Ignore parcel carrier’s compliance guidelines and both your service and shipping expense will suffer. Just because your carrier delivers your package, doesn’t mean the deliver went as well as it could have. There are three main areas of carrier compliance that affect how well your carrier can service you and your customers. These include carrier labeling, carrier PLD, and carrier services.

1. Carrier Labeling

If your label is not fully compliant it can affect the efficiency of handling your shipment, the service your customer receives, and your cost for service. If  information on the label such as required wording, bar codes or routing codes are not compliant it, your package will require additional handling by your carrier.

Additional handling involves updating data so your package can be sent through carrier automation. This may cause a delay in processing and also a delay in the delivery of your package. Non-compliant labels are not only costly to the carrier, they also restrict the level of efficiency in delivering your packages. In the end it costs you money as you will not be able to get the “best deal” from your carrier.

Don’t think for a minute you can get the “ best deal” when you are not giving your carrier the “ best information”  that is needed to handle your packages at the highest level of efficiency and the lowest cost of handling.

2. Carrier PLD (Package Level Detail)

Carrier PLD or, package level detail, is the daily manifest information you transmit to your carrier. Parcel carriers use this information for planning how best to deliver your package. 

It is first used at the carrier hub to alert them that they will be receiving your package. If your PLD transmissions are not received on time, or are not complete, this can affect how efficiently your package is handled in the hub. Incomplete PLD transmissions can also adversely affect the delivery of your package.

The information you transmit is also used for billing purposes. If the information that is sent is not correct or complete, or doesn’t match up with the physical characteristic of the package when it is viewed in the hub, a billing correction will be made and your billing will not match your manifest records.

3. Carrier Services

The ability to use new carrier capabilities can help you reduce cost and increase service to your customers. Many shippers are not aware of all the service enhancements a carrier offers.

Each year the carriers introduce new service levels, special services and contract services. Carriers continually enhance their services to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Keeping up with the constant stream of innovations can be a challenge, For example, have you heard about Paperless Invoicing, Quantum View Notification or the New Electronic Returns Service? Do you know what operating at the highest level of FedEx Server will get you?

If these services are not familar to you, it may be time for you to review the complete offering of your carriers to help improve service to your customers and help you reduce cost. Better service, less cost. It’s worth a phone call or two.