Should I hire a carrier that has a short duration of authority? This is an incredibly common question when companies are searching for the right logistics partner to transport their freight.
Naturally, brand new carriers will have a low score in Carrier Assure, a performance scoring platform, because there’s not enough data to support their services. Here’s where companies must consider all the information about that carrier and make the decision to work with them or not.
Let’s analyze the situation further with Nate Laurie, CFO of RFX Inc. and Brandon Wiseman, president of Trucksafe Consulting, LLC., to see in which scenarios you should or should not hire a carrier with fewer days of authority and what to consider when deciding.
Should you hire a freight carrier with a lower authority?
Having lower authority does matter since it makes it harder for companies to trust the carrier’s services. It becomes a tough decision to make, and companies must consider several factors and analyze the situation thoroughly.
An essential thing to consider is the issue of creating exceptions. When you make an exception once, you’re going to have to create an exception every time, because everyone will know about it. Therefore, the decision you make needs to be based on all the information you can get about the carrier, not just on their authority.
Freight carriers with low authority scenarios
Before deciding, there are many different scenarios to consider. Let’s look at two of them.
- An owner-operator that has driven for 20 years but now has started his own company and has only been in business for a week. Would you trust their work?
- A carrier that has just been shut down for multiple violations related to drugs and alcohol and just started all over again with a new MC number. Would you work with them?
What decision would you make? It’s essential to communicate with the carrier and have a conversation to ensure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
How to make the decision?
- Use technology to gather all the data.
- Be aware that there will be many exceptions to every rule.
- Consider the actual risk.
- Do you have time to find another carrier if something goes wrong?
- Understand the scenario completely.
- Search for reliable information.
Even though there are resources like the new entry audit, they may not be as reliable because it does not require as much thorough and detailed information from the carrier to ensure a good audit result.
Choosing the suitable carrier or logistics partner for your business is critical? Leave it up to Carrier Assure to make a data-based decision to bring incredible results for your business!
Head on over to CarrierAssure.com to find the industry's freight unicorns (high-performing carriers)!
