Due to the growth of the supply chain, modern customers require fast deliveries directly to their doorstep. As the various e-commerce giants, eBay and Amazon have developed successful models, customers not only experience comfort but also confidence while shopping from the online stores.
However, this behavioral shift of the customers is making the small business owners revamp their marketing strategy and other essential aspects of their business. Nowadays, transporting goods from one place to another is one of the most crucial aspects faced by both small and large business owners.
Even though freight shipping might sound like an easy task, the process is undoubtedly complicated. This means that you might end up facing situations where you need to spend more time and money, which will make the overall experience more frustrating.
Fortunately, if you manage to avoid these mistakes, you will be able to ensure a proper supply chain. Here are the common freight shipping errors that small businesses should avoid.
You List the Wrong Address
It doesn’t matter what you do, make sure you never list the wrong address while shipping goods from one place to another. Despite being a horrifying mistake, many business owners still end up listing incorrect addresses for their shipments. Not only this will cost you money but your shipment can also end up arriving late.
If the shipping or delivery address is listed incorrectly due to human errors or auto-correct errors, your shipment will end up delivered at the wrong place. In such cases, you need to track down the shipment, collect it, and deliver it to the proper authority again. Apart from re-routing fees, you also need to pay for additional resources. The customers will also be disappointed by your services.
Improper Bill of Lading
The Bill of Lading is one of the most important parts of the ocean freight shipping services. The Bill of Lading is a legal document that will provide both the carrier and the driver with the details that are extremely important to invoice and process the ocean freight properly. Here are the essential components of the Bill of Lading:
- The date of the shipment
- The value of the transported goods
- The address and the full name of the shipper
- The volume and weight of the shipment
- The number of units
- The purchase or manufacturing order
- Any type of special instructions regarding the handling
- The description of the items
If you make mistakes with the Bill of Lading, you will end up facing severe consequences.
You Don’t Consider Freight Insurance
Many shippers don’t consider freight insurance to reduce the shipment cost. Make sure you don’t follow in their footsteps and make the same mistake as they did. The shipment without insurance might look cost-effective, but you might face tremendous problems just because you planned to save a couple of hundreds of dollars. As per Iedunote, cargo insurance is extremely important for international shipping.
Natural disasters or other types of issues can cause damage to the containers or the products you’re shipping. Not to mention, you also need to consider human errors. If you don’t have insurance, you cannot do anything even if the products are damage.
Conclusion
These are the freight shipping errors small businesses need to avoid. What are your thoughts? Make sure you comment below to let us know.
