Cargo damage can increase your costs, lower your customer satisfaction ratings, and even harm your business’s reputation. Although you might not be able to prevent all cargo damage, you can take measures to reduce it significantly. Here are a few helpful tips for businesses to reduce cargo damage.
Pack With the Right Materials
Insufficient packaging is one of the top causes of freight damage; luckily, it is fairly easy to fix. When you ship your products, make sure that you use proper packaging. If you transport fragile items, you might need to use more packaging than you would with more durable products. Additionally, if you ship multiple items in one box, you need to provide cushioning such as bubble wrap so that the products do not collide with one another. Too often, businesses try to cut back on packaging in hopes that it will reduce their costs. While reducing packaging does reduce costs in the short term, it causes significant issues in the long term and often results in unhappy customers. To meet your consumers’ standards, your cargo needs to arrive safely. Therefore, it’s best to spend a little more on packaging to keep your loyal customers happy.
Choose Safe Shipping Methods
Sometimes, all you need to do to prevent cargo damage is choose safe shipping methods. For example, shipping by plane is generally safer for fragile cargo than shipping by boat, since the ride is much smoother in the air. However, if you have durable cargo, then you might be able to ship by boat without much damage. Additionally, shipping by plane is significantly more expensive than shipping by boat, so cost is a factor to keep in mind. It all depends on your type of cargo and your budget. If you don’t have the time to handle and choose your shipping methods, partner with a freight forwarder. Creating partnerships is one of the essential tips for growing your business because it’s mutually beneficial and can save you a lot of time, money, and effort.
Implement Transportation Risk Management
Transportation risk management uses tools, procedures, and strategies to reduce transportation risks, such as cargo damage. There are many benefits that come with transportation risk management in addition to reducing cargo damage, so it’s an excellent option for your business. With transportation risk management, you can ensure that all your cargo reaches its destination safely, efficiently, and on time.
Remember To Label Appropriately
Incorrect labeling can cause a whole myriad of problems for your business. Due to incorrect labeling, cargo is often damaged, lost, and even sent to the wrong address. For instance, if you send a package with breakable items but label it incorrectly, people who handle your cargo will not know to treat it with care and the items might be crushed or smashed. To prevent all these troublesome situations, make sure to label all your cargo properly.
These are just a few useful tips for businesses to reduce cargo damage. With these tips, you can satisfy your customers, improve your business’s reputation, reduce product returns, and lower your costs. After you use these tips, you’ll see a significant decrease in the amount of cargo damage that occurs every year.
Van Rundell is a writer and author who specializes in transportation, travel, guidance, health & fitness. With over 10 years of experience in the industry as a driver and an entrepreneur, he has seen it all. His tone is professional but friendly with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. In past, he has been advising, educating and writing about transport for the public and professionals alike.
A qualified fitness instructor with over 5 years’ experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Van brings his deep knowledge of health and exercise science to his articles on health & fitness.
