In last week’s article we talked about those things that freight forwarders love to see in their logistics provider. To complete the equation, this time we turn the tables and we are going to look at the problematic situations that create the most inconvenience in companies that ship merchandise.

5 things you hate about your logistics provider
Not knowing the status of a shipment

The traceability of shipments is one of the things that freight forwarders have grown most fond of. Being able to know the status of the merchandise in real time gives them the peace of mind of knowing that shipments are progressing as expected.

However, digital traceability can fail (an error or absence of reading) and then we have to resort to more traditional methods such as the telephone. And since it’s not always easy to find the driver or manually find the package that is supposed to be in a certain place, that’s where the problems arise.

From an error in reading a package, which may seem trivial, very big problems can be triggered.

Not understanding the fees

Logistics providers try to make the rates as simple and intuitive as possible. Unfortunately, the task is not easy. The different types of services, the ranges in the size and weight of shipments, the different delivery areas, taxes in places like the Canary Islands, additional services…

The usual thing is that all this ends up being translated into long tables of numbers before which it is easy to get lost or not be clear about the fundamental concepts. If you have doubts about your rates, do not hesitate to contact your logistics provider to help you unravel them.

A trick to be able to simplify them is to see if you have more services or options than you need. Do you always send the same type of pallet or do you always use the fastest or cheapest service? In that case you can ask for rates that are limited to this type of assumptions.

breaks

Any self-respecting logistics provider tries to reduce breakages to a minimum. From the preparation of the pallets to the care with which the drivers transport the merchandise will influence the number of total breakages at the end of the year. In a similar way, from the loader of the merchandise to the delivery person, everyone will be affected by a breakage.

You have to replace the merchandise, time is lost from the initial delivery date to what it will finally be, process the paperwork with the insurance, wait for the expert opinion depending on the severity of the breakage, await the resolution, etc. A litmus test for anyone’s nerves, as well as being a win-win situation, only losing.

Lack of delivery modes in your logistics provider

We have previously discussed the possibility of requesting a rate that only reflects the assumptions we use. However, having options to fall back on in a time of need is going to be a very valuable asset.

These modes of delivery can be the delivery times (in our distribution network for palletized merchandise, PBX, in addition to the traditional express and economic services, we have delivery modes before 10 and 12 in the morning), the possibility to depalletize the merchandise with or without a waiter, deliveries with agreed time and day, etc.

“We don’t offer that service” is something customers certainly don’t like to hear.

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