Carrier and Shipper Relationships
The following areas can assist shippers to improve their carrier relationships if adhered to
by all and a give/take partnership occurs. Both need to acknowledge supply and demand
and operate in ways that will meet the needs of all concerned. Be informed on what is
going on within the global market, as well as the domestic arena so that no one has the
advantage over the other. Be knowledgeable of your business and the needs and
requirements of your consumer. Keep current on your companies and vendors’ other
commitments and discuss any problems, solutions and potential future steps to improve
your services. Manage the process be involved in the negotiation process, contract
process, ensuring to maintain control and be in contact with your carriers throughout the
term of the contract. Understand conflict will arise between you and the carrier/customer
strives for win-win situation for all. We all know the saying the customer is always right
still holds, and maybe even more so, these tough economic times we are experiencing,
so a mutually beneficial outcome is best for all (Hazen & Lynch, 2008).

A carriers’ development and maintenance of a relationship is vital but more importantly
there needs to be a willingness for the carriers’ to provide the needed services to the
customer

According to Leinbach and Capineri (2007),

Having identified the quest for a seamless transport market, it is important to identify the
forces which are driving this quest. First, in a general perspective, it is clear that intense
competitive pressures require goods- and services-producing firms to manage almost
simultaneously multiple inter-organizational information and material flows (p.4).

This seamless effort is not an easy task to accomplish due to numerous reasons, i. e.
congestion and delays in loading and unloading, which can cause bottlenecks in the
chain, many of which are not in the control of the carrier or the customer. As a carrier,
being able to deal with these constraints is what sets one carrier apart from another.

According to Alexander (2008) the following practices will assist a customer to maximize
their value within the carrier relationships. When looking at the developing robust
relationships with your carriers it can be challenging, but it’s essential to establishing
well-defined expectations in order to meet the needs of all the customer’s transportation
needs.

There needs to be an establish trust and credibility with carriers, this is not something
that will occur overnight, like any relationship, it takes time to build that trust between
carriers and service providers. Trust can also be looked at as the basis for future
expectations. When looking at trust, if neither side is too opportunistic now, the future
value is in question (Alexander & Abernathy, 2010). One of the keys to developing this
trust is to identify and align your customer with the carriers whose cultural values closely
match those of your organization (Alexander, 2008). Once that happens, then the
reinforcement of these relationships through reliable volumes, open communication, and
opportunity development (Alexander, 2008). In short, business relationships need to be
valued as future expectations are supported by past actions.

Communication needs to be specific in order for the carrier to know the exact
expectations of the company. The more the carrier understands and can meet your
expectations the more the carrier will be able to meet your transportation needs in a
collaborative manner (Alexander, 2008). If the carrier knows what the customer
considers failing or exceeding your expectations then you will be able to reward
outstanding performance and enforce those established expectations (Alexander, 2008).
When you have established what your customer’s expectations are, then you are no
longer trying to enforce the performance, you are setting your carrier apart for other
carriers who are only in the reactive mode (Alexander, 2008). Creating opportunities to
maximize carrier networks at the same time minimizing supply chain costs will pay big
dividends to the carrier. The relationship between a carrier and customer is about more
than service expectations, capacity, and rates. It is also about maximizing the carrier’s
network value and efficiencies (Alexander, 2008).

Alexander (2008) goes on the say the creating lasting alliances is the nature of the
carrier business. This is not to say that all relationships with be win-win, because they
won’t no matter how good the relationship has been developed. Most carriers should be
attempting to create the atmosphere that all entities obtain something of value so as to
evolve into a lasting business alliance (Alexander, 2008).

Business relationship needs the same give-and-take that all other relationships have in
order to create that lasting relationship to survive the good and bad times and continue
to improve through transparency, sincerity, and direct and open interaction (Alexander,
2008). When you know how to effectively work with your carriers, you realize the impact
of what each of wish to achieve, and you are able to deliver tangible and sustainable
results (Alexander, 2008). If you are not that in tune to what your customers are looking
for then it can be more of a hit and miss and the results will not always be favorable.

Alexander & Abernathy (2010) stated the many shipping companies are stressing cost
savings over establishing and maintaining good business relationships. They looked at
this expectation of maintaining a quality relationship not as important for future
business, as much as they need to keep the costs low enough to ensure that no other
carrier will meet those shipping needs more cost effectively. When one just looks at cost
when trying to establish or maintain a business relationship it will more than likely end in
a disastrous relationships because cost is not the only criteria that is deemed important,
it needs to be combined with negotiations, such as reduced capacity, declining service,
increased costs and significant dock backups (Alexander & Abernathy, 2010).

According to the article “Improving Shipper/Carrier Relationships” (2015) there are a few
areas that will make your customer/carrier relationship very positive. All carriers need to
work towards a win-win situation. Working with the carrier to find out what type of
supplies and freight being transported will allow them to figure how what mode of
transportation will meet your needs to best. This will help to codify a long-term shipping
relationship. It is very important to ensure that as a carrier company that you follow
through on the commitments that you made with your customers. If, over and over you
fail to hold up your end of the commitment, then the customer will begin to think that
they are not valued and will look to other carriers who honor their commitments. If you
carrier is able to refer customers to partner carriers when unable to meet the needs that
will go a long way in showing customers that even though your carrier is not able to
meet their needs, you have a carrier to provide to them. When this happens all benefit
from these shared relationships. In the end, the original carrier is the overall winner by

earning more of your and possibly other customers business (“Improving Shipper/Carrier
Relationships”, 2015).

A carrier’s ability to keep friendly transporters, who are easy to work with will also
ensure your longevity of business. When you have transporters that are long-term, they
will know your business procedures well and ensure the pickups and deliveries are as
efficient as possible. As a carrier, it is important to make sure you know if your
customers will need weekend, late night or early morning services, so that their
operations won’t be held up due to your carrier not being able to meet those delivery
time (“Improving Shipper/Carrier Relationships”, 2015).

All things transportation start and end with effective communication between the carrier
and the customer. It is important to periodically, such as quarterly, sit down with your
customers to see if their needs or expectations have changed, advise them of any new
services your carrier can provide and what their overall satisfaction of your delivery
services are. Knowing this vital information will allow your carrier to make any changes
to ensure your customer’s needs and expectations are still being met to the best of your
ability. This prior communication will make the renegotiations much easier and more
effective as their will not be anything unexpected popping up (“Improving
Shipper/Carrier Relationships”, 2015).

In closing, when it comes to the importance of customer/carrier relationships it is a given
that the relationship needs to be continuously worked on. The longer you work together,
the more trust that will developed between you and the carrier, it can be a lot of work to
establish that kind of relationship, but in the end it is more than worth it. After all, for
the carrier to stay in business they have to have a good customer base. It really comes
down to almost becoming friends with your customers or at least befriending them so
that they will start to see you as a person and not just a number (Weakly, 2015).
Customers and carriers values and expectations are very important to any relationship
but to a business relationship it is vital. A healthy customer-carrier relationship are
worth the work they take to establish and maintain but are most certainly needed to
keep the carrier in business.