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I met a business owner the other day and we started discussing the differences between LTL Carriers, 3PL’s and Freight Forwarders. I asked him who he had had better experiences with, and without hesitation he replied: “I have found it much easier to work with freight forwarders, although in my company I use all three.” He listed 7 reasons why freight forwarders have adapted better to their supply chain:

Flexibility: Freight forwarders provide a service that typically uses a network of agents. Many cringe when the word “agent” is used in logistics terms, due to the bad reputation they have received over the years. Many customers think that if they are using a network of agents, the chances that the product will be lost, damaged or stolen increases. What many do not understand is that the concept of agent has been around for quite some time. All carriers have some kind of relationship with agents, even the largest carriers like UPS and Fedex have a network of agents in some parts of the country. What really separates companies are their ties and communication with their agent alliance. When you look at “good” freight forwarders, they have solid and strong ties to their agents and, ironically, sometimes even better than if they were dealing internally within their own company. To fully understand this, you must realize that these agents survive by seeking to provide exceptional service to their carrier partners. The better work they do, the more business they will receive. So they want to impress, they want to be precise in their pickups and deliveries, but it’s the carrier’s job to make sure their (agents) stay on their toes in terms of performance, accountability, and reliability.

Manageability – Typically when working with an LTL or 3PL operator, it tends to sometimes be a “loss” of control for clients. If a shipment is lost, it often takes an act of Congress to retrieve it and return it to the correct address. A good forwarder has the ability to use their network to retrieve, re-sign, and re-ship to the correct address many times without missing a beat. Many clients use FF strictly simply for this added benefit. The ability to “quarterback” your shipments throughout the process rests with a freight forwarder. LTL companies have too many centers and processes to deal with, not allowing for the flexibility and manageability that a carrier can demonstrate in a single shipment, and many times customers find out the hard way.

Versatility: Options! Options! Options! During today’s economic times, customers are discovering that having a business that gives them viable options allows them to stay in control, reduce costs, and increase efficiency in their supply chain. When looking for your carrier, examine the services they can offer and match your business needs. A good carrier can take on the primary shipping function or be used as a supplemental asset when the need arises. Enable your business to adapt faster and better respond to customer needs as they develop.

Versatility – Many times many companies claim that they are, in fact, a one-stop shop, but if you ask enough questions, you can determine if this is true. Do they have real-time tracking and tracing capabilities? International? Storage and distribution capacities? Reporting capabilities? As your business grows, these things could help make a difference in the progress of your business. These help allow a client to grow their business with the least amount of financial output.

Vested Interest in Your Business – When a carrier can become an extension of your business, when you think of ways they can improve your supply chain more than you can, that’s what a great carrier is made of. Very often in business, companies spend 90% of their time searching for the company with the cheapest cost, whether it is the company that can add immediate and consistent value to their supply chain.

All operators live for this, but not all make it to this point. The reason is that it takes WILLING to want to be the best carrier and want to help your customer beyond the individual shipments that are provided to you Ad Hoc, a good freight forwarder eliminates the “things that do not matter” to get to the core of the client’s objectives. How they can make your business run better is their main concern. And understand that this doesn’t always mean being the CHEAPEST carrier at the door, but what it often refers to is being able to look at a company’s logistics setup and determine if they can add efficiency and lower costs overall.

Cost savings: As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, a good freight forwarder will make one of their main goals to save their clients money, but curiously many times the savings do not come from simply offering the client very cheap rates. In fact, if you speak to a top carrier, they will often tell you that their price is fair to moderate. The reason is that many times being able to provide a solution to a problem may require spending more resources and increasing costs in the initial stage to achieve, for example, faster transit, better customer satisfaction and more efficiency. For example, a company that ships from California, trying to beat its competition on the East Coast, might need to implore the use of a warehouse and distribution facility, say in Chicago. Adding this resource will give more control, shorter transit, and a more competitive momentum for the Cali Company and, of course, as I mentioned earlier, it will increase customer loyalty.

Quick thinking: A freight forwarder I spoke to presented an example of adding value to a new customer simply by being inquisitive. The customer had been using UPS for ground shipments of products that weighed somewhere in the 50 pound area. for 10 boxes going to one location, cumulative weight of 500 lbs. Many companies that might have stumbled upon something like this would have gotten away due to the name recognition and reputation of the guys in brown. But not this owner, he realized that he could put together a very solid client program based on the cumulative fee of £ 500. versus UPS rating shipping by box. The bottom line was that it was able to save the customer 30% on their shipments with a much faster transit time.

I always preach that today the most important thing a company must understand is its own “business needs” … If you understand the temporal sensitivity of your product, market and the needs of your industry, you will be able to choose the right company for your needs. logistics.