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If you are a business house that ships across the world or the country often, you would like to know what the potential problems you face are. Here’s a list of 3 oft repeated mistakes that happen while people ship in volumes.
Insurance
If you are shipping something valuable, it makes sense to insure your freight. There are several cases of damaged cargo. Sometimes in large scale long haul shipping, containers get picketed. Ships might crash. Flights go missing. If your product is temperature variant, keep in mind that in some parts the temperature can go up to triple digits and fall below freezing point. Cargo is poorly handled by dock hands. So many factors can go wrong. So, if your product is valuable, it makes sense to insure it.
Insurance is different for different types of goods. So, before you decide on a certain insurance package, talk to people, do your research and figure out what coverage works for you. Most legitimate freight partners have allied insurance schemes.
Money, money, money
The cheapest deal is not always the best deal. The most expensive deal is not always the best. Find the lowest rates for your needs but do not compromise on your requirements. If a customer needs his shipment the next day, for example, choose the shipping service that would take it to him the next day. Now, think again. Several shippers blindly opt for express delivery in such a scenario. But they don’t realise that if the customer lives 30 min away, the slowest (and cheapest) shipping service will take it to him the next day. And the difference between normal and express delivery is significant. Do the math!
Similarly, there are reputed freight providers who have been in the industry for long. There are also local players. Look at all your options before you decide.
Do not guesstimate shipping costs
If you are shipping products internationally, beware of hidden costs, taxes and duties that can crop up. If you are an ecommerce player, have a list of countries you ship to. Before you commit to customers from these countries, do research on how much it actually costs to ship products to the destination. Or, do not mention shipping costs explicitly on your site.
If you are dealing with bulk orders, make sure the shipping partner gives you a discount. If you have to guesstimate, do involve your shipping partner. Call them and ask for quotes before you go ahead with the pricing.
At LateShipment, we offer comparative analysis of your shipping carrier service types that helps you find the most suitable service for your FedEx/UPS/DHL package. Additionally you can also check if you are using the right service type by uploading your recent invoice at https://smart.lateshipment.com/carrierreport.
You will receive
a customized report that benchmarks your rates, identifies areas where
your shipping carrier is currently overcharging you and uncover several
areas of improvement your shipping carrier does not want to share with
you. We believe that your business will find significant value in this
tool.
