Category: Blog

LTL 101: BOLs Part 2

 

This week is about keeping your Bill-of-Lading (BOLs) clean and precise to avoid confusing carriers or being charged incorrectly.

When shipping LTL freight please make sure your BOLs are clean and precise prior to sending them to your shippers. Extra language in the special instructions section of BOLs only causes billing issues.

Take a look at the below examples where the BOLs are very busy and not easily readable:

• Let’s stop putting so much traffic in the special instructions!
• PU# is fine, but not 3 times
• PU instructions FCFS is not needed and does not protect you or the customer from charges
  • If the carrier is delayed due to the shipper you will be charged regardless
  • If they can’t get in timely or for another reason they will skip the pick-up
• “No APT needed for LTL shipments” –  This is unnecessary information because if the consignee states appointment is needed it will be assessed
  • The carrier already assumes appointment is not needed.
  • This includes daily routines between consignee and carrier
    • If a consignee isn’t always open during regular business hours, some LTL carriers will have that particular address flagged for appointments no matter what we have on the BOL

Headings: “BOL SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:” “PICKUP DIRECTIONS” “PICKUP NOTES” “PICKUP INSTRUCTIONS” “DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS”  should be consolidated or removed all together.

• Again, “FCFS DELIVERY” is not needed and does not protect you or the customer from charges
• “1000-1600” – By putting hours on the BOL, some carriers may flag the shipment for an appointment because standard LTL operating hours will always be assumed
  • If the carrier’s cut time from the terminal is 8 a.m. and this consignee is close to the terminal then this should be flagged because they would have to wait 2 hours prior to attempting delivery
• “MUST CALL” – This verbiage may be mistaken for notify or an appointment because some LTL billing clerks may not catch the remaining portion due to the busyness of the BOL

• “No additional accessorial will be approved without prior authorization” – This wording is irrelevant because the carrier will always charge based on their rules tariff and/or contract with the paying party

After you have cleaned up your BOL, you can’t stress enough to your customer: “Make sure this BOL is handed to the carrier so that no additional charges occur!”

 

Check back every 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday each month for more inside information on LTL through our Multimodal Wednesday Series.

Training Tuesday: Making the Sales Presentation

Give your customer a dynamic sales presentation.

Tailor your presentation to suit each individual company and focus your presentation on the benefits—not features, that SunteckTTS has to offer.  Before making the presentation ask yourself: what kind of presentation will convince the prospect to buy (analytical?  logical?  emotional?), then model your presentation to match them.

Know your audience.  Make sure that all the important decision-makers are in attendance.  Be sure you know their level of expertise about the transportation industry, SunteckTTS, and their company’s shipping needs.

Prepare a presentation folder for everyone who will be in attendance.  Since we’re selling an intangible service; this presentation folder will have to suffice for your product demonstration.

Even in your sales presentation you must remember to be a good listener.  Being a good listener generates confidence, and demonstrates sincerity in your desire to understand the prospect’s needs. Listening can’t be emphasized enough.

Psychologically, the most memorable parts of sales presentations are the beginning and the end, so they deserve special attention.  Collect the ideas you’d like to suggest or selling points you want to make; then organize them according to your purpose and the needs of your prospect.

Practice, practice, practice.  Increase your odds of closing more sales by practicing your presentations.

Lastly, get to know everything you can about the transportation business – SunteckTTS – as well as the competition.  Make sure the prospect realizes that you’re an expert.  When you demonstrate how much you know about your industry, you’ll gain the respect of your customers and prospects.

To make the best presentation possible, you must have conviction in the services you’re there to sell.

Check back next Tuesday for more tips on Selling SunteckTTS. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

Intermodal 101: Benefits

Adding intermodal shipping into your arsenal will allow you a much greater level of flexibility in meeting your customer commitments. Right now, as fall is fast approaching, over the road (OTR) equipment is becoming tighter. When that happens, the shipper will often face not meeting scheduled delivery date/time for their customer, or they will have to pay more to meet their commitments. Neither of these scenarios are positive.

By opening to intermodal shipping, you are allowing the following positives to become part of your shipping strategy:
1. Access to an additional 200,000 pieces of capacity to help move your freight, available in a variety of sizes: 20’, 40’, 40’HC (high cube), 45’, 48’ and 53’. In fact, intermodal is pioneering a 60’ container in Canada right now, that may make its way into the US within the next 5 years.
2. The potential for lower rates, or at least maintaining rate consistency
3. A more environmentally sound shipping strategy
4. Consistent transit scheduling, including avoidance of any “out of hours” stoppages that you may find in OTR shipping

Just as importantly, having the option to ship via intermodal prevents you from falling behind your competition who may already be shipping in this mode. Whatever type of company you are, your best competitors are probably already shipping intermodal or at least considering where it might fit. To stay on an even playing field, you must have this tool as well. And, once implemented, you will now be steps ahead of some of your competition who have not made the commitment.

If you have questions about intermodal, or would like to get started, contact us at intermodal@suntecktts.com.

Check in on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of every month for more information on intermodal. Shipping intermodal has many benefits but is not necessarily right for all situations. The next installment will discuss some of the concerns shipping intermodal may precipitate.

Consultative Selling

Treat all your sales work as a consulting assignment.  Consultative selling turns salespeople into experts and clients into partners.  When you first meet the prospect take your “sell” sign down for the majority, if not all, of your first call.

Some sales reps visit a customer two or three times, ask them every question they can think of except the most important question of all – asking the customer to buy their service. You can and should qualify the customer and re-visit their needs on a regular basis.  If they’re qualified to buy and you don’t offer SunteckTTS’s help, then you’re doing them a disservice.  On the other hand, if you keep calling on a customer who’s not qualified, you’re stealing time and money from yourself.  Be sure after you’ve made a consultative sales call that you follow up by asking for their business.

The best salespeople are professional problem solvers.  We’re in the business of solving transportation problems.  But you have to know and understand the problem first before you try to solve it.

There will come a point when the customer will be ready to move past the small talk, and usually it’s quicker than you might think.  You can tactfully do this without jeopardizing the emerging relationship by giving the prospect a reason to answer your questions.

On every sales call, be the student, because you really are. In transportation sales it’s questions, questions, and more questions. Know the questions you’re going to ask before you arrive at the customer’s desk.

Sales listening is patient listening.  Don’t anxiously wait for an opportunity to jump in and solve all the customer’s problems right away.

Take notes!  Taking notes during your meeting with the prospect can be one of your most powerful sales tools as it helps you listen and puts you in a position of authority.

Last, but not least, be sure to wrap up the appointment by asking for the next appointment, and by getting a positive response on a trial close.

Check back next Tuesday for more tips on Selling SunteckTTS. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

LTL: Unexpected Charges

While LTL shipping has its advantages, there are also some things to watch out for that are unique to LTL. Often there can be unexpected charges due to certain factors of a shipment, and these will not be included in an initial rate estimate. Today we are covering a few of these charges and things to watch out for when shipping a load via LTL.

Did you know that many customers get invoiced at a much higher rate due to their shipments being “hit” with Cubic Capacity, Exceeds Linear Foot, or Oversize Dims? All three of these things are different and very expensive so pay close attention to what your customer is shipping.

Cubic Capacity
This is when a shipment is greater than 750 cubic feet and an average density of 6 or less (some carriers are 4 or less).

• Example of a Cubic Capacity load:
  • 6 Pallets at 2600 lbs., each pallet is 48x48x55, cubic feet is 768, and the density is only 5.91
• This shipment would get “hit” with cubic capacity without a quote.

Linear Foot Rule
Each carrier has their own version of the linear foot rule. If your shipment equals more than the LTL linear foot rule for that carrier then it will get “hit” with the “exceeds linear feet” fee.

• Example of Linear Foot load:
  • 5 pallets at 5000 lbs., each pallet is 49x49x50, and because the pallets cannot be placed side by side this shipment takes up a little more than 20’ of space

Oversize
Each carrier has an over dimension rule; most LTL carriers are 12′. The oversize accessorial should be applied to any shipment 12’ or more. You can find the “Linear Foot Rule” for most carriers by looking at their carrier tariff on their websites.
Check back every 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday each month for more inside information on LTL through our Multimodal Wednesday Series.

Tips for Making the Initial Approach

The initial approach to a prospect is the most crucial part of the sales presentation.  All the selling skills in the world won’t matter if you don’t get your foot in the door. First impressions are lasting impressions. You can’t win everyone over with a single script designed to handle the first few minutes. Below are some of our top tips for the initial approach.

1.Believe in yourself. If you don’t believe you can win the prospect’s confidence, you’ll self-destruct in the opening moments of your first sales call.

2. Develop and maintain a positive attitude.

3. Shake hands firmly, but don’t overdo it.

4. Be conversational and use humor early.

5. Don’t prejudge the prospect. Everyone is different. Accommodate and welcome the differences.

6. Qualify the buyer early, preferably before your first face-to-face meeting.

7. Believe in SunteckTTS and the services you sell.

8. Know the prospect’s industry and business before you make the call.

9. Look professional. Your appearance is the first thing the prospect notices.

10. Be prompt. Lateness tells the prospect you don’t respect his or her time.

11. Be sincere. Sincerity wins customers – insincerity loses customers and prospective customers.

 

Check back next Tuesday for more tips on Selling SunteckTTS. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

Intermodal 101: Blocking and Bracing

Moving freight via Intermodal is a great decision for many reasons that will be discussed as we move forward in this series. Blocking and Bracing of shipments is an extremely important component of intermodal shipping.

Intermodal travel, especially in stack containers, provides a very good ride quality, but there does need to be additional load securement prior to it being loaded on the train.  One simple way to remember the basics, according to the Union Pacific, is through the acronym SAFE LOAD:

S –  Secure the lading

A –  Always plan your load

F –  Fill the empty spaces

E –  Evenly distribute the weight

L –  Look to ensure lading does not exceed 2500 lbs per linear foot

O – Only use AAR (Association of American Railroads) approved dunnage

A – Apply appropriate blocking and bracing

D – Do not use pallets as filler

Each railroad offers guides for shipment securement on their websites.  It is important to remember this requirement when considering Intermodal as your method of transportation.

If you have questions about intermodal, or would like to get started, contact us at intermodal@suntecktts.

Check in on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday of every month for more information on intermodal. The next installment will discuss some of the major reasons you should consider intermodal given the current market conditions.

 

How to Leave a Voicemail

Voicemail is both a terrific tool and also the world’s most effective gatekeeper. You have to become comfortable with leaving messages.  Use all the same tools you use when speaking with a live gatekeeper: be aggressive, assume control, sound important and confident.

Be clear and clever.  Make sure you sound enthusiastic and authoritative on your business and theirs.

Leaving good voicemail messages requires practice.  Leave practice voicemail messages on your own or fellow salespersons’ machines.  Don’t repeat yourself, and be sure to leave your telephone number.  You’d be surprised to find out how many people forget to leave their number.

Make your message short – less than 30 seconds.  Give the prospect headlines instead of the entire story.

Don’t expect all prospects to return your call.  After you’ve left two voicemail messages for a prospect, your next strategy is to get around the machine. After all, your ultimate goal is to set an appointment when you can meet the prospect face-to-face.

When you finally reach your prospect on the phone remember you didn’t call to make the sale, only to make an appointment.

Speak slowly and clearly.  Smile with your voice. Prospects like to buy from people they’re comfortable with.  Be sure to project your friendliness over the phone line.

Be an energetic speaker.  An energetic voice expresses your enthusiasm for SunteckTTS.

Listen attentively. Sometimes the prospect will give you some useful information that you can use during your face-to-face appointment.  Be sure to take notes while you’re talking on the phone with the prospect.  Verify the prospect’s address and any other information needed for your scheduled meeting.

Check back next Tuesday for more tips on Selling SunteckTTS. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

LTL BOLs

• A BOL (Bill of Lading) serves as the legal binding contract between the carrier and SunteckTTS
• It provides all the details needed for a carrier to process and invoice a shipment
• If incorrect shipment or billing information is provided at the time of pick up you will incur additional charges
• Every carrier has their own set of specific charges for each instance
• When a BOL is given to any carrier without a class or National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) number, they will defer to their default or “courtesy” class/NMFC number based on their individual Rules Tariff
• Corrected BOLs can be sent to every carrier, and we can request carriers re-rate our invoices based on the Corrected BOL, but there are no legal means of making the carrier re-rate based on the original BOL given at the time of P/U
• Fees will apply for a corrected BOL (CBOL) based on the carriers individual Rules Tariff
• Carriers have the option to charge for services provided based on their Rules Tariff up to 180 days after the fact and they are protected by the U.S. Government
• Don’t forget we will always have the option to dispute, even on a late charge
• If the carrier does not submit their “balance due” bill(s) within 180 days, we have a legal right to refuse payment

Check back every 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday each month for more inside information on LTL through our Multimodal Wednesday Series.

Please see below for the entire law:
U.S. Government Publishing Office
United States Code, 2006 Edition, Supplement 3, Title 49 – TRANSPORTATION
49 U.S.C. 13710 – ADDITIONAL BILLING AND COLLECTING PRACTICES
(3)Billing disputes.—
(A)Initiated by motor carriers.—
In those cases where a motor carrier (other than a motor carrier providing transportation of household goods or in noncontiguous domestic trade) seeks to collect charges in addition to those billed and collected which are contested by the payor, the carrier may request that the Board determine whether any additional charges over those billed and collected must be paid. A carrier must issue any bill for charges in addition to those originally billed within 180 days of the receipt of the original bill in order to have the right to collect such charges.
(B)Initiated by shippers.—
If a shipper seeks to contest the charges originally billed or additional charges subsequently billed, the shipper may request that the Board determine whether the charges billed must be paid. A shipper must contest the original bill or subsequent bill within 180 days of receipt of the bill in order to have the right to contest such charges.

Training Tuesday: How to Make the First Call

Your only objective for using the telephone on a cold call is to schedule an appointment.  Never attempt to sell at this stage.  The only purpose of the initial call is to set up a time for the prospect to hear your presentation. 

1.Know the decision maker’s information and how you obtained the lead. Never call a prospect without knowing his or her name in advance.

2.Assume control of the conversation, but remain polite and friendly.

3.Speak with conviction. You have to believe that SunteckTTS can help your customer. Be well prepared with answers to common questions.

It’s a matter of how you see and carry yourself.  You must always keep in mind that your objective is not to leave the decision in the hands of a third party screening the prospects’ calls.  Your prospect’s decision on who they trust to ship their goods is one of the most important decisions they make. Be persistent.  Make sure they get the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that only you can sell them.

Be aggressive, assume control, sound important and confident.

Check back next Tuesday for more tips on Selling SunteckTTS. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.