As part of the shipping process, load and delivery management metrics must be developed for each company and at times each load or shipment. Managers can calculate freight rate charge estimates to see what needs to be passed on to customers and what needs to be made up for elsewhere in the supply chain. Freight calculators can also help with budgeting to ensure suppliers, drivers, employees, and third-party members are all covered. The best freight calculator system allows for flexibility and can be used to focus on a number of specifics. Some of these include fixed-rate fees, fees based on geographical area, the total distance traveled, or any other specific metrics that can impact profit margins.
Every shipping mode and method can benefit from access to accurate, real-time freight data. That is what freight calculators can offer logistics managers and enterprise shippers. For instance, consider these top uses of data and calculators within existing systems:
There are some key points to consider when it comes to how freight calculator metrics can help improve supply chain operations, such as their ability to:
And yet even with all the variety that exists, there’s always a new system or resource that promises to provide more data, more insight and more actionable value for carriers, brokers and shippers alike. Consider the value of system visibility and resource use made by Supply & Demand Chain Executive, “It’s an intelligence tool. Real-time supply chain visibility helps decrease costs, conserve working capital and improve efficiency – all through better understanding and management of supplier performance, warehouse optimization, inventory accuracy, exception control, transportation resource management, delivery velocity and on-time service.” There’s plenty that can affect landed costs. Thus, it’s equally important to understand how the freight management segments can apply an ROI calculator like the one in SONAR’s blog to assess whether such systems are worth the investment.
All calculators are great. They wouldn’t exist if they lacked value, but there’s another side to logistics calculators that logisticians need to consider. A freight calculator and advanced algorithms can be positioned to determine the return on investment (ROI) of a given resource, platform or dataset. Much like SONAR uses data to determine a rate forecast, the right freight calculator processes can make all the difference in the world.
For instance, consider the ROI examples below when looking at slight increases to mileage, load count or the rate per mile, dependent on the segment:
The world of logistics and freight management continues to undergo dramatic shifts in variability, disruption potential, digital transformation and more. The next age of supply chain management depends on the ability to maximize profit margins across each enterprise’s unique business goals, whether that’s keeping freight spend costs per mile as low as possible for shippers or pushing the upper echelon of per-mile rates as a carrier.
Regardless, the right use of freight calculators to quote, compare, plan and decide on the best course of action is the sure-fire way to keep your business moving forward. And since the calculators aren’t going anywhere, it would make sense to grow strategically with all other activities by using near-real-time data to transform small improvements into major business gains. That’s what SONAR offers. Request a FreightWaves SONAR demo to get started, or click the button below.
