Determining the Right Partner
What are the traits a carrier partner should have to help you thrive during the produce season? Communication, transparency, relationship oriented, and an expertise of your network and processes are certainly great places to start.
COMMUNICATION
A very important aspect of a carrier partner is how they handle the market fluctuation and potential incremental charges, which makes communication number one. Things change and it’s important to stay ahead of the change. Carriers can do this with effective communication on what’s next. It's always a problem and solution, and not just one or the other.
Communication boils down to answering questions before they are asked. A carrier should be able to provide updates and communicate from start to finish throughout the load’s life. On both sides of the load, too. Not just to the customer or shipper/receiver, but to the carrier as well. Set the expectation for the carrier on all the information and details around the load and shipper/receiver.
TRANSPARENCY
Transparency is right up there with communication. Ensure that you do not spend the morning getting the run around until your carrier finds capacity or get a last-minute, crazy, once-in-a-lifetime excuse for why the load didn’t pick up or deliver when it was supposed to. At the end of the day, it is your freight and you deserve to know where it is at all times. If your carrier cannot be transparent about that, then you do not have a carrier partner.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships are key in every business, especially transportation. The unique position of a third-party carrier partner is that they have to have great relationships with several sets of individuals. This is how good carriers separate from average carriers and great carriers separate themselves from everyone. A great relationship with your customer, carrier, shipper/receiver and possibly even a 4PL helps determine if you’re the best carrier for the job. If your carrier partner does not believe in the previous statement, then there is no hope of you thriving with that carrier. Relationships are meant to be pressed, tested, and leveraged when needed. Being able to navigate this water is imperative to serving at a high level for things like last-minute loads, changes on appointments, not having the most ideal appointments available for a particular shipment, or even the dreaded extra hour or two of required loading time with … dare we say it … no detention charged or issue making the scheduled delivery appointment. Again, the relationship aspect covers all of the above!
NETWORK KNOWLEDGE
How well do your carriers know your network? Do they ask you and your staff the same questions every week or day? Are loads being missed or delayed because assumptions are being made? Does their knowledge of your network allow them to be creative with keeping your costs down and efficiency high? Are they willing to do what it takes to not only find that ever elusive last truck, but also ensure it gets loaded?
Knowing the intricacies of a network is not just knowing what makes the directors or coordinators, or anyone that tenders the loads tick, but also each individual plant, shipping point, and receiver. Even if the location is not specifically owned by your customer, but a separate vendor or customer. Knowing the limits and insides and outs of every shipping and receiving point is crucial to success during produce season. Simply put, make sure your brokers know what metrics matter to you the most.