What are the best practices for transportation management?

2 Choose the right transportation partners and platforms

One of the most important decisions you will make in transportation management is choosing the right partners and platforms that will support your transportation goals and needs. You should select the modes and carriers that offer the best value, quality, and reliability for your shipments, taking into account factors such as capacity, availability, speed, flexibility, and safety. You should also leverage the technology and software that can help you automate, streamline, and optimize your transportation processes, such as transportation management systems (TMS), GPS tracking, route optimization, or freight audit and payment. You should evaluate and compare different options based on their features, benefits, costs, and compatibility with your existing systems and processes.

4 Communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders

Transportation management is not a solo activity, but a collaborative one that involves various stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers, carriers, drivers, regulators, or third-party logistics providers. You should communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders effectively to ensure smooth and seamless transportation operations. You should establish clear roles and responsibilities, expectations and standards, policies and procedures, and feedback and reporting mechanisms for each stakeholder. You should also share relevant and timely information, data, and insights with your stakeholders to facilitate coordination, transparency, and problem-solving.

5 Monitor and control your transportation performance

The final best practice for transportation management is to monitor and control your transportation performance to ensure that you are meeting your goals and metrics, and to identify and address any issues or risks. You should collect and analyze your transportation data and KPIs regularly to measure your performance, compare it with your benchmarks and targets, and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. You should also implement corrective and preventive actions to resolve any deviations, errors, or inefficiencies in your transportation processes, such as adjusting rates, renegotiating contracts, or improving quality. You should also conduct periodic reviews and audits of your transportation performance to ensure compliance, accuracy, and improvement.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?