The Benefits Of Regional Carriers Find out why you shouldn't always use national package delivery companies for every shipment.

If you use well-known national package delivery companies forall your overnight shipments, you may be spending more-and gettingless-than you need. Regional carriers are often positioned toprovide service that's more flexible, dependable andcost-effective. Some of the benefits include:

• Later pickup and earlier delivery times without heftysurcharges
• Less chance that bad weather will cause delays
• Reduced risk of damage. Regional carriers typically don'tuse major sorting centers, which means less package handling.
• Lower costs. Because they don't operate nationally orinternationally, regional carriers aren't forced to subsidizeless profitable routes.
• Strong business relationships. Regional carriers are usuallysmaller companies with fewer employees, so it's easier to builda relationship with the customer service and dispatch personnel.This can be a big plus when you need extra help with specialshipments.

When you evaluate a regional carrier, ask for and contactreferences. Also find out about their tracking, billing and onlinecapabilities. Does the carrier operate a PC-based shipping systemthat lets you generate your own bills of lading and track shipmentsfrom your computer?

Finally, ask the carrier to conduct an analysis of your delivery needs and expenses. You can provide them with your typical shipping patterns or an actual shipping history for a specific time period such as one month or one quarter. The carrier should give you are port on the service and rates they offer for comparable shipments. It pays to do your homework before you need to deliver the goods. You may just find those big carriers don't fill the bill.