The professionals of the transport industry especially the ones hired as brokers, 3PLs, and hire carriers are reminded of the bidding season by hearing the words like effort, pain, difficulty, etc. and this is a crystal clear explanation for the workload during the bidding season. With the beginning of the fall season, the transporters start increasing their purchase for freight and they are overwhelmed by the amount of RFP’s (request for proposal) for thousands of pathways. All the requests for proposals (RFP) are a lot different from each other except for the fact that they are all complicated as all the transporters are only looking for those methods that maximize the processes of transportation, reduce the risks of surprises on the way, and also minimize freight expenses. 

How does this affect the receivers of RFP’s? 

Well to be very clear, freight bidding season is not a very smooth season for the recipients. It can be hard for them in so many ways. Above all the workload is at its peak during the season, multiple hours of work followed by minimum or zero hours of sleep. Also, the risk of a financial crisis is ample. 

In a nutshell, freight bidding season does not only bring physical stress to the recipients but also the finances are at risk.

Now the question that arises is whether and how we can manage the workload that comes along with the freight bidding season and improve our capabilities to make our business stronger and yes, we can manage the workload, and here are certain tips to do so.

• Analyze the present market rates: Since the shippers use the latest technologies that involve advanced pricing intelligence which in turn help in reframing RFP’s and summarize freight approvals. The transportation provider can tell about the costs and current facts about the freight bidding season. This can turn complicated if the right tools that include substantial pricing intelligence, and technologies like freight bidding software, are not being used properly.
• Research thoroughly about the pricing strategies of your competitor: It is very crucial to know about the dealers, carriers, and other people bidding and playing against you on every shot. Also, be careful because every competitor will be equally interested in collecting information about your firm. Although, researching about your competitors turns out to be slightly invaluable during the fall as there are several RFPs that will pop up either in your mail, inbox, or on your desk.
• Focus on formulating and deploying a consistent bid strategy: There are a lot of things that are required to be done before you even start to go along with your new business, the most important of all being to understand and evaluate the best opportunity for your team. Since this involves the whole team and therefore, understanding and an open conversation with the entire team is necessary. You will also have to evaluate your performance on the previous bidding seasons and figure out the steps that you must take in the current freight bidding season.
• Use debt such that it improves your advantages: Start searching for an application that can manage all the workload during a freight bidding season. This will not only reduce the amount of effort required but will also save your time that can be utilized for doing and managing other important tasks. Certain apps that offer crucial pricing intelligence and a lot of other important information are advantageous and strengthen the financial aspect during the freight bidding season. One of the examples of such an app is Engage, it is an application specifically designed for freight bidding. This application offers carriers, brokers, and 3PLs that help during each phase of the freight bidding season. Experts in the field of bidding and pricing management have designed and developed Engage. The complex and intricate RFP documents can be converted and analyzed into simplified versions through bidding. 
• Invest in small bids: Small biddings are way more advantageous than huge biddings. Small bidding offers an opportunity to focus on only some specific paths with even limited resources and somehow manages to save time. Thereby managing the freight networks. In the case of small bidding, the possibility of triumph is a lot more than during huge bidding seasons as they involve heavy financial support.

Contrary to this, small bids can offer more challenges for incumbent transporters and even a single loss of track can have adverse effects on maintaining networks.

• Demand for clear information: Many RFP’s offer a lot of information regarding the season but the most important ones are found missing. Choose RFP’s that provide clear and transparent information like time accessible for delivery and pickups, how much would be the everyday workload, services offered, and other important characteristics of the freight. All this information has to be mentioned and explained clearly on the proposal with every detail possible. 

Having detailed information about everything that you are putting your hands into can never be a wrong decision. Moreover, you can always ask for more information if it is not mentioned in the RFP’s. Keep maximum data about your partners.

This bidding season is a time of patience as it comes with millions of challenges but along with that, it brings many opportunities to succeed in the business for many shippers. Moreover, it is also going through certain transformations as the shippers are using the latest technologies for better and improved outcomes. Going through the bidding season can boost as well as harm the business in so many ways. Therefore, it is very necessary to plan and strategize the entire bidding season before entering into one. Even though victory calls for major planning and strategies, it can still be achieved by keeping in mind the above points discussed. You can always make the best out of the situation only by following proper planning, practices and evaluating your actions.