Freight management plays a vital role in modern supply chains. It covers the planning, booking and oversight of goods moving from one point to another. Whether you’re a manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or ecommerce brand, managing freight well is crucial to getting products where they need to be on time and at a sensible cost.
This article explains what freight management involves and the strategies that make it work.
What freight management involves
Good freight management usually covers:
- Planning — understanding what needs to move, where, how often and how urgently.
- Carrier selection — matching each consignment to a carrier and service that suits its size, weight, destination and timeframe.
- Booking and documentation — booking the consignment, labelling it correctly and preparing any paperwork.
- Handover — getting freight ready for collection and handing it to the carrier.
- Monitoring — following consignments through to delivery and handling exceptions such as delays or damage.
- Review — looking at cost and performance over time and adjusting the carrier mix.
Freight brokering versus running a fleet
There are two broad ways a logistics business can manage freight: running its own vehicles, or brokering freight through carriers.
MTM Logistics brokers freight. We don’t operate trucks. Instead, we match each consignment to a suitable carrier, book it and hand it to that carrier, who performs the transport. Our carrier partners include Australia Post, FedEx, Couriers Please, Border Express, Team Global Express, Aramex and Capital Transport.
The advantage of brokering is choice. A satchel to a Sydney apartment, a carton to a regional stockist and a pallet to a Melbourne distribution centre all have different best options — and a broker isn’t tied to a single network.
Strategies for effective freight management
Match the service to the need
Not every consignment needs express. Choose services based on what the customer actually needs, and reserve premium services for genuinely urgent freight.
Package for the journey
Use packaging that protects the goods without adding unnecessary size or weight. Dimensional-weight pricing means oversized cartons cost more.
Consolidate where you can
Fewer, fuller consignments are usually cheaper and more efficient than many small ones — especially for wholesale orders to the same region.
Keep data clean
Accurate weights, dimensions and addresses prevent re-quotes, surcharges and failed deliveries.
Review performance
Look regularly at cost per consignment, on-time delivery and damage by carrier and lane, and adjust your mix accordingly.
Visibility for clients
MTM clients use our client portal at connect.mtmlogistics.com.au to see stock on hand values, see inbound and outbound orders, and enter orders to be dispatched. Combined with warehousing and pick and pack at our Archerfield facility, that gives clients a single place to manage stock and orders while we take care of booking the freight.
Getting started
From Archerfield in Brisbane, most of the east coast is within 2–5 days transit via our carrier partners. If you’d like help choosing and booking the right services for your freight, talk to us.
Whatever your business moves, we’ll move it.