8 Proven Strategies for Lowering Transportation Costs

Running a successful business requires managing costs effectively—transportation being a significant one for many companies. However, in today’s challenging economic environment, businesses are looking to go beyond simply managing costs to lowering them.

The good news is that there are many actions you can take to do exactly that. This article provides details on how to reduce what you spend on transportation.

Moving Your Business Forward for Less

Whether it’s inbound raw materials and components or outbound products, the movement of resources is the lifeblood of every business that produces or sells goods.

Getting everything where it needs to be when it needs to be there is a complex process. However, that complexity means there are many points at which you can make improvements that increase efficiency and lower your costs. And that’s how companies tend to achieve big savings—through small cost reductions across many areas.

Here are eight ways you can make your transportation operations more cost-effective:

1. Optimize drivers’ routes. “Taking the scenic route” does more than waste fuel and increase travel time (and, consequently, increase your expenses), although those losses can be costly. For drivers who make multiple stops, a poorly planned route can mean more loading or unloading work at each location. It can also mean that a semi trailer has an unbalanced load during much of its trek, which can affect everything from equipment wear and tear to safety.

So, a little time spent optimizing the path a driver takes between pickup or dropoff points can significantly affect your transportation budget.

2. Monitor your drivers. Recording data from your trucks and semi trailers can reveal all kinds of opportunities for improvement. For example, suppose you determine that a particular driver is accelerating and decelerating a little more vigorously than they should. You can point that out in a positive manner and encourage them to be a little gentler on the…