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How to Reduce the Cost of Ocean Shipping with OpenTrack?

Everyone who is in the Freight industry is looking out for cost-saving strategies. From factories to shippers, margins these days are getting difficult to maintain. Operational waste can occur during ocean freight shipping. But there are strategies through which misallocation of money and time can be reduced such that profits can be maximized.
So, here are some of the ways through which ocean shipping can be reduced.

#Ship the Cargo through FCL

You need to maximize the size of the cargo every time you are looking to ship.
For instance, it is recommended that FCL is booked to ensure that space is maximized on 20 ft. or 40 ft. container.
So, by shipping full container load, cost that is indulged per unit is reduced. But, it comes with a drawback as well.
The reason is that if cargo shipping is done less frequently, then it can increase the cost of freight warehouse. Thus it can impact the supply chain and cash flow.
On the other hand, with LCL shipments, the costing per unit would be a lot more. The reason is in LCL consignments are combined from various shippers.
Then it is put together to fill 40ft or 20ft container that would otherwise stay empty. The benefit of LCL is that freight warehousing costs would be reduced.
So, you should understand that with FCL, ocean freight cost can be reduced. But, you need to keep other supply chain factors in mind as well such as warehousing, shipping and the flexibility you get.

#Avoid Peak Months shipping

When it comes to sea freight shipping, the rates are cyclical throughout the year. So, it is advised that shipping is avoided during the peak months as during that time the demand of ocean shipping is very high.
It is recommended that you don’t ship during the months of July to October and also avoid during the holiday seasons.
However, there can be instances where the peak months may not be avoided. One of the reasons could be increase in the warehousing cost.
So, here are some of the tips that you can follow such that the cost is reduced:-
• Negotiating favorable PSS adjustments
• Booking slower routes such that costs is reduced
• Opt for freight forwarders having low PSS adjustments
• Including a clause in mutual agreements
Lastly, it is advised to avoid shipping in the peak months. In this way, a significant amount of money can be saved.

#Opt for door to door solution

If you opt for door-to-door solution from a single provider, then ocean freight cost would be reduced significantly. Other than this, once the supply chain logistics is integrated, and then inventory can be managed in a right way. This can offer greater transparency and transportation cost would be reduced as well. In this way, ocean freight tracking can also be done in a right way.

#Digitalize the Shipping process

If a digital structure is not present for the shipping processes, then it can cause a lot of inefficiencies. For normal shipper, it takes a lot of paperwork, countless of emails and a number of calls in order to book a cargo shipment and get a quote. Thus, if inefficiency is present in shipping, then a lot of your money and time can be wasted. But, with digitalization, you are going to get better shipping efficiency.
So, opt for a company that can provide you with other benefits such as:-
• Booking should take place in one digital space
• Booking should be executed in a span of minutes and not days
• Payment capabilities should be streamlined

#Understanding the customs

If you don’t have knowledge about how to import the goods, then it can turn out to be a very costly affair. Even if you run into competent freight forwarder, here are some of the problems that you may have to face:-
• Not selecting the customs tariff codes that is right
• Rules of Origin is misunderstood
• Using incomplete or wrong country when it comes to origin marking
• Not having knowledge about custom valuations
You also need to have deep understanding about how to cut down on the import cost. These include accurate and organized documentation, lower total landing cost, supply chain integration etc.

#Make use of Freight Rate Marketplace

There are a number of freight rate marketplaces coming up. On this marketplace, a number of freight forwarders and multiple carriers are available who can offer services to you. Hence, the booking process can become a lot streamlined.
So, here are some of the benefits digitalized marketplaces can offer you:-
• You will get global sailing schedules from various freight forwarders and carriers
• Real time shipping alerts and cargo tracking would be provided to you alongside notifications.
• Instant bookings and quotes online
• Rate management & Digital Contract

#Work alongside with reputable freight forwarder

A freight forwarder can cause a lot of impact on your business. There are a number of freight forwarders who promise to deliver a lot but they don’t tend to provide any good services.
For instance, many freight forwarders tend to have unclear or confusing pricing structure. Hence, you will end up paying extra fees alongside other kind of payments as well.
Thus, you would eventually pay for the services that you don’t really need or not discussed with the freight forwarder. You will also find hidden fees in the pricing structure.
So, the best bet for you is to work alongside freight forwarder who is reputable. In this way, they would be able to provide testimonials and references for the customers. Besides this, you can easily find them on different databases. The best part is that you can get new freight forwarder if you find that the previous one is negligent.

#Outsource the Transportation Department

It is seen that for most of the BCOs and large shippers tend to have transportation department based on the operation size. Most often in-house logistics departments would need a lot of time and investment if you compare with the outsourcing options. Hence, the capital, expertise and management would be out of scope for most of the shippers and BCOs.
With regards to transportation department outsourcing, there are a number of options that you can opt. Some of the benefits that you get from outsourcing the transportation department are:-
• Saving of Time
• Streamlining the Logistics
• Reduction of Cost
• Metrics and Reports analysis

#Product Packaging

The product packaging is something that is overlooked with regard to the transportation. However, it is seen that packaging designs can cause a lot of waste and inefficiencies with regard to ocean freight. So, if the packaging is not designed in parallel to logistics, then a higher cost needs to be paid.
Generally, it is seen that transportation can lead to 60% of the total cost in the supply chain. So, it is important that all the products are optimized. In this way, sea freight tracking would also be executed in the right manner.

Final Verdict
In the current time, to get the best rates, the freight forwarders and shippers negotiate with the service providers. This is done to ensure that you get the best carrier rate.
But with such a practice, service levels, fulfillment time and reliability is reduced. Moreover, the reputation for the freight forwarder and shipper would be damaged as well.
So, here are some of the important aspects that you need to keep in mind.
• Selecting the best transportation mode
• Using the right set of equipment
• Consolidating the cargo whenever required
• Automating the complete process
• Supply chain visibility improvement

Thus, if you are looking out for ocean freight tracking platform, then OpenTrack can be one of the best options. So, contact us to know more about the details of the platform.