2023 Is LTL RFP Season

When most shippers and carriers hear RFP, I’d venture to say they automatically assume one of the two is going to come out on the short end of the deal. That’s a valid assumption. I will argue though, that it doesn’t have to be that way. It has always been my position that RFPs should be mutually beneficial and should have the purpose of ensuring success for both entities.

I know what you’re thinking. An RFP is designed to drive the lowest possible cost for the shipper. If that’s you’re only objective in an RFP, you really need Green Mountain to help “right think” your LTL program. There is so much more to an RFP event than cost, which we’ll get into a little later.

If you’re a carrier and you receive an RFP, your immediate thought is probably oh boy, here we go and we’re going to lose margin/yield to keep/get this business. I know this is how Pricing departments tend to think. I spent over 20 years leading a Pricing team and constantly had to explain why this is an opportunity, not an inconvenience.  This is your opportunity to display all the great things you do. It’s also an opportunity to help paint a picture of your network and where you have capacity and where you don’t. Let’s face it, there are enough carriers out there to fill the lanes where you simply don’t have the capacity to price to the expectations of the shipper. That’s a good thing and should be viewed as such. Long gone are the days of wanting every single piece of business a shipper has.

We are all so much more strategic today. There is so much more data available, that allows us to make data driven decisions than we had even just a short decade ago. 

An LTL RFP should be viewed as a tremendous opportunity by both shipper and carrier to work together to build a better, longer lasting, financially beneficial partnership. That’s exactly how we view RFPs at Green Mountain.

As a shipper, you should be constructing the RFP to determine everything you need to know about the carriers you’re sending it off to. Here is a list of things we suggest….

As a carrier, this is your chance to boast about what you do, what you’re great at, why you’re better than the competition. Embrace this as the perfect opportunity to work hand in hand with the shipper to strategically chart the course for the next 12 to 24 months (the term of your agreement). This is your opportunity to right size your partnership with the shipper. Make sure they know what lanes you want and what lanes cause issues in your network. Don’t be afraid to put a price out there that you know will generate your target margins. It is incumbent on the shipper to decide if they’re willing to pay that rate or not. Good partners will understand this and appreciate the transparency.

Carriers shouldn’t rush through an RFP and view it as an inconvenience. It’s not…it’s a huge opportunity to get things right!

So, why Green Mountain for LTL RFP’s and Spend Management…. First, we work with both the shipper and the carrier to get things right. We don’t negotiate rates, we don’t re-sell rates. We facilitate a data based/needs-based shipper/carrier LTL partnership. Yes, we look for savings for LTL shipper clients, but we don’t do it at the expense of a single carrier.  

Once the RFP is complete, why select Green Mountain for LTL Spend Management? Here you go…

Audit/Freight payment/spend management is a collection of processes that can be thought of in general terms as an accounts payable service for transportation invoices. Freight audit service providers such as Green Mountain, act as the intermediary between the shipper and the carrier to receive, process, and facilitate accurate payment of invoices. Every company is different, so some processes may vary slightly, but typically invoices are sent directly to the freight payment provider by the carriers (as is with Green Mountain). Upon receipt of the invoices the following processes will be included with Green Mountain.

Learn more about Green Mountain's powerful RFP and contract strategy solution.