Since the Covid-19 pandemic and the global shutdown, there has been a big push within the logistics industry to become more efficient. Companies everywhere experienced widespread labor shortages in jobs like operations representatives, truck drivers, material handlers, forklift operators, and factory workers, pushing some companies to turn to technological solutions to streamline specific processes. This article highlights two major strategies — route optimization and load consolidation — shipping managers can use to maximize the efficiency of their supply chains. Using advanced logistics technology powered by Zengistics, shippers reduce their transportation costs, improve on-time delivery rates, and enhance freight visibility.
Poor route optimization is a constant challenge shippers face. It results in deadhead miles, empty miles, lost miles, or any other terms that carriers and shippers use to refer to the daily inefficiencies that add to extra costs, such as late pickups and deliveries. Route optimization starts by finding the most efficient and cost-effective methods to haul a load from the shipper to the receiver. It considers where the truck gets empty, how far it is from the pickup and the added costs of it to the shipper.
Proper route optimization considers how to effectively get the product from the shipper to the receiver using the least amount of miles and in the most cost-effective way possible. But with logistics being as hectic as it is, most shipping managers are more concerned about getting customer orders off their desks as quickly as possible, no matter the costs involved. As a result, most companies don’t contemplate the overall importance of route optimization when considering their annual transportation costs.
Route optimization helps shippers save money. Navigating the most efficient way to get your product from A to B is a desirable outcome and something that shipping managers want for every load that leaves their dock. As shippers transition into incorporating modern methods to connect technologies and their supply chain, route optimization has been pushed to the forefront. It allows companies to learn more about their internal operations and find methods to reduce transportation costs. But what, specifically, are the advantages?
When you partner with a transportation service provider specializing in managed services, you immediately gain access to a logistics team with expertise in helping companies improve their internal performance. For example, Zengistics starts by creating a blueprint for mutual success. Data analysts run detailed reports using information from your company’s production schedule, trade data, operational reports, financial information, and current shipping data to create a customizable blueprint that helps your company drive improvements to make the supply chain run more smoothly.
Most shippers don’t have the time or energy to consider whether every truckload they pay for is totally optimized for maximum efficiency. Quite simply, most shipping managers are just trying to fulfill their customers’ orders on time. Before Stone Brewery partnered with Zengistics, its average truck fill rate hovered around 60-70% per truck. This inefficiency directly inflated Stone’s transportation cost, as the company was forced to pay for more trucks to ship their product and fulfill customer orders. On top of that, their entire supply chain experienced poor route optimization, with trucks often showing up 10-12 hours late for their appointment times. This led to a low percentage of on-time deliveries, directly affecting customer satisfaction. With Zengistics’ managed transportation services, Stone improved its truckload fill rate to 98%. Using data analytics, Zengistics also helped Stone optimize trade routes, helping to increase on-time truck deliveries to 98% of shipments.
Consolidating shipping means shippers can pack more products into their trucks and coordinate separate LTL shipments to reduce transportation expenditure. By partnering with a transportation service provider specializing in tailored services and load consolidation, companies have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Reduced shipping costs are just one of the significant benefits of freight consolidation. Other advantages include:
Freight consolidation directly reduces the amount of fuel costs and fuel surcharges companies pay to move products. Using fewer trucks results in fewer carbon emissions, helping shippers make their own contributions to sustainability efforts worldwide.
Whether your company needs to pull a single pallet from a truck and expedite it in a sprinter van, or move a FTL with team service across the country, Zengistics offers both LTL and FTL options and can source spot capacity to fulfill your orders. Zengistics enables shippers to make freight decisions based on needs and priorities. By utilizing their managed services, customers can also prioritize their time and concentrate their efforts on expanding their book of business beyond their current customer base.
Customers who partner with Zengistics gain a level of transparency and control over their supply chain. Consolidated shipments reduce the number of trucks on the road, meaning customers receive fewer tracking updates and load notifications. But more than that, Zengistics streamlines operations and communication by providing an easy-to-use digital platform where shipping managers can organize their loads, search purchase order numbers or bills of lading, and get live tracking updates so they are never in the dark about the status of a load.
As the logistics industry continues to evolve and find ways to reduce transportation costs and make their supply chains more efficient, more companies are turning to Zengistics and its collaborative logistics platform to get more power and control over their operations. Route optimization and load consolidation are just two ways that Zengistics helps customers streamline their supply chains. Zengistics technology gives customers unprecedented visibility over every shipment, offers customizable data reports and advanced analytics, and centralizes all information into one easy-to-use platform. These tech-backed solutions help reduce the time spent on manual data entry, improve supply chain visibility, and lowers transportation costs. Contact Zengistics today and learn how its experts can transform your supply chain.
Operating on the world’s first collaborative logistics platform, Zengistics is a technology company that executes freight.