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Operations

[ProShip ParcelCast] Episode 33: Your Guide to Parcel Rate Shopping: Types, Tactics, and Takeaways

Are you an enterprise shipper grappling with the challenges of rate shopping, where finding the fastest option can lead to overspending your transportation budget? For businesses like yours, the choice often extends beyond speed and cost-effectiveness; volume constraints and budget considerations add layers of complexity.

Shippers around the world face challenges like this on a daily basis. With a multitude of carrier and service options at your disposal, how do you equip your supply chain with the right shipping technology to make the best decisions for your business? The answer lies in carrier rate shopping, a strategic approach that simplifies the process while empowering shippers with the tools to optimize shipping costs and service quality.

In this month’s episode of ProShip ParcelCast, we’re joined by four of ProShip’s very own shipping experts: Justin Cramer, Jim Iles, Cody Remmel, and Jeff Saccomando. With a combined tenure of over 50 years at ProShip, the four discuss the evolution of rate shopping, the different ways to rate shop, and how these tools can assist shippers in enhancing their overall operations.

The episode begins with a basic explanation of basic rate shopping and the factors that determine what kind of results you get, such as the lowest cost or delivery commitment time. The conversation then moves into covering both advanced date shopping and reverse date shopping (or last available pickup) and the specific benefits from each option. Later in the conversation, Justin introduces the topic of when to produce the label and whether producing front of line or end of line may be more beneficial. Tune in to learn why producing the label front of line can eventually lead to necessary updates (or even complications!) down the line. [Learn how rating shipments upstream can improve your operations.]

The episode shifts into covering beneficial areas to rate shop where you may not already be rate shopping. For example, many shippers who utilize a single carrier think that they don’t need to rate shop. However, our experts dive into why single carrier shippers can also benefit from rate shopping. The group touches on the limitations of ship-from-store rate shopping and recommendations for this strategy. And finally, the episode wraps up with a summary of the variety of rate shopping tools that are only available to ProShip customers.

Want an exclusive look into the types of rate shopping in Beta for ProShip customers? Tune in to find out!

Be sure to tune into the next ProShip ParcelCast episode to learn more about modern logistics technology and trending supply chain topics!