Freight Demand: Strategies for Meeting Seasonal Peaks

Freight demand increases over the holidays. Companies and their logistical partners traditionally prepare for the season months before the holidays arrive. How can you ensure you meet seasonal deadlines and increase order volumes? Business is good, but being unprepared for the holiday rush is disastrous. Here are some strategies for freight companies to prepare for increased and meet holiday freight demand during the holidays, including scheduling, prioritizing, and managing client expectations.

Freight Demand: Strategies for Meeting Seasonal Peaks

Why Holiday Logistics is Important

Freight companies have a role as important as Santa Claus during the holiday season. Logistics and freight power during the holiday season. Demand increases even more during the holiday shopping season because people buy and send more gifts worldwide. Shipping is a billion-dollar industry. Therefore, being unprepared could instead cost companies lost revenue and unfinished orders. Holiday logistics is all about preparation, inventory planning, and inventory management. Without logistics, it will feel like someone stole the holiday cheer! Companies that prepare for the surge in demand will survive the holiday season rush.

Preparing Third-Party Logistics for Holiday Freight Demand

Freight companies should prepare themselves and their staff for the heightened demands of the season. However, it’s also the right time to prepare any third-party logistics (or 3PL) companies. Start months before, and go through your list of logistical partners. Ensure that your partner or affiliate companies are also prepared for increased demand. Have a list of reliable alternatives for the holiday rush in case of a last-minute emergency. If your partner companies aren’t prepared enough, switch before the holiday season — not in the middle of the holiday rush!

Scheduling Orders

A practical, well-managed schedule is vital to holiday season success. Freight companies rely on prompt delivery with no delays to meet demands. This can only be achieved without scheduling mishaps, disruptions, mistakes, or conflicts. A freight company that maintains the advantage uses the following to stay ahead:

• Superior, updated scheduling software
• Real-time inventory
• Properly managed inventory

Upgrade your software from the previous year long before the holiday season to ensure you survive the peak demand.

Prioritizing Orders Cost-Effectively

A careful schedule ensures smooth freight operation. However, a prioritized schedule guarantees lower overheads for the freight company. It can also speed up your overall order delivery time. As a result, this leads to better client satisfaction during the rush. If you had fifteen orders going to South Carolina and two heading to New York, it would make sense to prioritize the first order. However, many companies miss strategy before the holiday rush and scramble to keep up. Prioritizing orders can make more sense for better freight logistics; it’s not that some orders are more important than others. Supply chain disruptions can occur and can include:

• Severe weather conditions
• Labor disruptions
• Transportation delays
• Demand fluctuations

Companies must prioritize orders by filling the orders based on urgency, profitability, and availability of an item to meet customer expectations. In other words, scheduling the right things at the best time costs less time (and money).

Holiday Freight Demand and Managing Client Expectations

Customer satisfaction should be at the top of your to-do list. Freight companies that make seasonal sense are the ones that manage (or exceed) their customer expectations. Make a good impression during the high-pressure holiday season, and you’ll be putting your best foot forward for next year’s online shopping season. As with most industries, happy customers are also returning customers. If you manage client expectations, they’re more likely to recommend your company to their peers—and they will likely come back to your name again next year when it’s time to choose a freight company.

The Junction LLC | Truckload Shipping

For businesses looking to optimize their shipping strategies in line with current e-commerce demands, embracing technological solutions and sustainable practices will be vital to staying competitive and meeting consumer expectations. As a leader in the transportation industry, we demand excellence from our entire team. Our team at The Junction LLC strives to deliver the best possible customer service. We help our customers solve the toughest transportation and supply chain needs. Our team is dedicated to serving our customers and will take the necessary action to deliver our customers’ products safely, efficiently, and on time. This is our promise to you!

Nationwide Services include:

• FTL (Full Truck Load) Shipping
• LTL (Less Than Truck Load) Shipping
• Transportation of refrigerated, dry, and bulk shipments
• 3PL Warehousing and Logistics
• Contract Warehousing
• Trucking Freight Brokerage

Trucking & Freight Shipping Services:

• Overweight,
• Over-dimension
• Time-sensitive shipments
• LTL (Less-Than-Truckload)
• FTL (Full Truckload)
• Flatbed
• Flatbed LTLRGN (removable gooseneck lowboy)
• RGN (removable gooseneck lowboy)
• Maxi’s / A-Train / B-Train
• Heavy Haul
• Over Dimensional
• Dry Van
• Dry Van LTL
• Refrigerated
• Refrigerated LTL
• Power Only

Nebraska Warehouse One-Stop-Shop | TechnologyEnabled 3PL Value-Added Services Warehouse | Freight Broker | Logistics

Nebraska Warehouse doesn’t just help to facilitate your shipments, but we are truly a one-stop-shop solutions provider. Our services include:

• Full Truckload (FTL) Shipping
• Less Than Truckload (LTL) Nationwide Carriers & Shipping
• Trucking Freight Brokerage