Five Career-Boosting Tips for Transportation Managers

It’s hard to write a job description for the typical transportation manager job because no two days — much less entire shipping operations — are ever the same. That said, there is always one thing that stays the same, and that is it’s your job to “get ship done”.

Remember how supply chains got all the attention (both good and bad) during the pandemic? Fortunately, many companies remember logistics’ role in surviving those exceptional times. That’s great, but how can you, as an individual, continue to set yourself apart and build your career as a high performer in the field?

Here are five areas we suggest transportation managers strive for improvement to get ahead in their careers.

1. Drive Service Performance: Above all else, managers like you need to ensure the delivery service performance your company provides takes care of what customers need, and nothing less. Building strong partner relationships and leveraging the best of what technology can offer are two priorities for every successful transportation manager.

2. Show Savings: A close second on the list of priorities for managers is driving cost savings. Shipping is often the single largest line-item expense for companies and rates can be very cyclical. This means cost management is an ongoing battle for transportation managers. Having processes and technology that ensure market-competitive rates is always valuable.

3. Use Analytics: Shipping creates a lot of useful data, but the hard part is knowing what to do with it. If you’re new to analytics, start with tracking and improving on essential KPI’s like cost per mile or cost per pound. Download our Historical FTL Market Rates Calculator to show if you were at, below, or above market rates, and for which lanes for the last three months. Quantifying savings and service improvements is always better than only being able to offer anecdotal evidence of changes you’ve made.

4. Communicate: Because shipping is so central to what’s happening in most manufacturing and retail companies, it’s important to be sure information and data (such as shipment eta’s and documentation) are moving to other connected areas including customers and suppliers that are part of your supply chain.

5. Embrace Technology: Today you can find various low-cost, easy-to-implement technologies to accomplish things like finding lower rates and more reliable carriers. Don’t waste your time on unnecessary manual processes that extend the timeline of getting your freight moved from point A to point B. Embracing technology in your career can make it easier to measure costs against your benchmarks, provide freight reporting to leadership, and give you one centralized location to manage your work - all while reducing the time spent on doing so. 

Lastly, transportation managers must ensure you’re getting the credit you deserve. Share your successes by communicating, and don’t be humble on what you’ve accomplished. Many managers fall short by failing to ensure that leadership and stakeholders know all the good things going on in the logistics operation.

If you’re looking for a way that can easily, and quickly bring these five tips to life check out Loadsmart’s freight management platform, ShipperGuide. ShipperGuide is a multimodal platform that provides shippers with end-to-end visibility and can help optimize your business, resulting in a reduction in costs & time spent on shipping operations.

ShipperGuide will empower you to improve compliance & optimize your logistics, by its advanced analytics & reporting features. With a centralized environment to gather valuable insights, you gain a competitive edge in your logistics operations, and in your logistics career. 

Learn more about how ShipperGuide can be your platform to procure, plan, and execute freight and help transform your logistics career for the better.