Three Crucial Logistics to Consider When Delivering Items Over a Long Distance

Before delivering goods over a long distance, which could be cross-country or international delivery, you will need to look at various logistics.

Here are three crucial logistics to consider.

Will You Use Your Own Transportation or Outsource Your Delivery?

If you operate a delivery company, you will obviously be using your own fleet of vehicles to deliver items long-distance. But if you run a company that simply sells products, you have the choice of either using your own transportation or outsourcing your delivery.

You should carefully weigh up the pros and cons, such as the costs involved, and look at which method will be best for ensuring you deliver items to customers accurately and on time, to determine which option is best for your business.

You also need to look at the type of transport that will be used for delivery. If you operate deliveries yourself and only have small vans, they may not be the best solution for delivering goods over long distances.

Therefore, it could make more sense to outsource your deliveries to a company that has a fleet of trucks. Also, you need to consider whether it is worth your time and effort delivering items yourself to customers who live far away.

For instance, if most of your customer base is local, it may not be worth spending money on your own vehicles to transport items over long distances. Therefore, outsourcing could be the way forward.

How Will You Track Deliveries to Their Destinations?

Whether you use your own transport or not, it is crucial that you have a system in place for tracking your deliveries. You can then ensure that customers receive their goods in an accurate and timely manner, and identify any issues that cause delays and problems.

Therefore, you should use things like route optimization software or ensure the long haul delivery service you get to deliver your items for you has an easy-to-use online portal that is available from any device and any time, features to-the-minute delivery times, and real-time information.

You should also make sure the couriers use verification methods like signatures, photographs, emails, and texts, to prove items have been successfully delivered. If you want to stay in control of your long-distance logistics, ensure items are delivered on time, and attain a high level of customer satisfaction, it is critical that you track your deliveries. 

How Big Do Your Warehouses Need to Be and Where Should They Be Located? 

Logistics to consider when delivering items over a long distance do not just involve the shipping process. They also involve warehouse considerations.

You will need one or more warehouses to store your inventory and you will need to ensure they are easily accessible and in prime positions for delivery optimization. Of course, you also need to make sure they are big enough to house your inventory but not too big that you are wasting space and money. You will need to make sure you attract and retain the right talent to work in your warehouses, too.

Furthermore, in order to make it quick and simple for workers to locate the right items to be shipped and load them onto trucks, you should use warehouse management software. With management software, you can also identify things like how long your inventory has been sitting on the shelf.

You may also want to consider setting up distributed fulfillment centers or partnering with fulfillment centers. The centers will come in very handy when you are dealing with long-distance deliveries on a regular basis.

Fulfillment centers are warehouses that house your inventory close to the location of the end customer. Therefore, picking, packing, and shipping can be completed very quickly. In turn, that enables you to offer your customers services like same-day and next-day delivery.

You might not be able to achieve that when delivering long-distance if you do not make use of distributed fulfillment centers.