Important questions a logistics specialist needs to ask

In this article would outline some important questions a logistics specialist needs to ask when hiring a company for the purpose of maintaining or shipping a shipment. It is very common to find a logistics company offering to handle most, if not all, of the work for you, including the shipment tracking, transport insurance, and associated documentation. The following questions will enable you to assess whether this is the most suitable company for your needs.

  • A common question is how much they are charging for their services. It is no good starting a project to find that the job you need to hire isn’t able to meet your requirements because it doesn’t seem to be charging what you expect it to charge.
  • Start off by asking them the price per piece, whether they have a minimum order figure that applies to their service, whether you will need to purchase a certificate of shipment, whether there are any additional charges for staff, the prices for various materials, and any discounts that apply to the project.
  • The shipping time required to have a project completed is another important issue. A good project manager should be able to provide a simple formula for estimating shipping times and should provide references for such an estimate.
  • How do you get your package to your final destination on time? This is an important question and should be asked, particularly if the project is likely to involve crossing international borders, and is likely to involve cargo arriving on land, with passengers traveling onboard the vessel.
  • How will the company store the goods while in transit? Again, this question can be answered by asking a number of questions to establish how their facilities will be organized, and if they will be able to provide references to do so.

Is there anything else that you should consider looking at when considering a project from the above questions? For example, should the project deal with shipping, or is it likely to be concerned with documentation? Should it be international in nature, or a domestic in nature?

  • Another great question to ask is whether the company provides a point of contact who can liaise with you and your staff. This question is very important as it will enable you to get in touch with your client to discuss what progress has been made, and whether further checks and/or clarification of any issues have been made.

There are also a variety of additional questions that you may wish to ask in order to identify how reliable the company is. This is also applicable to small projects. You may want to ask about the company’s history, how long they have been in business, their training courses, their list of clients, and the size of their staff, and the efficiency of their processes.

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