Picking a trucking company to transport your precious cargo is not something you should do arbitrarily. You need to give it a lot of thought. There are both good and bad trucking companies out there. This means that it will be up to you to determine which trucking company will be able to deliver your goods intact and on schedule. There are a few questions that you can ask trucking companies you are thinking about hiring. The answers they give you will allow you to weed out many of the companies and narrow down your list of choices. Here are the questions you should pose to them.
1. What are the criteria that you use when you hire drivers for your company?
You need to be totally certain that the people who are driving the trucks that are carrying your items have outstanding driving records. You obviously do not someone with a history of moving violations or drunk driving convictions behind the wheel of a truck that has your cargo inside of it. Therefore, you need to get a very clear idea of the people each trucking company is willing to hire. Basically, you need to find out which companies only hire drivers with spotless driving records. These are the companies you should consider using in the future.
2. How often are your shipments late?
Being on time is a crucial quality in the logistics industry. Therefore, you must make sure the trucking company you hire has a long and established track record of delivering their shipments on schedule. You might need to hire a trucking company that specializes in heavy equipment transport. You have some equipment that needs to be delivered to a construction site on a specific day. Therefore, it is essential that you hire a company that is known in the industry for making their deliveries on time.
3. Do you have trucks available that allow the temperature of the cargo area to be controlled?
There is a chance that you might need to deliver food or some other items that must be kept cold while it is being delivered. In this case, the trucking company you hire will obviously need to offer refrigerated trucks. You might also have cargo that needs to be kept above a freezing temperature. You will then need to see if the company can supply you with a truck that has a thermostat.