How to tell if you're a potential freight consulting client

A PMG client is any company involved in retail, wholesale, manufacturing, e-business and other direct-to-consumer enterprises, as well as larger public entities that do not have in-house expertise in the small package freight industry and carrier contracts.  Our clients primarily use UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS as well as national and regional LTL carriers.  That’s most of you who visit our web site. 

To be candid, in our 28 years of collective experience we have found that distribution and supply chain management is not a core competency of most companies.  It’s simply not what they do best.  For start-ups and smaller companies, this is to be expected.  Young companies experiencing rapid growth most often do not have in-house expertise in logistics.  However, it is surprising how many large and well established companies do not have adequate in-house expertise as well.  As a result, companies are unaware of opportunities for significantly reducing their transportation costs, let alone how to pursue them on their own. 

Whether you’re a seasoned transportation manager, COO or CFO, trying to understand the impact the Carriers’ new and more robust cost-to-serve pricing models and contracts are having on your business will require a good deal of education.  The metrics surrounding these pricing variables are complex.  Understandably, most executives are simply too busy running the day to day operations to have time to stay abreast of developments and market changes in all the specific industries that influence their operating costs. When experiencing rapid growth, change in ownership or new initiatives, at times it makes sense to bring in a consultant and benefit from their expertise and gain an unbiased and knowledgeable assessment in a specific area of your operation. 

We often come into contact with executives and managers who clearly do not understand freight terminology and contract language.  Additionally, they have limited or no knowledge at all on the inner workings of small package pricing and don’t know if they are properly positioned with their Carriers.  They don't have a point of reference to know if their existing contract is a good one or not, nor the market options available to them.  Essentially, they end up operating in the dark when it comes time to negotiate a carrier pricing agreement.  At PMG, we constantly identify discover major opportunities in freight cost savings that companies aren't aware of.

Carriers are constantly making changes to their services, contract structure and pricing strategies.  Understanding the contracting and pricing negotiation process has become more complex and intimidating for all but experienced small parcel logistics professionals.  PMG consultants have worked extensively with cost models and pricing systems with the major carriers.  Our inside pricing knowledge and well developed negotiation strategies ensure our clients receive the absolute maximum discount the market will bear.