Why freight tendering is like bar tendering!

If you go into a bar and order the best drink the bartender can serve, it would probably cocktail of some kind. The bartender will do his best to create the optimal mixture of different flavors, sweets, sours and bitters to “blow your pants of”. But if you are lucky, the bartender will have a “Macallan Valerio Adami whiskey” on the shelf.

Ingredients & Logistic Service Providers

Creating the ideal cocktail requires knowledge about the ingredients used. The right mix and (quality of) ingredients will lead to an optimal taste. This is similar for transport. There are many types of service providers in the market, all with their own expertise; groupage, LTL, FTL, region and/or country specific. The right mix will lead to an optimal cost/quality situation for your shipment profile and required service level. For cocktails one of the baseline rules = less is more! Same for transport, adding too many service providers will work counterproductive as it increases your internal (handling) costs. However, with only one provider/ingredient, you cannot name it a cocktail and you will miss out on the benefits of mixing!

Mixing the cocktail & Tendering

If you would order a pure vodka the bartender would be ready within seconds. The cocktail on the other side will take the bartender time to serve as he selects and mixes the ingredients. Freight tendering also takes time, as the process of finding and comparing the right partners is complex. Buyers will need the right software to compare prices and translate these to cost and quality for your shipment profile. Similar to trusting a well-trained bartender for the best cocktail, an independent procurement professional specializing in transport will be able to provide you with the best mix of service providers.

Taste & Quality

The reason to order the cocktail is simply because for most people it tastes better compared to a simple vodka. You can adjust cocktails with vodka to your personal taste, but plain vodka will always taste the same whether you like it or not. Finding the right mix of service providers with complementary specialties will not only result in cost advantages but will also result in better service/quality. Specialists will often have more departures, shorter transit times, better services, etcetera. Sometimes you can find that ideal 4PL/Control Tower provider that can provide the lowest cost vs the desired quality your “Macallan Valerio Adami whiskey”. But before you decide to buy it, ask to see the bottle first!