What you need to know when finding or selecting the transportation freight carrier

Finding or selecting a transportation carrier is the crucial decision you will make in your business. This is because when your orders aren’t shipped on time and damaged, you’ll have likely lost a client. Like it or not, freight shipping service could make or break your company, and they are an extension of your business. The transportation and trucking business is enormous. On a usual day in the US, approximately 43 million tons of goods, valued at 

roughly $29 billion, moved almost 12 billion ton-miles on the countries interconnected transportation network. These local numbers are according to the BTS and provide you a simple snapshot of the importance of this sector. It’s staggering how important this business is with regards to moving your goods.

​Truckload
This is where the number of loads fills the truck typically. The owner of the shipments is paying the cost for a full load to deliver from point A to Point B. 

Consignor: Shipper, firm or individual who delivers a consignment to a carrier for transporting it to a buyer named in the transportation documents. Ownership of the freight remains with the consignor until the consignee pays for them in full. 

Consignee: Individual to whom merchandise is delivered over to or receiver. 

TDG: Transportation of Dangerous Good. A rile utilized to make sure safe delivery as well as identification of hazardous goods.
 
Air Freight Services: Carriage paid for cargos or loads transported in air cargo.

We have put together some guidelines we hope will assist you to choose by choosing the best shipping service for your company or organization. 

• Request routing and coverage areas, smaller companies interline or join forces with other networks. 
• Ask regarding fleet size. Do they own their truck, how significant is their fleet as well as do they sub-contract work. 
• How long the company has been in the business.
• Ask a copy of their Spill response plan
• Emergency response plan
• Does the company have a safety coordinator on staff? How do they handle training? Get copies of all documents and certifications for processing goods and proof driver certifications. When you are shipping toilet papers this might not be in your priority list but if you’re moving fuel, chemicals or other products that can damage the environment much of the above applies. 
• Safety Records – A sample of an accident examination done in their organization.
• Request for their damage claim background
• Copy of their liability insurance, you might need to ask anywhere from five to ten million depending on commodities they ship on your behalf. 
• Workers compensation coverage

These are only a couple of the area you might need to target in assessing and choosing your service provider. 

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