Moving products through the supply chain effectively is essential to business success. A specialized logistics company can help streamline operations and optimize costs. However, choosing a logistics partner involves making tough decisions. You must perform a close examination of your business to determine the best fit for your company.
The following tips for choosing a logistics provider will guide you to make the right choice.
The Strategic Importance of a Logistics Partner
Logistics is the backbone of a business’s success. Whether you need to transport temperature-sensitive goods across state lines, ship wholesale products to distributors or move valuable medical equipment across the country, logistics makes it happen. It ensures the efficient and safe flow of goods through the supply chain, including transportation, asset management, storage and delivery.
A few of the most common challenges in logistics and supply chain management include:
- Reliability & On-Time Performance: Many factors can impact a shipment’s delivery timeline, from traffic to severe weather.
- Visibility & Communication Gaps: Many still lack real-time insight into freight location and accountability.
- Scalability: Handling rises and falls in demand can be difficult, especially for industries with seasonal peaks and valleys.
- Cost Volatility: Rising transportation costs and other factors, such as tariffs and supply chain disruptions, are raising logistics expenses.
Even the best products and companies can fail — shipping delays, fines and missed deliveries can seriously impact revenue. A logistics partner can ensure success by handling your logistics concerns to facilitate the smooth flow of goods through the supply chain, lowering costs and enhancing the customer experience.
7 Tips for Choosing a Logistics Partner
When you’re looking for a logistics provider, many factors must be taken into account. Follow these tips to choose a logistics service provider that ensures long-term operational success.
1. Understand Your Business Needs and Logistics Goals
The first step is to thoroughly assess your existing logistics processes and supply chain requirements. Consider whether your current operations struggle with important areas — such as repeated fines for regulatory mistakes — and what new challenges might arise as you scale up in the future.
It’s also a good idea to explicitly identify your priorities, such as:
- Lower costs by X%
- Increase delivery speeds by X hours
- Implement a policy for guaranteed delivery within X number of days
Having tangible, specific goals for your operations will help you choose a provider who can help you accomplish them.
2. Evaluate Provider Experience and Reputation
While new logistics challenges arise every day with shifting global regulations and technologies, your provider should have a deep history in logistics with a strong reputation serving your industry. Check that your prospective logistics partners have financial stability and a strong reputation for safety.
To learn more about their offerings, ask potential logistics providers the following questions:
- Do you implement supplier diversification?
- What safety training and technology do you use?
- Do you offer both domestic and international shipping solutions?
- What transportation management system do you use?
- Do you provide tailored logistics solutions?
3. Plan for Scalability and Flexibility
Many industries have peaks and valleys throughout the course of the year. If your business fluctuates — for example, it might pick up in the summer months, but taper off in the winter — you need a provider who can scale with you. Otherwise, you risk overpaying for services you don’t need during slower periods and lacking essential services during times of heavier demand. Choosing a scalable provider also protects your revenue if you expand operations.
Whether you need full-truckload (FTL) shipping or white glove final mile delivery, choose a partner that offers scalable solutions that can be tailored to your specific needs. This flexibility will ensure your operations remain consistent and reliable.
4. Ensure Extensive Network Reach and Scalability
The provider you choose needs to be able to go everywhere you need to. When considering their network reach, four key considerations include:
- Geographic coverage: Verify that they have a presence in the regions where you operate.
- Capacity: Can they handle your current operations? The best providers offer a versatile range of services.
- International capabilities: If you already operate globally or want to expand into international markets, ensure your provider can support global logistics and has extensive knowledge of customs clearance requirements.
- Service partnerships: Review whether their network connects them with other service providers and warehouses.
5. Verify Compliance and Adherence to Industry Standards
Verify that your provider is up to date on the latest consumer and road safety laws, customs enforcement and environmental regulations. If you are in a highly regulated industry, like health care or technology, verify that your provider complies with relevant regulations in your industry. You might also want to check that they or their carrier partner holds relevant certifications and memberships to support your industry.
6. Seek Service Customization and Value-Added Offerings
The last thing any business wants is a one-size-fits-all approach to logistics. Service customization is essential to get the most return on your investment while ensuring streamlined operations. Review your logistics partner’s service offerings and whether they can be tailored to suit your unique needs. If you have products with special handling requirements, inquire about their capabilities to handle sensitive, high-value shipments.
You can also look into whether they provide supplemental offerings, like warehousing logistics or project management services. Also, ask if their services expand even further with reverse logistics to handle decommissioned products, returns and recycled goods.
7. Value Customer Support and Communication
Choosing a logistics partner is a big decision, and you want to feel confident that your pick will prioritize your business’s needs. Evaluate their responsiveness and communication. Consistent and clear communication is essential in any partnership, but especially for logistics. Ensure that the company you choose takes the trust you place in them seriously.
Before committing to a logistics provider, ask about their account management. You want a dedicated support team to monitor and manage your logistics operations so you can direct your energy to more important things.
Contact Corrigan Logistics for a Personalized Consultation
Selecting a logistics partner requires serious consideration of their operations, approach and service offerings. Corrigan Logistics can be your partner for logistics solutions such as:
- Transportation
- Warehousing
- Freight forwarding
- Reverse logistics
- Asset management
- Furniture, fixtures and equipment
We assign a team and an account manager to each project, ensuring you get personalized, tailored logistics services that prioritize your unique needs. From the initial call, we’ll work with you to determine your priorities and how we can solve your problems. Explore our testimonials to learn how we’ve helped companies accomplish their goals.
With a history nearly 100 years in the making, Corrigan Logistics has the experience and reputation to ensure success for your business. We partner with top companies in a wide range of industries.
Reach out to our team for a personalized consultation — we look forward to working with you to solve your logistics challenges.
