Demands for CPGs due to COVID-19. Growing e-commerce orders. A rise in cross-border trade. There are endless reasons why shipping companies are busier than ever. Rising demand on 3PLs and their shipping partners also means increasing costs for buyers and sellers that rely on shipping to acquire and deliver goods. High shipping costs affect profitability of your business; they are a major reason why online customers bail on their loaded shopping carts before purchase. Clearly, reducing costs is a major objective for companies shipping from Canada to the USA.
Factors Influencing Shipping Costs and How to Reduce Them
Freight shipping companies have no control over things like fuel costs, regulatory changes both domestic and foreign, and the flux that comes with economic ups and downs. What they can control are the day to day realities involved in shipping. Both sellers and buyers (consumers) have a vested interested in establishing certainty for shipping costs, ideally keeping them as low as possible to ensure profitability for the manufacturer and best price for the consumer. There are many factors that affect freight shipping from Canada to USA. They include:
- Freight dimensions and weight
- Shipping distance from shipper to receiver
- Tracking and Customer service
- Duties and customs
- Handling
Working with a well-established 3PL provider can help you find ways to reduce those costs. For example, one way to cut costs is to transport your shipments of goods and/or equipment as Less Than Truck Load (LTL) orders. By doing that you are only paying for the space taken up by your shipment and not the cost of the full truck. There’s no reason to be paying the full cost of ground transportation if you’re only taking up a small portion of the load. This seems obvious, but simply providing exact details on your shipment will help establish cost certainty for your shipment. Accurate dimensions, weight, and communicating any special requirements (like oddly shaped shipments that require special accommodation) will ensure there are no added costs beyond what was originally agreed to. Package dimensions and weight are one of the primary determining factors when it comes to shipping. The larger the package, the heavier the weight and the more your shipping costs will be. While you can’t reduce the weight of your product, you can determine how it is packaged. Packaging should be big enough to envelop your products, but fitted and snug enough to keep dimensions to a minimum so your shipping costs won’t be inflated.
Tracking of package is a necessary cost, because it proves the package has been sent and helps in customer service interactions. Many shippers will offer complimentary coverage; insurance of some sort is always advised to cover expenses in case packages are lost, stolen or damaged. Duties and customs, however, are always a challenge given the uncertainty of fees being charged from country to country. Again, working with a 3PL provider with experience shipping from Canada to USA will help mitigate the uncertainty.
Here is How to manage freight shipping capacity issues post pandemic
Use NATS Canada for Freight Shipping from Canada to USA.
NATS Canada has a network of carriers and freight shipping companies offering a variety of cost-effective delivery services from Canada to the U.S. and vice versa. They can provide professional service and help ensure everything goes smoothly, ensuring you have the right documentation, bill of landing, invoices, NAFTA certificates and more.
Trust NATS Canada, one of North America’s top freight shipping companies. NATS works with hundreds of carriers and freight shipping companies in Toronto and across the company to ensure your freight moves affordably and safely.
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