It is important to build partnerships with every company that impacts your business, which would include the shipping and logistics company you’re working with. The company handling your shipping plays a huge role in our operations, they are acting as a vital component of your supply chain. Even if they are only handling the odd loads that you can’t get to, it’s important to have a partnership.
Having a strong partnership with one company rather than jumping from one to another is always better in the long run. Doing so leads to saving time, saving money, and better operations for your own company.
Save Time
No matter what shipping and logistics company you are partnering with, you should be saving time. Time spent on finding carriers, resolving issues, identifying and implementing solutions, and more. There is a lot that goes into a proper supply chain so being able to off load some of that work can help immensely.
Additionally, by building a strong partnership you are able to have established processes and workflows in place. This is why the partnership aspect is so important. If you are jumping from one company to the next you will always be in the set-up phase, communicating expectations and figuring out how the shipping company works best.
Save Money
Another reason to build an actual partnership with a shipping and logistics company is to save money. Jumping from one 3PL to the next based on their quote seems like it might make sense. However, where are they going to be when you have a difficult lane? Or how will you be able to build any regular lane you have if you are just jumping from one company to the next.
A strong partnership saves you money because the logistics company will able to integrate into your business. They can identify opportunities to save money and take on the loads that no one else will at a regular contracted rate.
Better Operations
Building a partnership with an established and trusted logistics company will always improve your supply chain operations. In the same way that they can integrate into your business to save money, they can also find improvements and better processes to allow your supply chain to run more efficiently. This is mostly due to the experience and expertise of the team. It makes sense that the people working at logistics and shipping companies know how shipping and logistics work inside and out. When you build a strong partnership, this team will be able to find the best solutions.
Additionally, you can access to everything else that the shipping partner has. This could be specialized technology, thousands of partnered carriers
How to Find the Best Shipping and Logistics Company
Luckily, identifying a 3PL company can be quite easy if you are willing to put in the work. It is something that we have covered in a previous blog post. In short, you want to:
- Identify your needs
- Research 3PL companies
- Do some trial shipments
After those three steps, you are ready to build a partnership that will bring your shipping operations to the next level.
At HTL, we focus on proving the best service to all of our partners. We focus on being reliable, responsive, and responsible for each load that we move. After nearly 40 years in the industry, we have developed the processes, technology, and team to ensure success. To see if HTL Freight is the right fit for you reach out and contact us. Additionally, you can request a quote and get started today.
