Is Hiring a Logistics Manager Worth It? What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You!
Posted On 26th February 2024Unless you spending at least $4 million annually on freight expenses already, a Logistics Manager will never pay for themselves, and might even cost you in lost customers and reputation.
Above a $4 million annual freight spend, there is a chance that an extremely Logistics Director can begin to pay back his salary. All companies with a “lean and mean” and sales mentality are much better served by an aggressive 4PL, we think like Freight Run, which has all the Carriers you want, and at a price far below what is achievable by a Logistics Director.
The truth is that a Logistics Manager and their staff are simply unnecessary bureaucracy between your Sales Team or Customer Service Team (or person) and the Client. The Logistics process is a key part of your sales process, and it must be managed in a way that serves your Brand and Reputation. Generally, it should be controlled by Sales especially when you are still building your Brand and in this day of Online Reputation and Reviews, every Sale must go perfectly from production to delivery to post-sales follow-up.
It is understandable that your Sales doesn’t have time to deal with the details of shipping – however, they should choose the particular Carrier or work with a Freight Run Logistics Specialist closely and let them choose a quality freight carrier that they can do at a price far below what your Company will be quoted on its own.
Note that your Shipping Manager or Department has other duties – you don’t want them also choosing carriers for various reasons including conflict of interests, lack of background, and potential corruption – please see our other article Why Hire a Shipping Manager or 5 Major Duties of a Shipping Manager. You want a Shipping Manager who shows up on time, gets the freight packaged properly, and who watches out for the Company so that what goes out the door is packaged in a rugged enough fashion to arrive to the customer in tip-top shape. Don’t burden them also with searching for carriers and managing vendor carriers it leads to higher prices, favoritism to certain Truckers who buy shipping staff nice lunches, etc, and not to choose the Best Carrier at the Best Price for your Company.
Freight Run works nearly exclusively with small and medium-sized companies and already has the quality carriers you want at a price that works for you. In fact, probably for a price that is lower than you need to be competitive and many clients mark up the freight costs we quote them.
Freight Run in any case works intensively with your Shipping Staff (or your Vendors staff) to ensure timely pickup and correct documents. Importantly, we have the knowledgeable staff to babysit your freight and make sure your client’s logistics requirements are met, plus can handle any issues if they occur over a weekend or holiday.
Our Freight Specialists are cross-trained so can also handle international shipments, hazmat shipments, flatbed, van, or temperature-controlled shipments.
Most importantly, Freight Run will ALWAYS remember we are your Brand Ambassador and act in your best interests.