Shipping Services

Looking at ways to get your product out the door

By Jennifer Baljko, Freelance Writer and Editor

There are loads of choices for shipping, with seemingly more options every day. Besides selecting plane, truck or boat shipments, you can choose if you want your packages to arrive the next day, the next month, or in time for the next big seasonal shopping spree a couple quarters out. How you approach your shipping strategy will depend on:

The kinds of products you are shipping, and if special handling is required
The volume of goods being shipped
The customer's requested delivery date

Look at the major players

The major international shippers have online centers with rates, tools, even financing tailored to small business.
Try: Compare the deals at the small-business sites of DHL, FedEx, U.S. Postal Service and UPS, which provides small-business loans. FedEx allows you to reorder office supplies.

For big loads, find a specialist

If your shipping needs go beyond small volume pick-ups, talk to specialists in truckload and cargo container shipments.
Try: The Shipping International directory lists specialist shippers.

Shop around

Get an idea of how much services will cost and request a competitive quote from several vendors. This is especially handy if your shipping needs are changing.
Try: OneEntry has an easy Web interface that can run different shipping scenarios and generate quotes for small-volume shipments, parcels and commercial freight. Quotes are emailed or faxed back to you.

Use your connections

You may be able to get group discounts from shippers through business organizations you join.
Try: The National Business Association teamed with DHL to offer a group rate.

Consolidate services

If you have multiple types of documents, boxes, special-handling requests and delivery locations, you may want to think about consolidating everything through a clearinghouse type of provider.
Try: With Unishippers, for example, you get one invoice, for multiple carriers for domestic or international mail, expedited delivery or freight shipments.

Be flexible, and make sure you can quickly tweak your shipping strategy as customer needs evolve and supply and demand fluctuates.
Monitor your shipping activity in three- or six-month time blocks; as your shipping volumes change, renegotiate shipping prices and service level agreements. As you better at understand your shipping needs, hammer out longer-term pricing agreements.
Evaluate shipping and logistics software tools that can link into finance, inventory and manufacturing systems. Analyzing combined data points may improve customer service, time-to-market opportunities and competitive advantage.