely never come across a flat rate for shipping packages across the US. Though the exact borders may vary, most shipping services divide the country into zones. Your starting zone and the package’s destination will both factor into the ultimate price you’ll pay. Sending a package from the east to the west coast? Prepare for a relatively high shipping rate.

4) Fuel Surcharges

The most common surcharge you’ll encounter is a fuel surcharge. This one is pretty straightforward–it just covers the cost of the gas or jet fuel required to get your package to its destination. Just remember that as gas prices rise and fall this will affect your total shipping cost. FedEx and UPS both have their own fuel surcharges, for a larger shipper you may be able to negotiate a discount on your fuel surcharges as well. Also, your fuel is a percentage of the transportation rate and as you improve your discount here this will also lower the amount you pay in fuel surcharges.

5) Additional Shipping Fees

Depending on which service you use, you could have to pay between one to 80 different additional fees to ship your package. These costs may be negotiable and you should focus on the ones that have the greatest impact on overall carrier spend. Don’t let yourself get caught off guard with these additional costs, know those accessorial fees you are being charged for most frequently and work to negotiate some form of concession(s).

Saving Money on Parcel Shipping

When it comes to sending packages around the country, your options for saving money are somewhat limited. However, you can still take steps to reduce your costs. Keep the package weight low if you can help it, minimize your package size when you can, monitor price changes, and ask about potential discounts or unnecessary fees. If you monitor your package activity carefully, you can cut costs for your business.
Interested in learning more on parcel shipping rates? Join the conversation to see how other people save money on their shipping.

The post Price Factors that Determine Parcel Shipping Rates appeared first on Freight Cowboy - Shipment Management.

Are you torn between freight shipping programs? Here’s what you need to know!
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What Are the Disadvantages of CWT Programs?

Whether you’re shipping small packages or a shipment weighing hundreds of pounds, you should be contemplating the shipping costs including fuel surcharges. You must also evaluate the technology for rating and routing, the loading or unloading dock (for large shipments), the staging area, and more.

1. Determining the Best Cost/Transit Time
2. Carrier Prices & Negotiation
3. Less Competition

1) Determining the Best Cost/Transit Route

One of the biggest hindrances of CWT programs is being able to decide the best cost/transit routing decision. It may require state-of-the-art software to compare CWT pricing and transit, not only in relation to CWT vs LTL but also CWT pricing in relation to your present parcel pricing program. In many cases, LTL transit time can not only compete with parcel CWT transit times, but they can also actually deliver your shipment quicker.

Pro Tip: Consider using modern programs to compare CWT pricing and transit.

2) Carrier Prices & Negotiation

If you’re not accustomed to CWT pricing and the various moving parts of how the rates are constructed, many shippers may feel at a disadvantage when shown pricing from the carrier. Like any transportation pricing, the majority of the elements are open to negotiation. Areas of negotiation would include the following: discounts, commodity tiers, minimum package charges, FSC differential, accessorials, etc. CWT pricing is just as negotiable as your regular parcel and LTL pricing.

3) Less Competition

Unless multi-sourcing your usual parcel business, it’s probable that the shipper only has one option for CWT pricing. Less competition is never great. While most shippers have multiple LTL carriers to choose from in relation to price and transit.

Conclusion

Shipping CWT has many pros, but like anything else, parcel hundredweight service also has a few cons. It’s necessary to weigh the pros and cons of both CWT and LTL shipments. We will be reviewing the pros and cons of LTL programs in the coming weeks. Check in for the latest article!

Interested in learning more about parcel hundredweight CWT programs? Join the conversation to speak with our logistics experts, today!

The post The Cons of Parcel Hundredweight (CWT) Programs appeared first on Freight Cowboy - Shipment Management.

What Are the Advantages of CWT Programs?

There are numerous factors to consider when selecting the best freight shipping program for your unique needs. Parcel Hundredweight programs may be the right choice for you if you’re looking for an inexpensive option with less complex requirements.

If you’re stuck between shipping options, consider the advantages of CWT programs!
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1. Less Operational Handling Requirements
2. Cost-Effective
3. Class Specification is not Mandatory

1) Less Operational Handling Requirements

When it comes to palletizing, shrink-wrapping, staging, or shipment segregation, there are far less operational handling requirements. In most instances, these shipments are handled along the same “line” as the shipper’s regular parcel shipping. Contrastly, transporting freight using LTL may be part of more cumbersome shipping “line.”

2) Cost-Effective

Furthermore, CWT is more cost-effective. This method offers an instantaneous decrease in price as there are no pallets to purchase, and consequently, the weight of the pallets would not influence the calculation of your transportation rate.

CWT fuel surcharges are also way less than LTL. For example, the February 6, 2017, UPS Freight (LTL) fuel surcharge is 21.4%, compared to only 5.5% for UPS Ground. Many of the typical accessorial charges that are applied when shipping via LTL — such as liftgate and inside delivery — are not applicable when shipping CWT.

3) Class Specification is not Mandatory

There is an advantage to not having to decide the class for each package or the entire shipment, considering many shippers have various commodities.

Pro Tip: It’s quite convenient that the class specification is not a prerequisite to ship CWT.

Particularly when taking into account outer zone shipments. Minimum charges for LTL carriers are more than those of parcel hundredweight programs, as the charges for the equivalent destination state for the LTL carrier may be much greater the further from the final destination.

Moreover, an important consideration to parcel incentive is the volume tendered under these CWT programs.

Conclusion

There are many benefits for shippers that choose to use CWT programs. From the minimum handling requirements to the lower costs, this may be the best option for you. However, we will be reviewing the disadvantages of hundredweight programs, along with the pros and cons of LTL programs in the coming weeks. Check in for the next article!

Would you like to learn more about the pros and cons of shipping programs? Chat with our team of freight shipping experts today!

The post The Pros of Parcel Hundredweight (CWT) Programs appeared first on Freight Cowboy - Shipment Management.