Freight Management Solutions for Courier Companies

With the right strategy, good business sense and reliable freight management software, even smaller courier companies can compete with the big name freight and courier services.

Essentially your potential clients are looking for a courier company that will give reliable service at a reasonable price, by moving your company online and making sure that you look after your client’s needs you can quickly grow your courier or freight company.

There are a few fundamentals to cover in order for your up and coming enterprise to take off and soar with the big boys.

Improving Courier Process Efficiency

The first objective is to streamline the various phases of the delivery and collection process in order to provide a more efficient service. The more efficient your deliveries are, the more deliveries you’ll be able to take on thus resulting in the more money you will be making. With this in mind it may well be worthwhile to invest in a decent freight management software package. 

With a minimal start-up cost you can gain access to all the information you need via an easy to use interface where you can enter waybill information which will assist you in tracking and tracing your parcels in the delivery process.
There are various technologies available for improving your courier process, including the cost effective utilisation of cellular phone technology, by way of sms or text message communication with drivers from dispatch. Real time tracking of deliveries through barcode scanning can be monitored on the internet, by e-mail or by cell phone text messages.

If a delivery passed through the hands of two separate freight companies using the same technology it is possible to track the parcel’s progress all the way to its destination.

Administrative Affairs

Secondly, along with the streamlining of your delivery process, you will need to stay on top of your administration duties. If you choose the right freight management software it will provide you with a complete debtors accounting system, including waybill level receipt allocation for accurate reconciliations of your customer accounts.

Company Image

A third area to focus on is the image and appearance of your company and your employees. All it takes is a bit of pride and self respect. Your employees need to understand that customers do not want scruffy looking people delivering parcels on their behalf. A neat image will portray a professional service. Your corporate clients will especially appreciate this, since you are the front line representation of your client when delivering on their behalf. So it is good for your business to keep your delivery fleet clean; that is the vans and the drivers.

Taking Your Business Online

Taking your business online is very important, especially when trying to compete against bigger established courier and freight companies. One of the more popular functions for an online managed courier company is parcel tracking. This allows your client to log in and enter the details of his parcel and the freight management software discussed above will show where the package is currently located along its delivery route. This helps keep you accountable to your client, and gives some healthy pressure to perform.
Establishing an online presence will also win you more business, as increasingly people are turning to internet search engines to find goods and services, so listing yourself in the yellow pages will not suffice anymore.

Freight Management Software Solution

All the above aspects of your courier or freight shipment business can be improved with the proper use of freight management software. With constantly evolving technology it is possible to improve your business by simply keeping up to date with the latest courier company software.

Efficiency is improved with better communication between dispatch and delivery drivers. Dispatch can allocate deliveries strategically according to driver’s current location and the paperwork is reduced because of electronic scanning capabilities which come as a feature of freight management software for your courier company.
Your administration and book keeping will be simplified, with easier calculation and accurate billing made possible by software features specially developed for the courier industry, so not only will your paperwork be reduced, but the time spent on calculating split billing or other cost adjustments can also be drastically reduced.
Giving your clients the option of tracking their packages online will add to your credibility as a professional courier service, and boost your image in the corporate world.

In short, a good freight management software package can make all the difference to your courier company, giving you that extra touch of professionalism which will allow you to compete with the more established names in the industry.