How To Negotiate Freight Rates A Tip For Small Carriers

Small carriers make up at least 25 percent of the trucks on the road providing for freight transportation services. One of the challenges confronting small carrier companies involves negotiating freight rates to their customers. Unlike the bigger Atlanta trucking companies, smaller trucking companies may have no resources available that their bigger competitors have. Consequently, small trucking businesses often do not have the same leverage as bigger trucking providers do.

Small carriers structural work-up

Smaller trucking service providers often find it difficult to negotiate their rates when they are paid according to percentage based on the gross load. Lower rates can affect the profitability of your business, but there are potential solutions that can help you improve your negotiating ability. Even small carriers have their own organizational structure and each department can contribute in the negotiating process for freight rates to potential customers. There is no doubt that even if small asset based carriers and trucking companies have limited resources, they remain to be important in the shipping industry. As businesses grow and expand to cater to regional trading, shipping capacity will never decline.

Improving the pricing department performance

Every carrier has a pricing department that is responsible for communicating your business to your target market. By way of communication, your goal is to make known the price of your services. Prior to offering your freight charges, make sure to make an inventory of your costs, including the salary of drivers, truck maintenance, tax liabilities, insurance costs and fuel expenses. Your fuel costs should be dynamically determined as the rate may change often.

These are essential factors to consider so that when your department begins to negotiate with customers, you already know your baseline costs thereby making negotiation easier. Your customer will always be asking for a discount or to lower the charges. You already know whether you should turn down the negotiation for accepting the load or you can find more room for freight rate adjustment to satisfy your customers.

Building business rapport with brokers, shippers and clients

A good business rapport will enable small carriers to turn down one load offer while at the same time be able to accept another freight service load from the same broker or shipper. It is important to disclose your expectations to your client shippers or broker in order not to offend them for turning down their freight rate. Making them understand about your pricing factors will make it easier with the negotiation of your rates that they may consequently find reasonable.

Furthermore, if your company is known for high quality customer services and modern trucking logistics, it will not be difficult to sell out your services. Your clients will be the one to pursue your rates in order to receive the same service satisfaction that they previously enjoyed. Building honest and reliable trucking services will help you build a track record that makes freight rate negotiation easier for brokers and shipping companies.

Imbue flexibility in your freight rate

While bigger trucking companies are capable of handling larger workloads, they cannot cover all demands for shipping services. That is when small carriers’ services become valuable in order to fill up the gaps in meeting the freight transportation demands in many industries. Try to make your services and freight rate highly flexible to drive more revenues to your transportation business and soon enough your clients will find your business highly accommodating with satisfying services that they can become repeat customers and regular client of your small carrier business.

If you want to know more information about: Green supply chain so clicks here.

Hiring Young Truck Drivers

The trucking industry is expanding in its value as an important part of the global economic workforce. In the United States alone, freight tonnage mostly utilizes trucks for transportation. With the growing demands for quality carriers, truck drivers become an important commodity in the trucking business. There is a high demand for trucking jobs in Atlanta, and young drivers begin to fill up the gap in the employment that veteran truck drivers left after retiring.

The emergence of young truck drivers

Some trucking companies are facing the dilemma whether they should prefer hiring newbie and young truck drivers to work for them. There is clearly a big gap left for employment by retiring truck drivers and younger generation of drivers begin to emerge as a viable replacement. In a survey undertaken by the Transport Capital Partners, it appears that many carriers are open to hire younger drivers as part of their truck driver pool. A different survey, on the other hand, reported that about a third of dry van trucking companies are not very keen about hiring new level entry truck drivers, especially when the job will require long haul transportation and driving larger carriers on the road.

Training for new level entry truck drivers

Transportation companies are becoming more open to hiring young truck drivers, especially those lacking the required years of driving experience. A solution identified to resolve the uncertainties about whether they are capable of handling bigger trucks on the road is by providing them the necessary training. About 51% of trucking companies are expected to hire new truck drivers who are young and inexperienced to replace the aging workforce of truck driver in the trucking industry. Training them is one of the prudent measures that trucking companies can do in order to ensure that they can provide reliable, safe, and efficient transportation services to the public. Training young truck drivers also offer the opportunity of introducing to them the new innovative logistics in the trucking industry and make them competent in using them when delivering transportation services.

The pros and cons of hiring young truck drivers

Every trucking company will require their truck drivers to acquire a commercial driver’s license. The license guarantees that the driver has acquired the necessary skills and education to make them competent in driving buses, trucks, tractor trailers, tow trucks and other heavy commercial vehicles. The license may not suffice, however, and trucking companies need to provide the necessary training for better competency of young and inexperienced truck drivers. This will entail additional costs for employee training, but may be necessary to ensure the safety of your transportation services.

Hiring young truck drivers can benefit your company, especially when your transportation services provides long haul driving and management of heavy trucks. Young drivers have better fitness and stamina to withstand the stress of long driving and their reflexes are better when maneuvering heavy trailers or tractors. Truck drivers may also provide assistance in loading goods and young truck drivers are more efficient in performing this task.