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Freight Analysis: Transportation Operations Audit Can Lead to Big Savings

Areas of Expertise

Process Improvement

Sometimes simply improving the way you accomplish work is the answer to your problems. Whether it is simple automation, enhanced reporting, enhancing processes, or eliminating steps, a streamlined process is usually more efficient. In almost all Trans-solutions' engagement we find better ways to accomplish work.

Transportation Operations Audit

When is the last time you had someone take a stem to stern look at your transportation operation? You service your lift trucks, your fleet, your material handling equipment.  Is your transportation network best-in-class?  is your technology old.  Do you have market competitive freight rates?  Are you using the right carrier or service for your freight?  Is your freight auditing solution working for you?  Do you have the right people in place?  How's your bench?  When's the last time you looked at your KPIs?  Does it make sense to outsource or insource?  Trans-solutions will pull you operation apart and put it back together correctly.  What falls out in this process is what's you've been missing for sometimes years.

Software Justification & Selection

What does automation in transportation mean?  Certainly not autonomous vehicles.  How about tools and software that can streamline your processes and capture critical data to run your business?  What it's a Transportation Management System (TMS), Yard Management (YMS), Freight Auditing & Pay (FAP), or better tracking and trace systems, don't overpay for functionality you'll never use.  Trans-solutions' Gap Analysis process enables you to know if it will justify before you buy.

Not all shippers need a Transportation Management System (TMS), but those that do will have specific requirements and expectations from their technology. The big-name players aren't always the right fit, and their one size fits all approach can be damaging to your business. Trans-solutions will take the time to understand your needs before recommending a solution. Quite often the answer is you do not need a TMS at this time!

Track & Trace Enhancement

This area has come a long way in a short period of time.  Are you deploying the right technology in track & trace?  Do you have a handle on your service to customers and carrier performance?  Did you know, you do not have to purchase a TMS to get great track & trace technology?  Let Trans-solutions help bring best-in-class tracking technology to you.

 

Digitization

Get into the twenty second century and get off paper and old methods.  But, what's right for your operation.  Do you need to spend $1,000,000 on a TMS?  Can you incorporate specific technology for a lot less money and accomplish what you need.  Maybe your vendors can do better with providing information on your operation and we build a system to capture and manage it.  Know what you need before you spend one dollar.

Capital Expense Justification (CapEx)

Why is it that vendors end up doing the ROI on CapEx expenditures?  That doesn't have to be.  Let Trans-solutions help you make that decision with clear, financial and operational input to the decision.

Network Design

Have you ever wondered if your DCs are located in the right place given your inbound supplier lanes and your outbound customer footprint? Trans-solutions can help find the optimal solution grounded in the appropriate mix of transit time service and optimal carrier freight costs. We can provide both strategic and practical options for network design.

Carrier Management & Selection

Finding and keeping the right carriers is integral to supply chain management. Not all carriers like the same freight, some specialize in certain modes or industries, as well as geographical footprint. Trans-solutions recommend the carriers that will meet or exceed your expectations while providing a competitive rate on every shipment.

Freight Audit & Claims

You have negotiated your rates and signed a contract, now what? More often than not rates are not loaded properly, and if they are, they aren't followed to the letter of the contract. In some cases, rates are changed per service guides or hidden Terms & Conditions on a website without even a notification or phone call. Let Trans-solutions identify the right audit solution for you and ensure you receive financial claims for non-compliance, and the hard-earned savings you deserve!

We identify opportunities to reduce shipping costs and improve service.

Trans-solutions’ transportation audit service is a comprehensive evaluation of a company’s supply chain program. The objective: identify opportunities to improve service and drive cost savings of 5% to 25%. Trans-solutions’ freight and logistics audits have saved companies more than $150 million.

For more information on the value of transportation operations audits, read our paper:
“Transportation Audits Can Uncover Huge Freight Savings.”

An improved approach to transportation and logistics operations audits

Our analysis approach is not the easy, “quick fix" variety -- it's comprehensive.

Yes, we have a uniform transportation audit methodology. But the process is comprehensive and a typical audit will take between 8 to 12 weeks, depending on the complexity of your supply chain program. We look at every aspect, including why and how you execute certain functions. We compare all key measures of transportation efficiency – rates, shipping performance, and staffing – to industry benchmarks and use these comparisons to identify areas of greatest opportunity.

Our final deliverable is a detailed logistics audit report with actionable recommendations aimed at improving shipping performance and efficiency. And we show you exactly how we arrived at our recommendations, so you have the hard data you need to defend suggested changes within your company.

Key questions a transportation operations audit will address

  1. Can you hit service level targets with your current distribution network?
  2. Are your freight rates too high?
  3. Do you utilize a spend cube to keep an eye on your cost and performance in transportation?
  4. Are you using carriers that can offer you the best service at the best rate?
  5. Are you auditing freight bills and is your audit process effective?
  6. Do you have the appropriate technology employed to optimize freight movements?
  7. How do your staffing levels compare with those of similar-size companies?
  8. Can your current program support future growth plans?
  9. Do you have the correct personnel in place to take you into the future?
  10. Would using brokers / forwarders benefit your operation?
  11. Should you be using different modes of transportation?