Transport tenders and their benefits for industry and trade

The determining factor for shipping companies when it comes to tendering their transport volumes is still the transport costs. In order to prevent money from flowing out of their company, there are often strong cost control measures that affect logistics and transport costs in particular. This is why attempts are made to reduce transport costs or to get them under control. Reducing transport costs does not necessarily have to go hand in hand with changing logistics service providers. So-called tender tools are used to obtain a neutral market overview. However, the motivation for using them can also be a planned change of logistics service provider. Tender platforms can help to establish contact with new logistics service providers. Tender tools can also be used to obtain conditions for new transport routes or changed quality requirements.

However, for most companies, reducing transport costs should not come at the expense of quality. The reliability of transport service providers is very important for companies. If there are operational problems with transport processing, this leads to customer complaints and a loss of sales with a negative impact on company development. Price reductions at the expense of transport quality are therefore out of the question for many shippers.

Companies like to work with logistics service providers on a long-term basis. They value service providers who can react flexibly to changes in transport processing. Service providers are also expected to have an understanding of the company’s products and what handling is necessary during transport. Service providers can therefore set themselves apart from others if they convey that they can handle the shippers’ loading conditions and take quality requirements into account.

So-called spot or ad hoc offers are price inquiries or transport offers for specific individual shipments and transports. Companies obtain up-to-date offers for transports in their day-to-day business. Even if a company uses strategic transport tenders and has rates available, it can make sense to make individual price inquiries. Since the capacities of aircraft and ships and their utilization fluctuate considerably, it is always advisable to obtain spot offers.

Rate offers are also considered freight tariffs, framework contracts or framework agreements that are valid for a certain period of time or for certain locations. Transport volumes are usually advertised and awarded for an entire quarter, half year or year. The offered offer items have different calculation bases, e.g. per shipment or kg, and take into account different weight and volume ratios of the shipments. This can then be used to calculate specific freight costs per shipment, which are also billed. This type of freight advertising is usually done in a multi-stage process.

Shipping companies that do not have the necessary expertise to carry out operational or strategic freight tenders themselves, or for whom this is too time-consuming or expensive, can resort to various offers that have very different technical and content-related concepts.

Tender software or tender management software are services that carry out a multi-stage IT-supported process and closely support shippers in preparing, collecting, evaluating, analyzing and renegotiating offers. In addition to the software, consultants are usually also involved. Excel is also used to upload offers. The solutions are therefore a combination of software, Excel and consulting. The applications are often quite extensive and usually require training or instructions. Use is often expensive and the remuneration is based on the cost reduction achieved. With this remuneration model, the tender providers are interested in reducing transport costs as much as possible and the focus is not on the quality of the transport. This is disadvantageous for the shipper.

Individualized software from IT companies implements tendering processes tailored to the shipping companies. However, the relevant logistics knowledge must already be available for this. In addition, such software projects are associated with relatively high costs.

Freight consultants help companies to carry out transport tenders in the form of consulting services. They bring the technical know-how and coordinate the tender between the shipper and the logistics service provider. They take care of communication, technical implementation with Excel, including data analysis and moderation of the entire tender process. The services require intensive communication, are expensive, but are very tailored.

Another option for carrying out transport tenders is modern, streamlined software-as-a-service solutions, also known as web software. These are web-based applications that are significantly less complex than traditional tendering services. These tools make it possible to tender freight without the need for complex system implementation or training. The user is guided through the tendering process in a clear, understandable and efficient manner. There is also no need to communicate with a consultant and communication between the shipper and the logistics service provider is not complicated. Shippers therefore retain full process control over their supply chain. These tools also contain extensive industry knowledge, from which shippers also benefit.

These applications also differentiate themselves through price. They offer subscription models and trial periods, so there are no investment costs or contract periods. The cost-benefit ratio is therefore correspondingly high.