If you run a small trucking company, you know that you must always maximize your earning potential. Buying trucks, hiring drivers, and paying salesmen can get very expensive. The cost of insurance and taxes can often put a trucking business in the red.
One way to make sure you make all the money you can is to plan your hauls carefully. You want to use every inch of available space in your trucks. You also want to make sure that trucks are loaded in a logical order so that your drivers will not have to spend a lot of time loading and unloading them. You want to make sure you are taking a route that will allow your driver to get from one location to another quickly, but you do not want to have to pay for a lot of permits along the way,
According to Simplex Group – freight planning services, the best way to maximize your truck space and avoid deadhead loads is to use a professional freight planner. Although you might think a freight planner is just an additional expense, they can actually save you quite a bit of money in the long run.
There are several things a freight planner can do to make your loads more profitable.
Strategic Loading
A freight planner’s main job is to combine shipments in a way that will save you money. The fewer trucks you use, the more money you will save. A freight planner will look at the destinations of all the hauls you must take and figure out which packages should ride in the same truck. They will ensure that the cargo you are carrying requires the same basic types of permits and insurance.
They will load the boxes strategically as well. They look at the size of your truck and the size of each box going into your truck.
A freight planner will look at the route you are going to take and the stops that you have to make along the way. They will use computer software to figure out the best way to load boxes into your truck.
Sharing Trucks
A freight planning company will work with more than just one trucking company and can arrange for you to share trucks with other trucking companies in your area. This will save you time, gas mileage, and money.
Planning Lanes
The route you take to get from one place to another is very important. It may seem like the easiest way to get from one place to another is to take the route that involves the least miles. However, this is not always true. There are some states that have taxes, and permanent fees are higher than others. Hence, it may be worthwhile to drive around a state rather than through it.
Freight planning is a worthwhile investment. Planning your loads and routes carefully will put you on the road to success.
