With the combined forces of Brexit and Covid-19, 2020 has been a difficult year for UK business. While in some sectors demand is high, supply, staffing and restrictions have placed a significant financial burden on many SMEs. There is a very real need to re-evaluate processes and procedures in order to get costs down. And while freighting is an essential part of your business, there are still ways to reduce your overheads.
Five Tips for Reducing Your Freighting Overheads
1. Reassess your packaging
Obviously, when you’re sending anything anywhere, from a letter to a two-tonne load, you want it to reach its destination in its intended condition. So, packaging is important. But that’s not to say that you don’t have any room for improvement. Space is usually the key factor when it comes to freight rates. If you’re looking to reduce your overheads, then see if there’s anything you can do to reduce this aspect of your shipments.
2. Explore economy freight options
Whether you’re looking at national, European or cross-trade shipping, there are always economy options available. At Plexus Freight, we even often an express economy service, which means that your goods still move from A to B in the shortest amount of time possible. They’ll just not have a truck all to themselves. Because we make collections from all over Europe on a daily basis, we have the flexibility to offer these services 24/7, across the UK and Europe.
3. Reduce the frequency of your shipments
Your ability to reduce the frequency of your shipments will depend entirely upon the nature of the goods that you handle. But if you’re not working with perishables, increasing the size of your shipments and reducing their frequency can help to shrink your costs. While there will always be exceptions to this rule, you will usually find that shipping in bulk will be cheaper than sending the same amount of goods in multiple smaller consignments.
4. Arrange a regular freight contract
Like any business, most good freighters will offer a concession to regular customers. If you’re able to agree a fixed volume shipment on a fixed timetable, rather than ad hoc deliveries, you will typically receive concessionary prices.
5. Look at your shrinkage
Shrinkage is an inevitable part of any business. In the import/export sector, shrinkage can come from breakages, loss, theft and basic poor management. Working with a freighter with a strong reputation for security and safety can help with this. Inventory management programmes, attention to packaging and working with a freight forwarder can all also be beneficial. Reduce your losses and your margins will inevitably increase.
When you’re looking to reduce costs, it can be difficult to see how minor economies can change the bigger picture. But as the marketing guys at Tesco once said, ‘every little helps’. And you’ll be surprised at home quickly the little economies add up.
