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The immediate visualization of tracking brings up a blinking icon on a local or global map. Knowing that customers could soon expect the same from freight forwarders make technology-averse forwarders a bit uneasy.
Forwarders often restrict tracking to just the shipment progress. But it's a lot more. Tracking encompasses all sides of the freight business including finances, documentation, sales and marketing, and tracking the latest customs and compliance announcements.
In this guide, we aim to help forwarders visualize tracking from different viewpoints and make the transition to having up-to-the-minute updates of your processes so you can provide the same to your customers.
What is freight tracking?
Freight forwarding leaders are on top of everything happening in the company. How do they achieve this? To describe it in a few words, we'd say "accurate and easy information accessibility". Tracking freight requires establishing transparency and visibility between internal and external stakeholders across all stages of the freight movement.
Before providing freight tracking information to your customers, you must bring your operations in order. Executing a freight movement successfully can happen when all your teams work with the most accurate data. This is a major pain point for technology-averse forwarders as they rely on slower technology for communication like phone calls and multiple emails.
What are the types of tracking in freight forwarding?
Although the ultimate tracking may mean delivering the blinking icon at the click of a button, tracking in freight forwarding is not limited to only shipments. Everything including managing leads, ensuring customs compliance and following up on your payments to be received is part of overall tracking. For better understanding, let's understand further how tracking is useful for internal and external stakeholders.
Internal tracking
Workflow: With automated workflows, all functions are notified about their respective dependency related to shipments. Set up escalation triggers on missed cut-offs to ensure shipment schedule.
Financial tracking: If your customers default on payments for too long, you could soon have a crisis. Track all due payments with financial reports and additionally set credit limits to avoid bad debts.
Sales and marketing tracking: Monitor the progress of leads and prospects and conduct systematically follow-up with sales tracking reports.
External tracking
Documentation management & tracking: Moving cargo across borders involves several important documentation like the Bill of Lading (HBL or MBL), and certificate of origin to name a few. Having all documentation handy is crucial for you, your customers and all external parties involved in the process. Logi-Sys allows customers to view, share and approve documentation systematically with a single link.
Milestones tracking: For a smooth movement of shipment, every step of the process must be tracked, whether handled by your team or third parties. By ensuring the tracking of milestones, your business can avoid fines and penalties including demurrage and detention.
Alerts and notifications: You can develop stronger relations with your customer when you share details about their shipment's progress. Daily status reports, tracking status alerts and notifications sent to their email or via an app make it convenient for your customers.
What is the best way to track all aspects of your freight business?
Leaders in forwarding can access up-to-the-minute data anytime and from any location with freight management software. Central data storage for the entire company ensures your internal and external stakeholders are on the same page. Implementing the solutions for freight to track up-to-the-minute updates of all your processes can help prevent missing cut-offs and keep your customers satisfied.