You can hardly find a modern business that can cope without the help of professional freight forwarders. It’s a must to cooperate with a competent logistics broker if you desire to get your supplies on time or to deliver your products to final consumers without delays. No wonder, business owners are ready to spend lots of time, nerves, money and effort trying to find their ideal logistics partners.
Yet, whether you like it or not, even the truck logistics companies with the highest ratings possess certain drawbacks you should know about. When hiring a forwarder, you have to take into account the following pitfalls:
- A limited number of both carriers and trucks.
You can hardly find a logistics company that doesn’t promise to provide you with the needed number of trucks and containers as soon as possible. The thing is the fleet of every agency is limited. Sooner or later you are to face the situation when you can’t get the needed number of vans.
There are several steps you should take to avoid possible delays and financial losses. The first one is choosing a company with a significant fleet. It’s not a good idea to hire a solo carrier and hope that he will cope with your copious orders in no time. By the way, for forwarders, it’s not obligatory to have their own vans. It’s enough to be good at networking with carriers throughout the country. The second step is to make up a backup plan. It may imply the use of the intermodal transportation of the cargo, for instance.
- The risks of delays are high.
Even when it comes to hot shot truck logistics, delays are still possible. To avoid them, it’s necessary to plan your shipments in advance.
- A lack of licenses.
In case of emergency, you definitely want to rely on your insurance. It won’t work if you cooperate with illegal forwarders. Unfortunately, such situations are not rare. Thus, it’s of prime importance to check all the licenses and permissions before you sign up for an agreement.
- Untrained staff.
Many freight forwarding companies tend to save as much money as possible. No wonder, they hire inexperienced workers who know nothing about logistics. No wonder, mistakes or errors happen. They may lead not only to delays but also to significant financial losses and cargo damages.
- False reviews.
Good digital marketing is able to create real wonders. Unfortunately, they are not always positive. On the Internet, you may find lots of cool reviews about the forwarder you are going to cooperate with. Yet, after you hire the specialists, it appears that all the reviews were false and workers are not able to cope with the tasks. Thus, although you should not ignore reviews, you have to search for them wisely. It’s better to visit thematic blogs and chats. It would be great if you can contact former (or regular clients) of the agency. By the way, both only positive and negative reviews are not good.
So, the right choice of a good freight forwarder is a really hard task. There are too many aspects you have to pay attention to. It’s cool if you are able to cooperate with a regular and reliable logistics broker who knows all your tasks and requirements.