Increase Logistics ROI with Multi Carrier Shipping Software

Freight costs are climbing and have a significant impact on the bottom line. In this QAD Precision Report we look at how multi carrier shipping software helps maximize logistics ROI.

Since the pandemic, both parcel volumes and freight costs have skyrocketed. As a result of these twin pressures, controlling costs is crucial for high volume shippers. 

The ability to maximize logistics ROI is critical for getting the most customer satisfaction with the lowest freight costs. The best way to ensure you optimize service levels and reduce costs is with multi carrier shipping software. Here we look at the reasons why multi carrier shipping software is so critical to the success of high volume shippers.

Why Global Enterprises Need Multi Carrier Shipping Software 

The modern marketplace is global. Therefore, shippers need tools that operate quickly and accurately — regardless of the point of origin or delivery. Multi carrier parcel shipping software improves visibility and control across the globe and provides the insight necessary to help ensure timely delivery at the best rates.

Another issue for high volume shippers who have global customers is the variety of documentation required. In addition to forms that must be correctly completed, there are complex regulations that govern the movement of goods, taxes, shipping labels, and packaging. Multi carrier shipping software automates the creation of all necessary labels and documentation. This relieves the shipper of the burden of researching and staying current with changes.

The shipping software handles all the complexities and prints all the documentation, labels, and forms — as well as generates tracking numbers. Therefore, the shipper’s team can follow their standard shipping process for every order, thereby improving efficiency and accuracy.

Six Ways Multi Carrier Shipping Lowers Parcel Delivery Costs
Six Ways Multi Carrier Shipping Lowers Parcel Delivery Costs

Along with those benefits, there are six additional benefits that multi carrier shipping software provides to the shipper.

Enjoy the best rates from all carriers

The software automatically analyzes each shipment to determine the best carrier and rate that meets service level requirements. There’s no need to engage in complex comparisons via rate shopping or to settle for sub optimum service when the multi carrier shipping software can perform the analysis in the blink of an eye.

Negotiate from strength and insight

When it comes time to negotiate new contracts, shippers have all the information they need. The multi carrier shipping software provides reports showing the spend with each carrier and the carrier’s performance. The shipper is not at the mercy of the carrier’s generosity or taken unawares by the carrier’s access to information.

Consolidate shipments

Multi carrier shipping software can help shippers save money by consolidating shipments on the fly as parcels are ready to go. Consolidating parcels in a single shipment that can be broken down regionally on arrival at a DC for final delivery can save time and money as well as improve service levels. 

The shipper’s team doesn’t have to waste time deciding which parcels should be consolidated for delivery to specific regions. The multi carrier shipping software handles it automatically and creates the correct paperwork and labels to ensure accurate and timely delivery.

Flexible and less costly returns

One of the biggest costs for high volume shippers is reverse logistics and managing returns. The best carrier for outbound shipments may not be the best for returns. Therefore, choosing the wrong carrier can increase the cost of returns enormously. 

This is why many shippers use different carriers for inbound and outbound shipments, especially when the shipper has multiple locations to manage. Multi carrier shipping software helps simplify this process cost effectively by ensuring that goods are returned at the lowest possible cost.

Carrier compliance

Every carrier has its own rules and requirements. Some of the largest carriers have the most complex rules and are the most restrictive in ensuring that shippers have complied with all aspects of the rules. Rather than expend resources keeping track of every carrier and their requirements, multi carrier shipping software manages this burdensome task for you. Your team follows a single, standardized process, and behind the scenes, the multi carrier shipping software ensures you’re in compliance.

Improve customer service

Customers may request that their packages are shipped with a specific carrier. Unless you have a multi carrier shipping solution in place, you may not be able to easily facilitate these requests. As a result, the shipping team wastes time adapting to each carrier’s requirements. It will also increase errors since the unfamiliar process will lead to mistakes or oversights, irritating the customer.

Multi carrier shipping software can enable a company to take advantage of the benefits of a multi carrier strategy without worrying about the complexities of dealing with multiple carriers. The software handles all the calculations and paperwork, helping to ensure better customer satisfaction.

Why You Need to Audit Parcel Shipping SpendWhy You Need To Audit Parcel Shipping Spend

To really drive logistics ROI, shippers — especially high volume shippers — need to audit their parcel freight spend.

Multi carrier shipping software gives you access to better rates and more services. However, it is crucial to audit parcel shipping spend to ensure that every dollar, euro, or yen is correctly charged. 

Annual as well as periodic rate increases, accessorial charges, fuel surcharges, dimensional pricing — the number of variables that go into calculating freight charges is ever increasing. This makes it difficult to understand if every invoice from every carrier is correct. Manual audits are time consuming and error prone, and third party audits are expensive. But the best multi carrier shipping software includes audit capabilities.

Estimates on the accuracy of freight bills range from a high of about 97% to a low of 53%, depending on the source. Freight bill errors can occur in so many ways — incorrect rates, incorrect weights, incorrect or missing information, unwarranted accessorials and more. However, most shippers lack the resources to do in-depth audits.

Multi carrier shipping software with freight auditing can address all of these issues. As this is automated, you don’t need to share your data without outside auditors or burden your staff with complex analytics.

For example, accessorial charges are a frequent cause of invoice errors. An automated freight auditing solution will verify these charges to ensure they are warranted. The software can even recognize incorrect and incomplete addresses up front to eliminate one common cause of unnecessary charges.

Freight auditing validates invoices against shipments regardless of the carrier, mode, geographical region, language, or currency of the transactions. This complete visibility and in depth reporting gives you the control you need over your freight costs without the unnecessary costs of hiring staff to perform these painstaking audits.

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Further Reading

MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE FOR HIGH VOLUME SHIPPERS

MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS WITH MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE

WHAT IS MULTI CARRIER SHIPPING SOFTWARE?