According to a study by Kewill Logistics, most LTL/Freight shippers use between two and five carriers in their operations, while the majority of companies are still using from one to three parcel shipping carriers. Kewill, providers of trade and logistics products and services, released these findings in its “2011 Best Practices Survey for Parcel Shipping and LTL/Freight Management.”
Another key finding is that more than 40% of respondents do not use mode optimization selection methods and ship all 2-day shipments via a 2-day service. The study’s authors indicate there is potential for improvement, in that mode optimization has the potential to reduce express shipping costs by up to 20 to 25% with the use of software that can incorporate time in transit tables.
“Success with this kind of initiative depends upon having easy access to descriptive data on the parcels, accurate, up-to-date rate, zone and time in transit information, with clear and enforceable business rules to guide decision-making,” the authors note.”
Other findings from the report include:
• Twenty-one percent of shippers responding are still using a fully manual process to input parcel information, and only a small minority of progressive leaders–8%–claim to have a totally hands-free operation.
• The difference between 2010 and 2011 is that the authors see an improved economic environment, with an increasing number of companies in a position to add headcount to their shipping operations.
• The third of respondents who are using blended solutions like Newgistics and Fedex Smartpost still see the advantage of using USPS’s infrastructure for final delivery with another 19% considering the option.
