Why Most Companies Overpay for Shipping
Shipping costs have been climbing for years, and it's not just fuel surcharges and annual rate increases. Between supply chain disruptions, carrier capacity constraints, and increasingly complex pricing structures, even experienced operations teams struggle to keep costs under control.
Here are some of the issues shippers unknowingly struggle with.
Billing Errors Go
Unnoticed
Operations, logistics, and finance teams don't have the time and/or carrier expertise to audit every invoice line by line and each claim for refunds.
Services Don't
Match Needs
For example, when a shipper pays for express services when ground options would meet time-in-transit requirements.
Contracts Favor
the Carrier, Not You
With complex pricing, rate escalation clauses, misaligned discounts and minimum charges, plus dozens of surcharges to negotiate, small mistakes add up fast.
Constant Fuel
Surcharge Increases
Even when actual fuel prices are falling, carriers use FSCs as a revenue booster that significantly drives up your per-package costs. Shippers don't know how to get relief.
3 Ways We'll Cut Your Shipping Costs
Carriers Aren't Exactly Motivated to Help Optimize Your Costs. That's Where We Come In.
Contract & Rate Optimization
If you're shipping significant volume, we help you negotiate better terms with your current carriers. The truth is, most companies don't have the time or expertise to handle complex projects like multi-carrier RFPs or financial impact analysis. We do this every day, so we know exactly what to ask for and how to get it. Plus, we deliver savings on top of what you've already negotiated.
What you get: Better rates, improved terms, and contract language that protects you from excessive future increases - without the months of back-and-forth you'd face doing it yourself.
Comprehensive Parcel Audit
Think of this as a financial health check for your shipping spend. We dig through your invoices line by line to catch billing errors and identify where you're getting hit with unnecessary charges. Most of our clients are surprised by what we find. These include duplicate charges, incorrect zone applications, and fees that shouldn't even be included in the first place.
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What you get: Recovery of overcharges plus a clear picture of where your money's actually going.
Limited Group Rate Programs
We offer access to coveted pre-negotiated group rates that individual shippers typically can't get on their own. Think of it like a buying cooperative - you get the volume discounts that are usually reserved for much larger shippers, but without the hassle of lengthy negotiations.
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What you get: Immediate savings with a quick implementation. Perfect for companies that don't ship enough volume to negotiate premium rates individually.
How We'll Work Together
(It's Pretty Straightforward)
Step 1 /
Quick Analysis
We will analyze your shipping invoices based on a month or two of your actual shipping data. This helps us understand your patterns and spot optimization opportunities. The whole process takes a couple of weeks and requires maybe a couple hours of time from your team (or less).
What you provide: Recent invoices and shipping data. Your contract is helpful but not required.
Step 2 /
We Present Your Options
Once we've crunched the numbers, we'll walk you through exactly what we found and present your options in plain English. Whether it's accessing our group rates, optimizing your current contract, or a combination of both - you decide what makes sense for your business.
Timeline: We'll have a savings estimate for you in just a couple of weeks.
Step 3 /
Implementation
Here's where you start seeing results. Most of our clients don't need to change their processes at all. If you do end up switching carriers (which isn't always necessary), we'll guide you through the transition and support you every step of the way.
Timeline: Full implementations typically takes 1-3 months - much faster than trying to negotiate everything yourself, and you'll start seeing savings once implementation is complete.
Shipping Savings,
Delivered.
Industrial Manufacturing Co.
Saves 22% Annually
With margins already under pressure and tariff threats looming, this manufacturer couldn't afford to keep overpaying for shipping. Rather than forcing them through lengthy carrier negotiations, we gave them access to our exclusive group rate programs.
Our client saw a 22% reduction in shipping costs without disrupting operations. Implementation took just 6 weeks, and savings took effect on their very next invoice.
Ready to stop overpaying for shipping?
Look, analyzing shipping costs isn't exactly the most glamorous part of running a business. But when you're potentially overpaying by 10-30%+ on every invoice, those dollars add up fast.
The good news? Getting started is simple. We'll analyze your shipping spend at no cost and show you exactly where you can save. No upfront costs, no risk - you only pay if we deliver.
Questions? Email Melanie at
info@pcr-consulting.com.