Controlling air freight costs- tips and tricks

If you have some items shipped by air, this can be quite expensive. Luckily, there are ways in which controlling air freight costs is possible. In order for you to make this happen, you should be familiar with different factors that affect the costs. Reading this article will be a simple way to achieve your goal and be ready for the next shipment.

Find a professional to give you a helping hand

If you are doing this for the first time, it is advisable to have someone by your side who has experience. This process looks complicated but it is even more complicated once you start completing the tasks. So, avoid being in an unpleasant situation in order to finish everything on time. This should especially be the case if you are forwarding your freight to another continent. On occasions like this, international movers to Australia, for example, can help you a lot. They are already familiar with the procedure which means that this is not going to be demanding.

Ship more items but less often

In case you have to forward several freights, it is advisable to take larger orders. For example, if you ship six to eight pallets together, it will cost you less than shipping two to four pallets every other day. Just think about it- every time you ship something, you will have to pay for more labor, more gas, and more transportation.

On the other hand, when taking larger orders, you will pay more at once but it will pay off in the long run. Follow this piece of advice and you are not going to regret it.

One way of controlling air freight costs is by shipping on off-peak days

First of all, you should know what on-peak and off-peak days are for international movers and shippers. Once you are familiar with this piece of information, everything will be much easier. With the majority of consumer goods businesses, the off-peak day for shipping is Friday. The days they want their products stocked up in preparation for the weekend are usually Thursdays. This means that shipping during the weekend will greatly influence air freight costs. They are going to be lower, which means that you should turn this into your advantage.

You should pick up deliveries at night

The majority of shippers will want carriers to pick their freight up during the day. However, this is not something everyone can do if it conflicts with another run. If you offer night pickups, carriers can make their daily deliveries. They will pick up your shipment on the way to their next destination. This will maximize the carrier’s assets use on longer routes, which will indirectly influence the costs. You will agree that this is a smart way of controlling air freight costs.

Try to develop relationships with freight shippers

If freight shippers develop and maintain their business with freight carriers, developing a long-term relationship is possible. First of all, you will get transportation management advantages. In addition to this, it will also be possible for both of you to create a more efficient network with one another.

This kind of contract will lock the freight costs which means that any fluctuations in the market are not going to affect your company. Also, you may get some privileges. For example, if somebody is moving to Denmark from the US, they may get their freight with no delay.

Another thing you can do is to outsource the transportation department

For a small company, if the goal is controlling air freight costs, it is not an option to have core freight management. Hiring, training, and maintaining a transportation team can be extremely expensive and time-consuming. Luckily, there is something you can do in order to avoid this and achieve your goal. Namely, what you should do is to outsource the transportation department. You will transfer the burden to them but they can purchase operational products in bulk. In case you have your own carrier line, you will get to save some money on air freight shipping at the end of the day.

You can also find a local consolidation program

If you find a local consolidation program to ship smaller freights, you can cut air costs up to 25%. Something that can help both parties is combining shipments with nearby shippers going to the same destination, when possible. There is nothing for you to worry about- you are not going to get in trouble. This is something that even larger shippers do.

Of course, this kind of partnership largely depends on what products are being shipped. If the products in question are the ones that need strict temperature control, they are not a good option. Feel free to check the local Chambers of Commerce in order to find these programs.

It probably brings you joy the fact that there are several ways of controlling air freight costs. Feel free to put one or more of them into practice and you will see the difference in no time. There is no reason to give more money than needed. It is a well-known fact that air freight costs are very high. Do not let this influence largely on your or the budget of your clients. Give it a try and you may learn some new ways in which you can lower the costs even more.