As more and more shippers and carriers look for ways to improve customer service, the focus again returns to the need for visibility and freight rating software in a transportation management system.
Shippers need adaptability, flexibility, and scalability to manage the volatile capacity environment. But that visibility can fall short when it comes to a shipment’s accessorial charges, lanes, delivery deadlines, and more. A carrier’s rates may look vastly different when only the smallest criterion changes.
Such growth reflects why shippers must have a firm grasp of a freight rating software’s capabilities. It is important to understand the freight rating tools it features, and how it maximizes visibility into current rates by unifying all load data and quotes into a single system.
How Limited Freight Rating Visibility Impacts End-User Experience
Furthermore, users need more than the base rate. They also need to know what accessorials may exist, such as live animal surcharges or fuel costs. That is especially true when carriers assess fuel surcharges by other names or acronyms that may go unnoticed. The best-of-breed transportation solutions put that information front and center for users.
What are Customer Rating Tools in a Transport Management System?
Technically, most modern TMS platforms offer this on-demand function. Still, there is always the chance that a customer might find a better rate. In this case, freight rating tools can be coming with bid requests to:
- Reach out to additional carriers within the TMS
- Set a maximum rate.
- Create a rate at which the quote is automatically accepted.
Remember, the goal is to find the best way to execute a load and drive landed costs into retreat.
Benefits of Freight Rating Software: Provide Better Customer Service
A fully vetted and implemented transport management system can help freight transportation and shipping managers provide better customer service, which brings a host of other benefits.
- Continuous rate monitoring and customer feedback. Using a TMS system allows for fast and easy monitoring of all stages of a shipment lifecycle. This technology makes it easier for managers to promote service personalization with improved transparency and adaptation. At the same time, expand the preferred price sheet and keep track of which carriers are right for shipments of different types. All of this is possible with an innovative rate monitoring and feedback setup.
- Customer services scale based on customer demands. An innovative freight rating system should be scalable to meet specific company and industry-directed needs. This is where system-generated rating tools can compile data and present a bigger picture of costs for a load when customers must look for additional carriers due to growth. Accounting for customer demands, market stability, and other outside factors makes booking and managing loads within transport management systems much easier and more streamlined.
- Highly customized and automated service options. Understanding what is transport management software means understanding the workflows that comprise shipping rating, review, and execution overall. This approach to customer freight rating applies preconfigured rulesets to weed out carriers from transportation networks that do not fit the needs of each load. It also ensures the rates shown are more aligned with the company’s needs to more easily implement strategies and accommodate services.
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Put the Power of Freight Rating Software to Work by Choosing the Right TMS Vendor
Most industries and markets today are still in recovery mode. This has led to a renewed focus on adaptability, flexibility, and scalability in the supply chain. The need for effective transport management system platforms has become a primary focus once again.
Customer freight rate management software allows supply chain managers to better monitor customer experiences within their day-to-day operations. This is why understanding what is transport management software, and how it impacts your transportation and freight management is so important. Unlock the answers with personalized TMS system-embedded freight rating tools today.
