how a company saves on transportation — OfficeLife
Over the past year, prices for cargo transportation, taking into account international ones, increased by almost 22%, and rates within Belarus – by 40%. Such concrete figures International Freight Exchange ATI.SU. Since the beginning of 2022, prices have been explained at an even faster rate, with no reduction in borders at EU borders. OL elected as a company can save in such situations on transportation.
Minimize the role of intermediaries
One of the significant factors in the price of cargo transportation is intermediaries, says Tatyana Soldatenko, director of the ATI.SU Freight Exchange company. The discussion is about dispatchers and firms that receive an order from a consignor and transfer it to a contractor. Their mark-up for services on the Belarusian market varies from 15 to 50%.
Another point: the more complex and longer the chain of counterparties, the greater the risks for the shipper. Here, confusion with documents is unlikely, a problem on one of the chosen paths may go unnoticed, and in an undesirable scenario, the intermediary and find may turn out to be a fraudster.
It will not be possible to completely get rid of intermediaries, Tatyana Soldatenko believes, but it is possible to calculate the costs of their services. The fact is that about 50% of carriers on the Belarusian market are responsible entrepreneurs, often they are also drivers. Ultimately, they play an important role in finding shippers and paperwork.
How to do it?
The easiest way to reduce the role of intermediaries is through digital platforms where shipping companies post information about orders and the search for contractors. The result is a fast process for both shippers and carriers.
In addition, around such platforms, as a rule, a whole ecosystem of services is preserved – electronic document management, a verification and monitoring system, and many others that are occupied by companies that work directly with performers.
As an example – through auctions, in the presence of the performers themselves, and where, due to greater efficiency, a significant price reduction can be achieved. When digitalizing end-to-end bidding for a competition among freight carriers, the forwarder sets a fixed percentage of the price in advance.
What if they are scammers?
Tatyana Soldatenko says that any changes in the company are recorded on existing services – from the sale of a fleet by a carrier to a change in its activities. This avoids cooperation with unscrupulous performers.
In addition, online platforms are being used that already use artificial intelligence algorithms. They record drastic changes in user behavior: if their account suddenly falls into the hands of scammers, there is a lack of activity and even abnormally high rates.
In general, exchanges already allow companies to synchronize their accounting programs. As a result, more and more data will be calculated automatically, and manual labor becomes less. This reduces the cost of processes, the average time spent on the operation and minimizes errors.