Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Selecting Reliable Trucking Companies In Minnesota

By Melissa Rogers


If you ship your products all over the country or across the borders, you would need a trucking company that you can rely on to deliver your products. There are several things that you must check in any trucking companies in Minnesota, before signing up that contract. Your expensive items are at stake. Thus, take time to review the firms in Minnesota before giving them your pallets. Here are some tips and how to go about it.

Inquire from the freighter if the company accepts half loads or it is a must that you have full loads. Sometimes you may find yourself having half loads especially when delivering to small clients. It is good to pick one that accepts both to save you the hustle of looking for one to call half loads.

Ask for a list of destinations that each trucking company under evaluation delivers to. Eliminate those that do not deliver to location that you intend. The remaining few, ascertain if they have the capacity to deliver your goods to the destinations especially those that are far away. For good that are to be shipped overseas, check if, the shipping firms have the facilities to handle your products safely to the port of destination. The standard size of the facilities is dependent on merchandise that you intend to ship.

It is also important to determine if the trucking firm works independently or as a part of a larger franchise or as part of a large freighter. The practices and pricing policy of the larger company is most likely to be what is applied to the franchises and other branches around the world.

You should also know if the freighters own the trucks that it uses or hires independent truck operators. The freighters that own the trucks are able to control the service delivery better than companies that hire independent operators to deliver goods. If independent truck owners are the ones that do the delivery, request to know how the firm ensures that they deliver on time and safely.

Research on each company quality of the service and process of service delivery. Search about the firm on the Internet and contact its past clients. Inquire about timeliness and ability to keep the goods in one piece until delivery. Ask from the transport firms too for the average damages per ever hundred trips that it does on behalf of its customers.

Inquire about insurance costs for shipping your goods beforehand. While some trucking companies offer insurance as part of this whole package, it is advisable to have a separate insurance policy to cover the goods on transit. If you are ferrying hazardous goods, ensure that you have MSDS before approaching any of the freighters to transport your goods. This is a requirement of law.

Finally, when you have evaluated all of the above points, it is time to look at the pricing. You should evaluate a few firms then compare the pricing of different firms to the same destination. Pick the one that offers the best terms and reasonable pricing. Do not just pick one that has the lowest quote.




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