Four Steps to Gain Control of Inbound Shipping
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The following article is presented byPartnerShip. PartnerShip has decades of experience managing LTL freight, small-package and truckload shipping for thousands of businesses. PartnerShip is one of the many freePMPA会员福利，并通过其PMPA运输计划帮助会员节省所有入站，出站，大型运输。
Reducing inbound shipping costs is one of the easiest, yet most overlooked ways to reduce overall transportation expenses. Like many small businesses, you may not currently have control over the shipments coming into your business. It is not uncommon for small businesses to let the vendor shipping the product to you arrange the carrier, select the mode of transportation and manage the actual pickup and delivery times. In some cases, the convenience of this arrangement may work well for your situation.
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但是，这种便利带有一个费用：您可能会发现您的入站运输费用要比您自己安排的费用要多得多。
Here are four steps you can follow to better understand your true inbound shipping costs and the cost savings opportunities you may be missing.
1. Find a 3PL Partner
For many small businesses, there are distinct advantages of working with a 3PL partner. If you’re looking to gain control of your inbound shipping, make sure you find a partner that has demonstrated experience and established tools for helping businesses manage their inbound.
Additionally, most 3PL freight partners are able to aggregate the freight volume of many small-to-medium sized businesses and help them negotiate better discount rates and terms. They can also provide additional value-added services, sometimes at no additional cost, that are designed to lower your overall logistics expenses.
2.分析您的入站
为了了解您的真实，入站运输成本，首先必须通过查看主要供应商的最新购买发票来完成全面的运输分析。大多数企业可能会惊讶地发现，供应商通常会使购买商品的价值增加2％至10％。
When reviewing your purchase invoices, here are some terms you should keep in mind:
- 免费货运：确实没有免费的货物。仔细观察您的供应商可能将其运输成本埋在您的商品的购买价格中。
- Prepaid and Add: This means your vendor is paying the freight for your shipment. It also means they are controlling the routing and adding this expense – often with additional “handling fees” to the cost of your merchandise.
3.协商更好的费率
When you work with an established 3PL freight partner (either directly or through an industry or association shipping program), you will generally be able to secure your business the best possible inbound shipping rates. An experienced 3PL partner will be able to aggregate your needs with the needs of hundreds or thousands of small businesses like yours in order to secure the most competitive deals.
请注意与成千上万辆运营商一起使用的“夜间”货运经纪人或3PLS。通常，您从中获得的服务质量，例如“鲍勃的卡车”，将与您支付的廉价价格相媲美。因此，请确保您与仅与行业中最有信誉的运营商一起工作的3PL，例如UPS货运，YRC Freight，Conway Freight和FedEx。
4.创建入站路由指令
With your 3PL partner relationship, your analysis of purchase invoices completed and your competitive inbound shipping rates in hand, you’re now ready for the final step of creating inbound routing instructions and sending them to all of your key vendors. This is where your 3PL partner will either impress or disappoint. A 3PL with inbound shipping experience will be able to help you create your inbound routing program with the following services:
- Identify and manage lists of key vendors.
- 为每个供应商创建清晰的入站路由说明。
- Draft and send routing instruction letters to each of your key vendors on your behalf.
- 监视和报告供应商合规性。
- Consolidate your billing and report to you the savings you are receiving through the program.
入站运输成本是许多企业的主要费用，尤其是当您将控制权留给每个供应商时。如果正确接近，入站运输管理计划可能是减少整体运输费用的一种简单方法。
通常最好通过第三方物流提供商来管理入站运输计划。优秀的3PL可以帮助您分析购买发票以获取储蓄机会，为供应商开发路由说明，监控合规性和审计，并合并发票，以确保您可以在入站运输中节省最大的收益。
