Understanding Carrier Management: Why It Matters and Why Email Isn’t Enough

Understanding Carrier Management: Why It Matters and Why Email Isn’t Enough

When it comes to running a successful logistics operation, managing your carriers is absolutely essential. Whether you’re coordinating a handful of trucks or working with a network of carriers and brokers, how you handle these relationships can make or break your business in terms of efficiency, cost savings, and overall success.

Let’s talk about Joe from Acme Widget Co. If you haven’t met Joe yet, he’s the logistics manager who learned firsthand how even small businesses can benefit from a Transportation Management System (TMS). In this article, we’re revisiting Joe to explore how he initially thought he could manage his carriers just fine with email. After all, it didn’t seem like enough of a task to justify investing in a system. But as Joe found out, what works “fine” for now can quickly become a headache as your business grows.

The Email Approach: Fine for Now, But…

Joe started out like many logistics managers do—using email to manage carrier relationships. It seemed simple enough. He could negotiate rates, schedule pickups, and deal with any issues directly from his inbox. It worked well for a while, especially when Acme Widget Co. was still growing. But as the company expanded, Joe began to notice some cracks in the process.

Let’s dive into Joe’s world at Acme Widget Co., where he wears the hat of logistics manager. Over time, Joe has learned that managing carriers is more than just coordinating shipments—it’s about building and optimizing relationships with the freight carriers that keep Acme’s products moving.

What Exactly Is Carrier Management?

In essence, carrier management is the process that Joe uses to ensure that every shipment Acme Widget Co. sends out is handled by the best possible carrier, at the best possible rate, and arrives on time. This involves:

• Selecting the right carriers: Joe needs to choose the carriers that can handle Acme’s specific shipment needs, whether it’s a small local delivery or a large cross-country haul.
• Negotiating rates: To keep costs down, Joe is always in discussions with carriers to secure the best rates for Acme’s shipments.
• Tracking performance:  It’s not enough to just send out shipments—Joe has to monitor how well carriers are performing. Are they delivering on time? Are there issues with damaged goods?
• Ensuring compliance:  Joe must also ensure that all carriers Acme works with are compliant with industry regulations and insurance requirements. This reduces the risk of legal issues and keeps the business running smoothly.

The ultimate goal for Joe? To create a seamless flow of goods from Acme’s warehouse to its customers, minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency along the way.

Why Carrier Management Is Critical

Understanding what carrier management involves is just the beginning. For Joe and his team at Acme Widget Co., it’s clear that carrier management isn’t just a logistical task—it’s a core function of their entire operation.

Carrier management is Joe’s path to executing successful deliveries, which is arguably the most crucial part of closing a sale. After all, if Acme Widget Co. can’t deliver its products to customers, it doesn’t matter how great the products are. The business would struggle to turn a profit, and staying afloat would become increasingly difficult.

For Joe, effective carrier management is about more than just getting products from point A to point B. It’s about ensuring that Acme Widget Co. can continue to thrive, build strong relationships with carriers, and keep customers happy by delivering on promises.

Why Managing Carriers Over Email Just Isn’t Enough

Joe at Acme Widget Co. quickly learned that managing carriers via email wasn’t cutting it as the company grew. While email might work in the early stages, the complexities of carrier management require a more robust solution. At its core, carrier management involves four key areas:

1. Carrier onboarding
2. Carrier approval to haul for your business
3. Carrier profile management
4. Carrier KPI's and score carding.

These steps form the lifecycle of a carrier relationship—similar to how you’d manage any other vendor. But let’s break down why handling this entire process over email falls short.

1. Carrier Onboarding: More Than Just Gathering Documents

When Joe first meets a potential carrier, the onboarding process begins. This involves collecting critical information:

• W9 Forms
• Insurance Documentation
• Carrier Authority Documentation
• MC Number / DOT Number
• Contact Details
• Payment Information
• Address Information

In some cases, there’s also a contract that needs signing by both parties. Managing this via email can quickly become chaotic. Documents get lost, follow-ups are missed, and the process drags on longer than necessary. For Joe, trying to keep track of all these documents and communications across multiple email threads was a nightmare.

2. Carrier Approval: Ensuring They’re Fit to Haul

Once Joe collects all the necessary documents, it’s time for approval. This step isn’t just about checking off boxes—it’s about ensuring the carrier is fully qualified and safe to work with. One critical area that businesses, including Acme Widget Co., often underestimate is insurance validity and the overall legitimacy of the carrier. With freight-related fraud on the rise, proper vetting is more crucial than ever. If you're interested to understand how critical, check out this blog from Highway, a leading carrier identity platform

Managing this approval process over email left Joe vulnerable to mistakes. Without a centralized system, verifying and validating the information was cumbersome. The risk of allowing an unverified carrier to haul Acme’s freight was too high—a mistake that could cost the company dearly.

3. Carrier Profile Management: Keeping Everything Up-to-Date

Carrier information isn’t static. Insurance policies renew, contact details change, and performance data evolves. Joe found it nearly impossible to keep all this information current when everything was spread across countless email threads.

Emails aren’t designed to handle dynamic data, and relying on them led to outdated information slipping through the cracks. The result? Increased risk, inefficiency, and missed opportunities for optimization.

4. Carrier KPIs and Score carding: Measuring Performance

Joe knew that simply onboarding and approving carriers wasn’t enough. Tracking performance through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and maintaining a scorecard is essential to ensure that carriers meet Acme Widget Co.’s standards. However, trying to track and measure performance via email was next to impossible.

With no centralized data or reporting tools, Joe couldn’t easily assess which carriers were excelling and which were underperforming. This lack of insight made it difficult to optimize Acme’s logistics operations and ensure that only the best carriers were being used.

The Takeaway: Email is Not Enough

Joe’s experience at Acme Widget Co. illustrates a key lesson: managing carriers over email may seem convenient, but it’s far from effective. From onboarding to performance tracking, the risks and inefficiencies of an email-based approach can quickly become overwhelming.

Why a Transportation Management System with a built in Carrier Management Portal is Essential

So now that we’ve identified that yes, it’s possible to manage your entire logistics and carrier network over email, it begs the question: If this is such a critical part of a business, why is email considered good enough?

Imagine if a business handled all its accounting operations purely through email or if the sales team relied solely on email to manage their deal pipeline. It simply doesn’t happen because these are critical functions that directly impact the success of the business. They require dedicated systems that ensure efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

Carrier management is just as critical to a logistics team’s job. It’s the backbone of ensuring that your products reach customers on time, in good condition, and at the lowest possible cost. Relying on email alone to manage these relationships is akin to driving without a GPS—you might get there eventually, but the journey will be far more difficult, and the chances of getting lost or delayed are high.

Now, let’s dig into why a transportation management system with a built- in carrier management portal, like Pulse, is not just a nice-to-have but a must-have for businesses serious about optimizing their logistics operations.

1. Efficiency and Organization

With a Carrier Management Portal, all your carrier information, communications, and documents are centralized in one place. No more digging through countless emails to find a contract or chasing down an approval—everything is organized and accessible with just a few clicks. This not only saves time but also ensures that nothing slips through the cracks.

2. Real-Time Data and Insights

Emails don’t provide real-time insights, which means you’re always a step behind. A TMS with built- in carrier management offers real-time data on carrier performance, shipment statuses, and compliance. This allows your team to make informed decisions on the fly, optimizing routes, avoiding delays, and ensuring that your carriers are meeting their obligations.

3. Scalability for Growth

As your business grows, so does the complexity of your logistics operations. Managing this growth over email is simply not sustainable. A TMS with a built-in Carrier Management Portal scales with your business, allowing you to easily add new carriers, manage more shipments, and handle increased volume without the chaos that email management would bring.

4. Risk Management and Compliance

One of the most significant risks in logistics is working with carriers who don’t meet compliance standards or who are involved in fraudulent activities. A Carrier Management Portal automates the compliance process, ensuring that every carrier you work with is thoroughly vetted and continuously monitored. This reduces the risk of legal issues and protects your business from potential losses.

5. Improved Collaboration

In a logistics operation, collaboration is key. A Carrier Management Portal facilitates better communication and collaboration across your team and with your carriers. Everyone has access to the same information, reducing the likelihood of miscommunications and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

The Bottom Line: Don’t Settle for “Good Enough”

Relying on email might seem like a simple solution, but when it comes to something as critical as carrier management, “good enough” just doesn’t cut it. Your logistics operation deserves a tool that’s designed to handle the complexities and challenges of managing carriers, one that not only makes your job easier but also drives better results for your business.

Ready to take your carrier management to the next level? Don’t let email hold you back. Schedule a demo with Pulse today and see how it can transform your logistics operations from chaotic to streamlined, from reactive to proactive.

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