Can You Afford to Hire a Transportation Logistics Company? by Zachary Cruz

The first few years of a business’ life are crucial to its survival. You may be operating in the red during those years and are extra careful about how you spend the business’ money. It feels like one wrong move could possibly spell the end of your venture. However, even if you’ve made it past those first few precarious years, you’re careful with your budget. Both large and small businesses know that a surplus of budget could be used to expand or otherwise improve a company, so if they choose to spend money on a third party service, they have to be sure it’ll prove helpful to the business’ growth in the long term.

Streamlining your transportation – the movement not only of products you might deliver, but also of any ingredient or part you need to manufacture products or offer services – is one such expense. When you hire a transportation logistics company, you’re securing not just the trucks, trains, planes and boats necessary to move your items around the country or even the globe, but you’re also relying on expert drivers and overseers to make sure your products move at the most affordable and fastest rates possible. Relying on the experts frees up your time to focus on the daily operations of your company, so see if you can afford to outsource transportation at your business.

How Much Shipping Do You Do?

If the bulk of your business’ shipping is no more than a few Fed Ex packages per week, transportation logistics is unlikely to be something that concerns you. This is true for many, but not all, service-based industries. On the other hand, if you manufacture anything, you likely not only have to ship finished products to stores and consumers directly, but you also have to figure out how to get the parts necessary to make your products to your warehouses and manufacturing facilities at the fastest and most affordable rates.

Even if you’re a small-scale operation, perhaps a brand new online-only business that operates out of your garage, you can benefit from transportation logistics via services such as a Less-Than-Truckload option that lets you share a truck and share the costs with other businesses. This applies both to your delivery of products and to your purchase of product parts.

Do You Ship Internationally?

Do you import parts from or export goods to other nations on a regular basis? How much are you spending on international shipping costs? If you can afford to spend part of your budget on these quick-to-add-up international postage charges, you can afford to hire a logistics company to get your items moving via plane, train or boat at a fraction of the cost. By sharing freight space and relying on experts to handle all of the customs paperwork, it’ll cost you less to ship internationally with a service that deals with international transport all the time.

Where Can You Cut Back?

If hiring a transportation logistics company sounds good to you, but you’re not sure if you can afford it, take a look at where your budget is allocated right now. Where can you afford to cut back? Can you spend less on marketing that hasn’t proven successful? Can you hold off on expanding the company until you bring in more revenue? Talk to a representative from the logistics company about how you can work with them regardless of your budget size.

Instead of asking yourself if you can afford to hire a transportation logistics company, the right question is to ask yourself if you can afford not to. It’s much more expensive to purchase, maintain and operate a fleet of trucks on your own, and you may not produce enough to justify it. Regardless, transportation logistics experts are ideal for businesses both small and large alike.

About the Author: Zachary Cruz is a small business owner from Florida who recommends working with Landstar System, Inc. for all your company’s transportation logistics needs.

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