How to Become a Better Shipper: Be Prepared for Drivers

Become-Better-Shipper

In a world driven by scorecards, ratings and reviews, it’s more important than ever to make sure your business stays on top of the list of shippers people want to work with. One way to help improve your “shipper scorecard” is being ready for Drivers when they arrive.

With the new Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandates, getting Drivers loaded in a timely manner has never been more important. The clock is always working against the Driver so they need to be as efficient as possible in order to stay profitable. A one hour delay at the shipper can turn into delivering a day late. An inefficient loading process also limits capacity and, in return, drives rates up.

Across the industry, Drivers expect to be “live loaded” — which means their truck should be loaded or offloaded within one hour. That being said, shippers that can manage to do that task closer to the half-hour mark will provide a better experience and, therefore, improve their so-called scorecard.

Besides load times, other ways to improve the Driver experience include:

  • On-site parking
  • Accurate and detailed load information
  • Clear directions for the Driver to follow, including where to park, where to check in and what side of the building the Driver needs to be on

Word spreads quickly in this industry, so it can be difficult to talk Drivers into going to specific shippers that have a track record of lengthy load times. Quick turnaround times minimizes detention and overtime, increases capacity and lowers rates. Everybody wins.

James Gieske

Written by James Gieske

James is a sales director with ATS Logistics and has been since the start of 2024. In his role, he assists sales representatives with developing their book of business, establishing business with new accounts, and resolving customer issues. With ATS since 2014, James has been in the transportation industry for a decade in both sales and operations-related roles.

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