Common Mistakes that Set Freight Booking Prices Soaring

What is freight booking price you paid for your previous consignment? Was it in your designated budget? Did it affect your anticipated bottom line? After a thorough review and analysis, you may conclude that you actually ended up paying higher. Furthermore, you are unable to recognize how it could have been avoided.

In general, there are some very small things to take care of in order to reduce freight booking expenses significantly. Let us visit the top ones in the discussion below.

Last Minute Bookings Are Disastrous

Still, a majority of exporters commit this mistake. Approaching a freight space provider n the last minute can result in:

• Unavailability of the required freight space

• Delay in shipping the consignment

• Poor business reputation and unhappy customers

• And of course, higher than expected prices

In order to avoid these consequences, make it a habit to book freight space well in advance. Apart from saving frustration, it can help you grab the best deals available.

Booking without Comparing Rates

Needless to say, price comparison is the key to save money in any kind of booking. The same is true about freight booking, especially when there are many freight providers in competition. Unlike the traditional way of contacting different freight services on phone to receive quotes, you can switch to the modern process of:

• First, choosing a right freight booking software

• Mentioning your own preferred rates to find the right match

• Searching across the software results to compare the available quotes

• Sending instant booking results to receive fast confirmations

Not Recognizing the Hidden Costs

Before you finalize the deal that you consider the best one, it is wise to evaluate the overall costs one last time. Many freight service providers tend to skip some additional charges from the actual cost estimates. To avoid any last-minute surprises, it is necessary that you:

• Ask in advance about any hidden costs

• Understand the meaning of every cost included

• Demand explanation for any cost you find unnecessary

• Open up on charges for any extra service you opt for

• Most importantly, get everything in written so that there is no room for surprise costs

Not Packaging Your Goods Well

Damages during shipping are absolutely unpleasant. Even if you are able to secure the best freight service rates, overlooking the importance of safe packaging can ruin the saved costs. Moreover, it can spoil a possibly long-term relationship with a freight provider. So, here’s what you need to do:

• Employ the best materials and techniques to pack your goods

• Inform the freight provider about special goods (like perishable items of hazardous goods)

• Always choose an insured freight space to cover the unavoidable damages

Ignoring Long-term Relationships

Loyalty often results in monetary gains. Once you manage to gain the best freight booking prices with a particular service provider, it may be favourable to choose the same company for your future consignments as well. How?

• First, the negotiations once achieved can work well for the upcoming shipments as well

• Second, the service provider becomes well-aware of what your shipping needs are and would entertain them every time

• Third, you may expect discounts and special deals by becoming a regular buyer of the service

Sticking, however, to a single option is not advisable. Undoubtedly, a long-term relationship can be beneficial, you must see the other side of the coin too. Make sure that you are not depriving your shipping needs of better freight prices in the process. With this in mind, what you can do is make it a habit to compare quotes before every booking.

Relying on Slow Processing

Clearly, you need to find and book the best price before it expires. For this, you can’t afford to continue with sow processing on the booking process. In order to add pace to it, you can:

• Minimize the human inputs and prefer using an electronic freight booking system.

• Improve your documentation speed so that you are absolutely ready to produce the documents required for booking.

• Use electronic mediums to communicate with the service providers.

• Finally, do status tracking online to avoid any chances of delays.

Simply, pay attention to each of these aspects and you can expect freight booking to be hassle-free, fast and right within your budget.