The freight shipping market is full of challenges due to its changeability. Sometimes, business owners can’t manage to release all their stock, which provokes the accumulation of redundant items. However, particular freight shipping practices like spot shipments can help you arrange additional deliveries and avoid financial losses.
What is a spot shipment?
Spot shipments are spontaneous deliveries emerging as a reaction to the shipping market shifts. Even though you might have planned your logistics operations, it’s often hard to predict the final state of your stock. With many demand forecasting tools available, you can still find a certain amount of extra items lying in a warehouse at the end of a season. Therefore, retailers closely analyze the market to fill in possible demand gaps with their stock.
Besides, spot shipments deal closely with the peak and holiday moving seasons. Since many customer orders pop up unexpectedly, it’s sometimes impossible to cover them all within your scheduled deliveries. It’s when spot shipments come into the game, offering you additional opportunities for transportation.
In other cases, you may be short of carrier capacity when needed. It may happen due to insufficient planning or unpredictable circumstances such as vehicle unit breakage or incorrect paperwork. When your regular carrier can’t provide the required capacity, you may address the spot shipments market to deliver your goods on time.
Finally, spot deliveries are suitable for last-minute shipments when there’s less time for reviewing carrier options thoroughly. Booking spot transportation allows you to distribute more of your products and satisfy a higher number of customers. Thus, shipping in terms of both contract and spot markets will significantly benefit your business.
How to benefit from spot shipments
Adequately organized spot shipments let business owners always stay in the freight shipping race and increase delivery efficiency. Learn what things are worth considering while booking unplanned shipments.
Review your stock
For every retail business owner, it’s critical to pay close attention to the stock turnover. Typically, shippers prepare to face understocking, and often they manage to organize a more intense supply even during the busy season. However, deadstock is no less of a problem. A redundant supply means financial losses from leftover items and unnecessary storage expenses.
You can find a temporary solution in spot shipments in both cases. Suppose you need to book an urgent delivery you haven’t previously discussed with the carrier. Instead of skipping a chance for extra transit, you can look through the spot market and arrange a shipment on the go. Carriers can pick up your packages directly from a warehouse to speed up transportation.
In overstocking situations, shippers try to reduce prices, organize sale programs, or send some items as gifts to their customers. Since you can’t predict the cargo volumes for the sales period, you may thus benefit from spot shipments. Besides, the spot deliveries are perfect for exploring new shipping routes and customer markets that you might later include in your selling area.
Analyze the shipping market
When looking for a suitable carrier capacity for spot shipments, it’s essential to rely on your logistics needs. For example, it’s better not to risk your products’ quality if you can’t find an available reefer truck. Or, don’t try to condense your large item into a small van as it may lead to cargo damage even before the transportation itself.
Also, analyze spot market prices before booking. Retailers frequently fall for cost-effective suggestions without learning background information, which results in poor service and shipping delays. Compare the carrier prices depending on average spot rates to protect yourself from shipping scams and money losses.
Schedule precisely
While booking spot shipments, follow the basic rules of providing shipping information. It must be precise and clear so the spot shipment is uninterrupted and speedy. If there’s a short time for filling out the paperwork in a rush, include the primary shipment details and cargo characteristics.
Try to be to the same extent precise with timing, avoiding being late for the pickup. Extended delays can make the carriers cancel the shipment. Let your shipping provider know in advance if you need extra handling services.
Rely on a professional shipping service
The number one rule of spot shipments is instant booking. Digital shipping platforms like GoShip offer immediate and free quotes, thus making it easy to organize a transit in a few clicks. All you have to do is to choose a suitable shipping mode and type the pickup and delivery locations and shipment dates. Then, we’ll calculate a freight quote for free and suggest a list of available carriers.
It’s also vital to consider your carrier choice criteria. Booking a spot shipment with a cheap but unprofessional service doesn’t make sense, as you’re risking cargo safety and customer loyalty. GoShip cooperates with reliable carriers with an established reputation and quality performance. With us, you can be confident about your spot shipments and expect timely delivery of your packages.