Domestic freight, specifically rate quoting and booking.
I sell large equipment to the food & spirits industry. It often has to be shipped on pallets. Before a customer decides to order something from us they generally want to know the freight shipping cost. Rates vary daily, so our salesperson has to stop the sales process to get a freight quotation.
3PL companies already exist, and are supposed to exist to get a best-available rate from the sprawling mess of local, intrastate, and interstate freight carriers. Still, we've found that to REALLY get the best freight rates we have to send out a quote request to 3+ different 3PL companies, wait for all the quotes to come back in, figure out the cheapest quote from the most reliable carrier, then re-ask the same 3PL parties if they're willing to beat the best available rate. The sales process loses a ton of momentum, and it wastes our shipping manager's time.
I sell large equipment to the food & spirits industry. It often has to be shipped on pallets. Before a customer decides to order something from us they generally want to know the freight shipping cost. Rates vary daily, so our salesperson has to stop the sales process to get a freight quotation.
3PL companies already exist, and are supposed to exist to get a best-available rate from the sprawling mess of local, intrastate, and interstate freight carriers. Still, we've found that to REALLY get the best freight rates we have to send out a quote request to 3+ different 3PL companies, wait for all the quotes to come back in, figure out the cheapest quote from the most reliable carrier, then re-ask the same 3PL parties if they're willing to beat the best available rate. The sales process loses a ton of momentum, and it wastes our shipping manager's time.