Category: News

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.

 

Keep Your Small Company Feel

Top 5 Reasons to Become an Agent with SunteckTTS
1. Utilize our back-office support
2. Focus on what you do best
3. Lessen your risk
4. Keep your small company feel
5. Maintain your operating autonomy

Number 4 on our list of the top 5 reasons to become a SunteckTTS agent is that you can keep your small company feel but take advantage of our big company resources and industry reputation. Company culture is one of the most important keys to employee success and happiness in the workplace, and engaged employees are essential to the success of your business. A partnership with SunteckTTS allows you the unique opportunity to create the company culture you’ve always wanted or simply maintain the culture you have and love.

You can utilize our resources as a large company – particularly financial stability and better, bigger buying power – while running your business how you want to. Due to our large nationwide presence, we have the connections and industry reputation you need to secure customers and their freight.

Check back every Friday for an up-close look at each of these (and many more) reasons why you should join the SunteckTTS agent team.

INTERMODAL 101

Intermodal simply means more than one mode of transport. In domestic transportation, “intermodal” typically refers to the “Truck/Rail/Truck” combination.

An intermodal shipment is usually handled in the following stages:

• An empty trailer/container is picked up by a drayage carrier and taken to the shipping location for loading.
• The loaded trailer/container is then taken to a rail yard and loaded onto a rail car to be transported to a rail ramp location near the consignee.
• A drayage carrier then picks up the loaded container/trailer from the ramp and delivers the product to the consignee.

While that may seem like a lot of moving parts, there are certainly benefits to moving freight in this manner. Some of the most important ones include:

• The BCO (Beneficial Cargo Owner) could save a significant amount of money if the traffic lane is conducive to intermodal shipping
• Access to up to 200,000 additional pieces of equipment for loading
• Environmentally friendly shipping methods for BCOs who have corporate directives to reduce the size of their carbon footprint

Intermodal is not always the best method for all shippers because it requires the coordination of a lot of moving parts and excellent communication to keep the shipment moving on time. However, if properly utilized, intermodal is an excellent way to move freight.

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

 

Check back every 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday each month to learn more about intermodal.

No matter what you have scheduled for your day there is one part of your job you should do every day – Prospecting.  There are no sales without customers and there are no customers without frequent prospecting.  A qualified prospect is anybody who ships or receives freight or makes those decisions for other locations.

Our biggest tips for prospecting are:

1. Talk to and develop relationships with everyone you meet in our industry.

2. Join clubs and organizations. You never know where your next big shipper will come from.

3. Subscribe to industry news publications. Check out publications like Transport Topics, JOC, Transport and Logistics News, Armstrong & Associates, and Inbound Logistics, among others to keep up to date on what’s happening in the industry.  Read through trade publications that would apply to your largest customers (automotive, plastics, medical suppliers, etc.).

4. Attend trade shows and seminars. Those that are aimed at trucking and air freight, as well as major tradeshows specific to your biggest customers’ industries.

5. Give speeches every chance you get. Don’t sell from the podium, but make sure everyone gets one of your business cards.

6. Take the time to write an occasional article and submit to any publication that might print your ideas, even letters to the editor. This is another way for you to be recognized as an expert.

7. Offer help and resources at fundraisers, telethons, and charity drives.

8. Develop and practice networking skills – one of the most powerful business tools.

9. Surround yourself with successful people.

 

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

Maintain Your Operating Autonomy

Top 5 Reasons to Become an Agent with SunteckTTS

1. Utilize our back-office support
2. Focus on what you do best
3. Lessen your risk
4. Keep your small company feel
5. Maintain your operating autonomy

Number 5 on our list of the top 5 reasons to become a SunteckTTS agent is that our business model allows you to maintain your operating autonomy while receiving support and resources from our corporate offices. Autonomy is your own ability to control your work situation, whether that is through choosing your office location and employees or through client and project selection. You can set your own goals and build a business you can be proud of, on your own terms, but with a little help.

“Those three things – autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward – are, most people will agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.” Malcolm Gladwell

At SunteckTTS, we believe that you bring something special to our agent team, and we want you to maintain the freedom to continue working in your unique way. Freedom, creativity, and success go hand in hand, and we want you and your business to flourish. We provide resources and an environment that allows you to develop mastery in your field and grow a prosperous business. You can take pride in knowing that it’s your business; one that is successful because of your dedication, innovation and passion.

 

Check back every Friday for an up-close look at each of these (and many more) reasons why you should join the SunteckTTS agent team.

LTL 101

LTL (aka Less than Truckload) is a popular mode of transportation for those with smaller shipment sizes. LTL utilizes a “hub and spoke” method, meaning that individual shipments, usually 5 to 6 pallets maximum, do not travel directly from the pick-up location to the destination. The typical process for LTL shipments is outlined below:

• Shipments are picked up by a driver and taken to a terminal to be unloaded and inspected.
• The freight is then loaded onto an outbound trailer, which either transports the freight to a breakbulk facility/activity center or the shipment’s destination terminal.
• If the freight is headed to an activity center, it will be unloaded and reloaded onto a different trailer that is heading to the carrier’s facility in the destination city.
• Once the freight reaches the destination terminal it will be loaded onto a trailer to be delivered to the consignee.

Some things to note when considering LTL as a mode of transport:

• LTL carriers typically have several drivers in a city where there are multiple shippers, and each driver has a route and will visit the same shipper on a regular basis for pickup or delivery.
• It is possible for a shipment to be handled multiple times by a carrier, not including the initial loading and unloading (average of 8 handling/touches per shipment)
• Transit times are longer for LTL than standard Truckload
• Unless such service is requested, transit times are not guaranteed.
• LTL transit times are not related to the direct distance from shipper to consignee, but instead depend on the specific carrier’s network of terminals and breakbulk facilities.
• Heavy or dense freight that is packaged extremely well is ideal for LTL shipping
• One of the biggest advantages of shipping LTL is its lower price point when compared with other modes.
  • Sometimes as low as 10% of the cost of a full truckload

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

Before “the Sell”: Top 4 Planning Tips

You must be mentally prepared before you make a sales call and the planning process is critical to your success. The big four planning tips addressed in the video are below:

1.Know our industry. It’s your job to know as much as you can about the transportation industry.  Extensive and up-to-date knowledge of your industry provides your customers with greater confidence in your recommendations and ability.

2.Know SunteckTTS. By having a clear, thorough understanding of SunteckTTS, you’ll field customer questions and objections more easily

3.Know your competition. Learn everything you can about your competition.  Know their strengths and weaknesses. Thorough research of your competitors’ services provides you with the differentiating factors and where you can contribute to making changes that will improve your agency’s performance.

4.Know your customer. Complete knowledge of your customer’s company will show interest, always impresses, and represents an important first step in earning a customer’s confidence and business.  Learn as much as you can about each customer before making a sales call.

Use these essential planning tips before your next sales call and remember: Well-prepared salespeople are perceived as more professional.

 

Check back next week for the second featured video in the Training Tuesday series. The full playlist of videos can be found on our YouTube channel.

 

We’ve compiled our top reasons why you should become an agent with us here at SunteckTTS. Each week we’ll be sharing further details on one of the many reasons you’ll love being part of the SunteckTTS agent team. Becoming a SunteckTTS agent allows you to focus on what you do best – building relationships and profitable partnerships with customers – while we help you handle the rest.  Just a few of the reasons we’ll be exploring in this series include access to our extensive back office support, insurance, operating authority, marketing, resources, and industry reputation. We provide a competitive advantage to our agents from day one and are dedicated to providing the tools you need to be successful.

Top 5 Reasons to Become an Agent with SunteckTTS

Utilize our back-office support

Focus on what you do best

Lessen your risk

Keep your small company feel

Maintain your operating autonomy

 

Check back every Friday for an up-close look at each of these (and many more) reasons why you should join the SunteckTTS agent team.

TRAINING TUESDAY: Our new video series ‘Selling SunteckTTS’ leads you through the 3 stages of the sell: Before, During, and After. Each video focuses on a different element of the sales process and offers valuable insight into how to be successful at each stage.

The videos are listed below by category and are accessible as a full playlist via our SunteckTTS YouTube channel. Videos will also be featured here and on our social media for “Training Tuesday” over the next 14 weeks.

BEFORE ‘THE SELL’
 Top 4 Planning Tips
Top 4 Prospecting Tips
How to Make the First Call
How to Leave a Voicemail

‘THE SELL’
Tips for Your Initial Approach
Consultative Selling
How to Make a Presentation
How to Overcome Objections
How to Take Control
How to Confirm the Sale

AFTER ‘THE SELL’
Handling Rejection
Ask for Customer Referrals
How to Deliver Great Customer Service
Addressing Problems