In today's competitive business environment, every company wants to maximize its sales and revenue.
One effective way to achieve this goal is by incentivizing customers to order more, while keeping their transport cost at the same level with truck load planning.
Principles of truck load planning
Truck load planning is the process of minimizing transport costs by efficiently utilizing available means of transport and achieving the most cost-efficient procurement cost.
By leveraging 3D bin packing software, this approach optimizes space utilization and minimizes the number of shipments needed, resulting in a reduction in transportation costs and a higher fill rate.
The approach strives for a reduction in transportation costs and optimization of the fill rate. However, it can also be a valuable tool for incentivizing customers to order more.
Use cases of truck load planning
Determining the optimal amount of freight to book can be challenging for customers.
Booking too much can result in paying for unused loading meters while booking too little can lead to additional charges for extra loading meters.
Customers want to ensure they are within the limits of their booked freight, but this can be a time-consuming and inefficient process when using paper-based planning or manual digital calculations.
One of the key benefits of truckload planning is the ability to communicate to customers the current fill rate percentage of the truck.
By informing customers of the truck's fill rate, you provide them with an incentive to increase their order size to maximize the vehicle's capacity. Customers can be encouraged to add additional products for the same transport cost.
Providing customers with transparency and visibility into the entire process can help build trust and confidence, making them more likely to increase their order sizes over time.
While this feature is an accompaniment to this solution, there are other, just as interesting, and beneficial, use cases of truck load planning software.
Capacity planning
- Forecast how many parcels or pallets will fit in a truck to fulfill an order
- Consequently, forecast shipping or transportation cost
- Reduce transport costs by finding the optimal load plan
- minimize the number of vehicles used
- find the right vehicle types for your orders
- Increasing the fill rate of your available space
Assistance during loading operations
Capacity planning and order sequencing onto trucks is an interlinked challenges. You should plan delivery routes at the same time that you determine which trucks to fill and how.
With the assistance of 3D truck load planning algorithms, you can ensure the optimal fill rate while taking into account that the first order loaded in the truck should be the last one off the truck.
With the 3D load planning solution, you don’t need to think about cargo requirements and vehicle characteristics, or how you're going to group destinations together, all while dealing with re-planning due to disruptions and emergencies.
Weight load distribution
The axle weight limit is the maximum weight that can be distributed across the truck axles.
The distribution of weight across the truck's wheels and axles must be even so it matches the specifications provided by your chassis manufacturer.
This way you avoid cargo movement during transit and prevent premature wear & tear on vehicle parts such as the brakes.
When using 3D truck load planning software, planned load planning is made faster and easier, ensuring that your trailer is properly loaded making sure axle weight limits are followed.
Conclusions
By optimizing space utilization and minimizing the number of shipments needed for an order, you can incentivize customers to order more, ultimately leading to higher fill rates and reduced transportation costs.
If you're looking to optimize your logistics operations and increase your revenue, truck load planning software may be the solution you need.
Interested in learning more about how truck load planning software can benefit you? Book a demo here!
