Establishing a solid relationship with an experienced freight carrier is the first step toward achieving an efficient transportation system. The freight carrier you choose can make or break the success of your organization. If you select the wrong carrier, your organization may face increased costs, delayed shipments, and unsatisfied customers – so this decision is critical. Most manufacturers recognize the importance of selecting a suitable carrier for their vertical service offering but don’t know where to start.
With countless potential providers offering varying services, particularly in Alabama, this decision can be daunting. As you research what companies may be best fits for you, consider these six factors to ensure that you choose a freight carrier that will meet your needs and cultivate an efficient transportation system.
1. Consider the Cost
When selecting a freight carrier in Alabama, pricing emerges as a key factor for most companies. While many businesses opt for a low-cost carrier in an effort to cut expenses, it’s crucial to recognize the broader impact on your operations. As a shipper, you should take into account your business priorities and ensure you choose a carrier who can deliver your orders on time and without any damage/loss of goods.
Quality should be your priority as you review initial quotes. It’s also important to consider the quality of the service you’re getting and the speed of delivery to expect, which ultimately will impact your company’s bottom line. Every business’s supply chain has unique limitations and demands that make it worthwhile to consider higher-quality services that will deliver products to customers as quickly as possible.
With a strong carrier network like that of BR Williams Logistics, LLC, you can find options that offer lower transit times, more direct transport routes, a better reputation for reliability, and a higher frequency of trucks available for shipping.
2. Evaluate Communication and Service Standards
How do you build an image of timeliness and reliability around your brand? Most customers don’t distinguish between the carrier and the business providing the goods, making delivery an important part of the customer experience. With today’s consumers expecting clear communication, high service standards, and quality products as the baseline, not the exception, businesses now more than ever have to work with partners who deliver in these areas.
Effective communication is vital in ensuring a smooth shipping experience, and a partner like BR Williams can help ensure this. When you pay for carriers that use better processes to move freight and have a reputation for reliability, it reflects well on your brand and products, which could lead to more business and long-term profitability.
3. Assess the Range of Freight Services Offered
Another important consideration when selecting a freight partner is the services they offer. Before even speaking with a carrier, determine what services your business requires. Once you know what you need, you can better vet which partner can provide that. As you talk with carriers, you may even discover additional services you didn’t know existed that fit your business needs.
These services may include:
- Freight Brokerage & Freight Logistics
- Less-Than-Load (LTL) Trucking & Logistics
- Flatbed Freight Brokerage
- Inbound & Outbound Logistics
Beyond just the services offered, it is essential to determine the capacity a carrier can handle with its equipment. Due to supply chain shortages, the demand for transportation services significantly exceeds the supply. As a result, carrier capacity is challenging to obtain in the amount the manufacturers need.
Discuss with the potential carrier how much capacity they can handle and ensure that this matches the load you need to move. Talk with the BR Williams Logistics, LLC team to learn more about how our freight brokerage company services can help your business.
4. Know the Role of Technology in a Freight Brokerage Company
Today, there are countless technologies used by companies in the transportation industry to optimize shipping and moving goods. If your carrier utilizes transportation optimization software, it will have enhanced insight into routing and scheduling solutions and real-time monitoring capabilities. This software also has prescriptive analytics capabilities, enabling carriers to identify areas of waste and inefficiency, ensuring that their transportation is as efficient as possible.
You want to work with a freight carrier who leverages technology to grow and scale your business and understand that this ever-changing work is needed. From streamlining processes to enhancing communication, being on the cutting edge of solution technology in freight transportation is necessary.
At BR Williams Logistics, LLC, we have all the tools of larger 3PL service providers combined with the customer service passion of a family-owned company. As an asset-backed, 3rd party logistics company, we do not operate with a traditional logistics brokerage business model. Instead, we build relationships with like-minded, high-performing contract carriers that fit our client’s needs like a glove.
5. Look at On-Time Performance and Reliability
Does the shipper have high level of service (LOS) rates? If not, you may want to keep looking. Your business depends on the timely arrival of your freight to various destinations, and a reliable carrier can help build your company’s positive reputation, grow your business, and meet your customer expectations.
Suppose you choose the cheapest carrier option over the quality of their performance and reliability. In that case, even the saved costs you’ll gain in up-front investments will never outweigh the frustration delayed shipping can create. Slow carriers can cause your freight to miss its inspection window and not make it to market on time. Ultimately, this unreliable carrier will cost you more money in late or spoiled loads and, even worse, your company’s reputation.
Choose a partner you can trust, like BR Williams Logistics, LLC. Our commitment is always to punctuality and reliability in freight services.
6. Do They Have any Industry Accolades
Once you choose a carrier, your reputation will be tied to their services. If your carrier fails to move your products safely and on time, your customers will be dissatisfied, damaging your reputation. For this reason, the carrier you choose must maintain a positive reputation.
To determine this, you can ask your carrier for a list of references that can be beneficial in determining if they provided inadequate services in the past. At BR Williams Logistics, LLC, we are proudly ISO 9001:2015 Certified and share our industry knowledge and recognized expertise with those we serve.
Find the Right Freight Carrier to Partner With
Considering costs, quality, communication, services, technology, on-time performance, and industry recognition is essential for finding a reliable freight carrier that meets your business needs, especially in Alabama.
With seven strategically located distribution centers across Alabama and Florida, we specialize in delivering reliable transportation services to businesses of all sizes.
Whether you seek local or long-distance trucking work, BR Williams Logistics, LLC could be a good fit. Get a free quote from our team today to learn more.
