How to Lower Your Freight Costs as Transportation Prices Soar

It’s inevitable. Recent trends show your freight costs are going to increase through 2014. 

Pallets and freight can be a major expense for your company. If you do ignore current trends, the costs of shipping your product will increase!

The Nelson Tech Center can help you keep these expenses in line with Transportation Cost Modeling.

How do we lower your costs with Transportation Cost Modeling?

1. Review and Analyze
2. Modeling
3. Field Trials and Lab Testing

Review and Analyze
We analyze your current pallet designs, verify that they are not only acceptable for product protection but are also optimized for transportation. Our opportunity analysis includes:

• Review LTL. Will another pallet lower the LTL Class?
• Review trailer cube options to maximize usable product volumes.
• Analyze if a lighter pallet would allow more products when weighing out a trailer.
• Analyze the best unit load and pallet when dimming out a trailer.

Modeling
We run the analysis and identify best opportunities for cost savings. Modeling allows us to document your current state and compare it to available options. Modeling allows us to better evaluate these potential options and determine how to save you the most money!

Field Trials and Lab Testing
We prove out the results with lab testing at one of our regional labs or set up field trials at your location. Following testing, we will provide you with a cost savings end result that you can use to start improving your bottom line.

I recently spoke at ISTA TransPack Forum in Orlando, Florida and published a more detailed summary of Nelson's system-based approach for saving transportation costs for the Modern Materials Handling Blog. Here you'll see there are smarter ways to lower your transportation costs than negotiating a savings of pennies on your pallet designs.

What is your plan for reducing the impact of rising freight costs on your business? Start your plan with an Opportunity Analysis from Nelson Technical Center - typical first-time analysis savings is 10%!  

Post by: John Clarke, Technical Director