TRANSPORTATION SERVICE

Q1: Develop a checklist of items that should be considered when selecting a carrier.

Choosing a carrier to ship with can be a challenging decision with lasting

implications. A shipping partner will have a considerable impact on the day-to-day
operations of your business. With so much at stake, it’s important you take the time to
analyze and evaluate each of your options and select the carrier that will best fulfil
your organization’s capacity requirements and supply chain needs. Following factors
could be consider as a checklist when choosing a shipping carrier.

1. Cost, Quality and Time

Pricing is a determining factor when choosing a carrier to ship with and is usually
among the first key factor organizations usually considered. In addition to pricing, as
a shipper, you need to identify your business’ needs and the factors you find most
important. If you choose to ship with the least expensive carrier, you could be
sacrificing quality and delivery time.

2. Reliability
Choosing a carrier who provides transparent communication about your shipment is
important, as it keeps the carrier accountable for the load and keeps you in the loop as
to your shipment’s status.

3. Safety Measures Availability

There should be safety policy and all the standard operating procedures of safety
should be in a place to avoid any damage or loss. Shipping with a carrier that
prioritizes safety can help to build your supply chain image, leading to increased
sales.
Customers pay attention to a company’s safety rating and are inclined to ship with
companies that have a safe reputation.

4.  Services Offered
It may be beneficial to work with a carrier that offers multiple services, and can meet
all of your company’s needs. Can one company handle all of your needs, or do you
need to work with multiple shippers to move your freight? If your business requires
more than one service, working with several companies will increase both your time
investment and your cost.

5. Carrier Stability
Choosing a carrier that is stable in the marketplace is essential to the continued
service of your business’ transportation needs. How long has the carrier been in the
marketplace? Do they own their fleet of trucks and trailers and can they provide
reliable and stable warehouse space for your goods? It’s likely that they’ll struggle to
consistently provide capacity to your company, or worse, go out of business, forcing
you to restart your carrier selection process.
Q2: What are the advantages of certifying the carriers?

Certifying the carrier will help in easy identification of the carrier who can provide
the better services as per the company requirements. By application of certification
program, the vendors can be evaluated on uniform criteria of performance and
reliability and the best capable vendors can easily be selected. There will be few
vendors to manage and better nogotiations can be performed due to the application of
ceritifying program that will also increase the amount of business given to each one.
Certifying program could also be helpful to create the brand image for companies
since customers pay attention to a company’s safety rating and are inclined to ship
with companies that have a safe reputation.

Q3: Is price the most important factor in evaluating carriers? Explain.

Pricing is a determining factor when choosing a carrier to ship with and is usually
among the first key factor organizations usually considered but as a shipper, you need
to identify your business’ needs and the factors you find most important. If you
choose to ship with the least expensive carrier, you could be sacrificing quality and
delivery time because the extra price can be compensated with a high level of safety
of the shipment better claim record, adherence to time. Therefore if any carrier is
having a strong performance in these areas and even though ther are charging a
premium, it is still a good option to go with,because the cost of poor safety, delayed
deliveries will be much higher than what the extra money we will pay in term of extra
price.

Q4. What are the key factors regarding Caterpillar’s carrier needs?

Caterpillar’s carrier is more focused to reduce shipping damages to its equipment and
to ensure its just-in-time production and inventory system and in addition to that they
have constituted the quality program which shows their commitment to an extra mile
to improve the quality further. Caterpillar should consider carrier Y for carrier
certification program for both inbound and outbound freight firstly since it meets the
ontime delivery and has only 1 percent claim rate.

Q5. If you were selecting the carrier, what are the alternatives? Which carrier would
you select? Why?

As I am more focused on schedule adherence and has the aim to reach upto 100%
level, I would select the carrier Y as they have better time adherence, lowest fleet
size; yet sufficient for my requirements , the slightly extra cost will justify with the
quality of service.