P.O. Box 1498
Windsor, CA 95492
ph: 707-888-2331
alt: 707-326-0889
winddeli
Some companies still use Tariff Bureaus to set their initial rates and then offer various discounts to various customers based on the ‘competitive factors’ such as current rate trends, frequency, volume, commodity, location, etc. Pre-1983, all trucking companies belonged to a Tariff Bureau and were government regulated in both rates and services. In today’s deregulated environment, most companies establish their own particular rates based on their specialty of service, individual costs and profit goals.
By far, the most difficult challenge we face in our company operations is that of providing a rate quote that is acceptable for both the customer and us. Being competitive is much easier said than done. Ideally, we would simply establish our rates based on our operating costs with an established profit margin. Truth is competition plays the biggest factor of all; as it should. Competition among providers has always held prices in check for businesses; thus the deregulation. The challenge is to not let competition degrade your rates to the point that you are financially unable to operate. For this reason, rates are first established based on operating costs with a built in profit goal and then must be adjusted for the competitive factors. Then services and functions must be consolidated each day to bring the operating costs down, thereby bringing the profit margins back in site and remaining financially able to operate. All the while, still meeting the specific needs of each customer.
What it comes down to for every carrier is where the freight is moving to and from, referred to as a “Lane”. A lane can cover city to city, county to county, state to state, or region to region. Each carrier tends to operate within specific lanes and sets their rates accordingly. Less than truckload (LTL) shipments that fall outside a carrier’s particular lane will always be the most expensive rates. The difference between carriers, large or small, is the established service lanes. Large carriers tend to operate primarily in state to state or region to region lanes, while the smaller carriers tend to operate primarily in city to city and county to county lanes. Both large and small carriers may occasionally deviate from these primary lanes when profitable, such as with full or volume loads to a singular destination. However, it is the established lanes that will provide the defining factor to the majority of their rates.
Simply put, if you fill the truck up and go to one location at a particular distance and time, your charge per shipment can be less than if you are transporting only single LTL pallets to multiple locations. In daily trucking operations a carrier doesn’t know with certainty how many pallets from how many shippers they are actually going to have on the truck that day unless they are working with a ‘repeat daily volume.’ Setting rates for a customer that ships daily volumes with your trucking company is quite simple as it tends to define your actual daily operating costs. The once in a while, occasional LTL shipments tend to blur your operating costs and profits rather than to define them and therefore are much more difficult to establish rates for. Conversely, with daily volumes covering your operating costs it can also be easy to add the occasional shipment into the day. This is true for all carriers, large and small.
To get the fastest quote for our local service areas, LTL and Truckload, call Nick Cerino at 707-888-2331 or
Cesar Cabezas at 707-326-0889. You'll have your quote in a matter of moments.
For all quotes you can send us an email to our general mailbox at
winddeliveryservices@gmail.com
and we will respond promptly. Be sure to provide all the following information for your quote as well as your contact information:
1.Where you are shipping From.
2.Where you are shipping To.
3.Number of Pallets you are shipping.
4.Total combined weight of all pallets shipping.
5.Description of Product you are shipping.
6.Date you want your shipment to be picked up.
P.O. Box 1498
Windsor, CA 95492
ph: 707-888-2331
alt: 707-326-0889
winddeli