Leading Freight Consultants
Is Your Freight Contract Still Working for You?
Offices located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland & SE Asia
Companies that Trust Us
Why Is It So Hard To Find A Fair Freight Contract?
Providers Negotiate Contracts All Day
In the freight and logistics industry, service providers negotiate contracts all day, whilst their customers might only review the terms occasionally. This imbalance of experience means customers often miss the subtle clauses and conditions that favour the providers. Without expert guidance, businesses will agree to terms that don’t protect them from demand fluctuations or rising costs.
So Many Providers
Most companies only look at 30% of the service provider market when sourcing contracts. This narrow view can cost businesses dearly, as many don’t have exposure to enough providers. The mix of providers they choose might not be right for their business needs, especially for companies with special requirements.
Shifting Sands
Gaps between contractual service standards and actual delivery tend to appear and widen over time, and that can turn a good deal into a bad one. This drift is caused by changes in volumes, changes in delivery patterns, changing customer expectations, market rate fluctuations, and provider operational changes. Regular contract reviews and performance monitoring are key to ensuring your freight and logistics contracts continue to work for your business. Without proper oversight, these gaps can impact both service and cost. Freight contracts are one of three areas we cover in our transport consulting work, alongside fleet composition and route optimisation.
Getting Maximum Value from your Freight Contracts
Getting max value from freight contracts isn’t easy. If you don’t have experienced logistics specialists involved in your negotiations, you might not feel confident that your contracts are serving you as well as they should. Many companies find themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with sophisticated logistics providers who negotiate contracts daily.
If your company is already locked into one or more freight contracts, you might be shocked to find that they’re not delivering the most attractive mix of service and price. Our logistics experts frequently identify opportunities for significant cost savings and service improvements in existing contracts. Before those contracts end, it makes sense to find out for sure and prepare to negotiate future contracts offering a more balanced distribution of value.
At Logistics Bureau, we keep tabs on the freight service-provider market because it’s a core focus in our client commitment. Our team maintains deep relationships with logistics providers worldwide, giving us unique insights into market rates, service capabilities, and industry trends.
If you’d like to get an idea of how the prices and services of your freight contracts could be improved, you’re welcome to chat with one of our Freight Consultants located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Bangkok and Vietnam today.
Our assignments have ranged across the world and include countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States & Vietnam.
To discuss the ways to get the best deal for your freight contract, click the button to book a call with one of our Freight Consultants.
Freight Contract Negotiation: We’ll Help You Get it Right
The principles of freight contract negotiation are fairly straightforward.
A favourable outcome for your company should include the following four steps:
- Establishing your freight needs
- Determining the type of services best suited to those needs
- Selecting the most suitable freight companies
- Negotiating appropriate rate structures
Time, effort, and specific expertise are required to complete the steps listed above. Resource constraints can often stand in the way of completing any of the steps in a way that will get you the best possible outcome, especially if logistics is not a core competency in your organisation.
That’s where it helps to have some skilled and dedicated specialists on your side. It’s true that this comes at a cost, but with the possibility of freight rate savings in double figures, the payback makes bringing in some external help a very worthwhile investment.
Would you like to negotiate your next freight contracts with a strong likelihood of reducing your costs by 8 to 15%?
That’s the typical range of freight cost savings that we’ve identified in assessments for 72% of our clients. We can assist you to achieve those levels, drawing on our comprehensive knowledge of freight service providers, their operations, standards, and cost drivers.
With no affiliations to any logistics service providers, we’re here to help you understand your needs, identify the most suitable general or specialist freight carriers to meet them, and most of all, to make sure you receive the right service at a realistic rate.
Our contract negotiation services range from advisory support, through to full involvement in the procurement process, and can include any or all of the following:
- Gap analysis – to identify gaps between service standards and delivery
- Service specifications – presented in a way that encourages high-quality responses from carriers
- Tendering assistance – helping you decide whether to consolidate or use specialists, how wide to cast your provider net, and which mix of providers gives you the most flexibility
- Contract negotiation – yielding transparent, cost-efficient outcomes
- Implementation – we’ll support your transition to a new contract and help you implement effectively
More Than 100 Freight Contracts Negotiated – And Counting
Logistics Bureau’s track record of successful freight and transport contract negotiation is the result of in-depth industry research and application of our findings in real-world settings.
We work with all modes of transportation, and know how to engage service providers in dialogue driven by data and a prescriptive approach founded on comprehensive understanding of their needs and cost drivers.
We’ve completed projects in more than 30 countries, including, of course, Australia and New Zealand, but also in Asia, as well as North and South America.
We have significant exposure to the capabilities of a broad range of transport service providers operating across all industry sectors.
It All Starts With a 15-Minute Call
Do you have a freight contract to renegotiate imminently? Are you planning to tender for freight transportation services?
Before you take the next steps, take a 15-minute call with one of our freight contract specialists. It costs nothing, and might be just what you need to get more value from your negotiations.
On your free advisory call we will provide:
- A mini-review of your current freight contracts.
- A high-level assessment of the possible savings opportunities, or areas where value could be improved.
- An initial action plan for you to work with.
At the end of the call you’ll have gained some clarity on the elements of your freight contract(s) that you might be able to improve upon, and how we could help if you choose to engage us in your negotiation process.
Where You’ve Seen Us
Take the First Steps to an Informed Freight Contract Negotiation
Do you need answers to some specific questions about a freight contract or the rates you are paying?
Would you like some more in-depth advice about freight contract negotiation, or to talk about how we can help you make cost savings and gain service improvements?
Fill in the quick form to chat with a Logistics Bureau Freight Consultant
You can also call us on +61 (2) 8212 9775 or Contact Us HERE.
Talk soon!
Rob O’Byrne
