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For many companies making a decision about haulage can be a difficult one. Do you want to hire a shipping company or have your own staff of employees to handle all of your company’s freight shipping?
Before you make the decision you want to evaluate and analyze the needs of your customers–while it can seem more cost-effective to contract haulage of your customer’s orders, this may not be the best option for your customers. You need to compare the operation of different haulage providers in order to ascertain whether they will be able to meet the needs of your customers and your company’s requirements.
One of the first things your logistics management team needs to review with any haulage provider is whether they will be able to meet the delivery schedule your customers require. You want to keep in mind that some haulage companies want to limit delivery in some areas because of minimal deliveries or to combine delivery schedules in a particular way. This type of scheduling may not be acceptable to your customers, especially if you have previously handled your own haulage needs and have been amendable to making deliveries based on the needs of your customers.
Fulfillment of customer orders is the ultimate goal of every company, and this includes the haulage function. The customer’s order is not complete until they have it in their hands, so you have to make sure the transport company you choose to handle haulage of your customers’ orders is reliable and understands the importance of prompt delivery. If you are unable to find a haulage provider that is willing to meet your requirements, you may need to reconsider contracting the haulage function. You certainly do not want to sacrifice customer satisfaction to save money; in the end you will actually lose money since you will experience a decrease in sales volume.
Before you make a decision how to handle haulage of customer orders it is important to review all the variables. Research several transport companies and compare what they are willing to offer to what you and your customers require. You also want to make a comparison between what a shipping company is willing to offer in comparison to what your company can offer if they retain in house shipping functions. At no time do you make any choices that will cause an inconvenience to your customers.
