Freight claims are the rightful demand of a shipper against a carrier concerning the damage of goods shipped. While the claimant looks forward to receiving compensation for the damaged goods, it can often be a complicated process requiring dozens of communications and individual activities.
As the economic state has drastically fluctuated over the past year, it’s critical to understand how freight claims and shipping delays can add up to big problems for shippers and carriers. And as new technologies become available, such as robotics process automation (RPA), it will grow easier for shippers to realize the benefits of full, end-to-end shipment lifecycle management. And part of that implies an immediate need to understand the nuances and inconsistencies in managing freight claims. Freight claims data helps you track overall market trends.
But first, it’s essential to know what’s necessary and have a few steps to maximize freight claims’ data use and value.
Connect Your Supply Chain & TMS With an Integrated Solution That Applies Freight claims Data and Makes It Readily Accessible
Integration is one essential way that shippers use freight claims data to track the overall market trends. The integration uses an open-source API to track data, and according to 3PL Perspectives, it’s rapidly becoming the dominant way shippers and carriers apply technology.
According to the 3PL Perspectives Industry magazine, their value is expanding “as technology has advanced and competition to win and retain customers has grown across all technology-based markets. Applying programming interfaces (API) has gained tremendous popularity to their flexibility, scalability, and speed. For the logistics industry, API technology offers real-time, two-way connectivity and communication, which is a game-changer for an industry whose strength relies on accurate, insightful, and actionable data.”
Of course, an API on its own does little good if the information is not readily accessible, which is where the next best practice comes into play.
Leverage Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Platforms to Enable Remote Freight Claims Management
Taking advantage of SaaS platforms effectively transforms your operation into a cloud-based process. And with an increase seen across the spectrum of freight claims due to higher demand through peak season, the ability to track returns from anywhere and to anywhere is essential.
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Validate Claims Data Accuracy With Data Normalization Protocols
Freight claims data in its raw form lacks value. And even in the best of circumstances, data from across multiple systems, such as Amazon versus your in-house e-commerce platform, may be drastically different.
With the differences apparent, there is a more vital need to see freight claims data’s real value. And that means normalizing it to where analytics can take hold and begin their work.
Leverage Advanced Transportation Analytics to Identify and Address Problems
Yet another core freight claims best practice rests in allowing advanced analytics to take stock of what happened (descriptive analytics), why (diagnostic analytics), what’s going to happen (predictive analytics), and what an organization needs to do to achieve an optimum outcome.
Of course, analytics also require an easy-to-use dashboard that makes the implementation of insight-driven decisions easier. Therefore, integrated analytics within a single record system, such as a transportation management system (TMS), is an excellent way to achieve this goal.
Choose the Right Freight Management Partner to Better Understand Market Trends
Even when using the best practices, the best-laid plans can only go so far. If an organization leverages automation and avoids the pitfalls of data overload, each person can only do so much.
That’s where having a real partner in your corner can make a world of difference. And MercuryGate provides that partnership as a world-class TMS vendor.
