When you need to send a professional shipment, you may believe the process to be simple. After all, if you have everything in crates and pay the right people at the right times, the rest of the process shouldn’t involve you. If you take this approach to your shipments, though, you’ll likely find yourself making the ordeal more difficult, for yourself and everyone else. Avoid these four mistakes to enjoy a smooth shipping process.
1. Fill Your Forms Inaccurately
When you’re trying to run a company, the shipment forms may be the last thing on your mind, and you may fill them out haphazardly or only include what you think is important. Unfortunately, these forms are a major point of communication between you and the logistics company, so if you don’t fill them out correctly, you’ll make things more difficult for everyone.
If you don’t communicate to your shipping team the appropriate information, or you leave out bits and pieces that you don’t think are relevant, you and the recipients of your cargo will be frustrated with the results. Products may be lost or vehicles damaged, which will cost you extra in both profit and customer satisfaction. Take a few minutes to make sure everything is accurate and complete before sending your shipment.
2. Forgo Calculations
Don’t risk your shipment by estimating the weight or the shipping costs. Research your logistics companies carefully to make sure you know what they charge for freight like yours. Make sure to weigh your items, before and after packaging, so that the weight on your forms and labels is as accurate as you can make it.
If you choose to estimate rather than calculate, you’ll face extra charges down the line. Check your chosen company to make sure that you have the rates right, even if you’ve been working with them for a while. The weight matters too; your shipping company will charge for any differences between the listed weight and the actual weight.
3. Forget Technology
Technology and automation are everywhere in today’s world, so use that to your advantage. Especially if your business sends a lot of shipments to multiple locations and varied customers, you’ll need appropriate systems in place to track and manage your shipments. Electronic systems that coordinate with your clients, warehouses, and shipping companies will go a long way toward automating your process.
If your company uses online tools and programs for logistics, you can save money on both sides of the conversation. Electronic communication and tracking are cheaper than sending paper waybills and using your employees’ time to manually track everything. While upgrading to an automated system for your business may be pricey at the outset, the increased efficiency and decreased cost will outweigh it.
4. Choose Random Personnel
Logistics can be a challenge and isn’t a field you put your people into without proper training. Even if your company is small and you need employees to cover multiple positions, don’t set them up for failure in any of them. Instruct your workers on how to manage the details involved with your shipping process, from scheduled dates and times to shipping manifests.
Appropriate training is crucial to your company’s success, in shipping as in any other area, so make sure your people are ready to handle a job before you put them there. Don’t let slip-ups and mistakes discourage you, but be sure to correct them as quickly as possible. Being gentle on your team is good for morale, but in this case, it can be very costly for your finances.
If you’re looking for a shipping company to work with your business, look no further than Tri Star Freight System, Inc. Our family-owned and operated company will work to make sure your cargo is safe and secure throughout the shipping process, so get a rate request today.
