Carrier management lies at the centre of every import and export operation.
By carefully choosing and managing a range of shipping partners for road, sea and air shipping, importers and exporters can reduce costs, improve reliability and develop a competitive edge.
In this article, you’ll learn what effective carrier management looks like, why it matters and what you can do to improve your carrier relationships.
What is carrier management?
Carrier management is the process of choosing, negotiating, onboarding and managing international carriers — the companies that move goods across international borders.
Carriers include shipping lines, road haulage firms, last-mile delivery firms, air freight companies and rail providers. Different businesses will use different types of carriers. An online retailer will use last-mile delivery carriers like FedEx and UPS, whereas an importer will use shipping lines and road haulage firms.
When done well, carrier management transforms carrier selection and partnership from a transactional activity to a vital source of competitive advantage, enabling more reliable, cost-effective and scalable supply chain operations.
Why carrier management is vital for shippers
There are numerous reasons to invest time in managing carrier relations. Here are the main benefits of a carrier management strategy:
Control costs and improve margins
Freight charges can account for a significant portion of an importer’s or exporter’s overheads. With good carrier management, shippers can negotiate competitive rates and volume-based discounts.
Improve service reliability
Delivery delays can disrupt product schedules, cause stock shortages and lead to unhappy customers. Carrier management helps you find partners that meet service level agreements, track performance and take corrective action before poor performance impacts your business.
Reduce supply chain risk
A large and diverse carrier network can overcome supply chain risks such as port congestion, weather and geopolitical events. If one carrier is busy or unable to commit to your timelines, there is another carrier ready to pick up the slack.
What does the carrier management process look like
An effective carrier management process typically follows these stages:
- Carrier evaluation and selection – Map your shipping requirements, request proposals and evaluate them against criteria such as costs per shipment, transit times, SLAs and sustainability metrics.
- Contract negotiation and agreement – Once you shortlist carriers, negotiate terms that reflect both volume-based discounts and performance-linked incentives
- Carrier onboarding – Onboarding ensures carriers integrate seamlessly into your logistics ecosystem. A thorough onboarding process avoids miscommunication and operational errors that can derail shipments.
- Performance monitoring – Monitor carrier performance against KPIs like departure time and arrival rates, demurrage occurrences and claims ratios for lost cargo.
- Continuous improvement – Use performance insights to renegotiate rates based on volume and reallocate shipments to high-performing carriers.
5 carrier management best practices to improve your relationships
Implementing an effective carrier management process requires consistent attention to detail, strategic planning and proactive collaboration. Use the following best practices to build a strong, cost-efficient and high-performing carrier network that meets your international shipping goals.
Define clear objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)
Start by defining what success looks like for your carrier management programme. Common goals include reducing freight costs, improving on-time delivery rates, minimising cargo damage and enhancing sustainability.
Once your objectives are clear, establish measurable KPIs that align with your goals. Typical KPIs include:
- On-time pickup and delivery percentages
- Transit time variability
- Detention and demurrage incidence
- Claims ratio for lost or damaged goods
- Invoice accuracy and dispute resolution speed
- Carbon emissions per container or shipment
Communicate these KPIs explicitly to carriers during contract negotiations and onboarding. This clarity sets expectations and enables transparent performance tracking.
Consolidate shipment volumes to maximise bargaining power
Small and fragmented shipments can result in higher per-unit freight rates and less favourable contract terms. By consolidating volumes where possible, such as combining less-than-container load (LCL) shipments into full container loads (FCL), you can leverage economies of scale to secure volume discounts and priority service
Even for smaller importers or exporters, aggregating shipments over time or across business units can increase negotiating clout with carriers.
Diversify your carrier portfolio
Avoid dependence on single carriers or modes of transport at all costs. These can expose your business to unnecessary risk if the provider experiences disruption or capacity constraints.
Instead, build a balanced portfolio that includes global shipping lines, local specialists and multimodal options. This diversity improves your flexibility to switch providers or routes quickly in response to market changes, pricing fluctuations or operational challenges.
Foster collaborative relationships with carriers
View your carriers as strategic partners rather than just vendors. Sharing your business forecasts and inviting carriers to participate in joint planning sessions builds trust and alignment.
This collaboration leads to better communication, quicker issue resolution and co-innovation on services such as digital booking portals or green shipping initiatives. Carriers invested in your success are more likely to accommodate special handling requests, surge volumes or route optimisation opportunities.
Conduct regular, structured performance reviews
Establish a recurring schedule for reviewing carrier performance in line with your KPIs. Reviews can happen monthly or quarterly and should be as transparent and data-driven as possible.
Highlight areas of success and improvement by comparing actual results against SLAs. Use this forum to address issues proactively, renegotiate rates, or explore new service offerings. Regular performance dialogues keep expectations clear and continuously elevate service quality
Take a carrier-agnostic approach with Pro Carrier
At Pro Carrier, we’re proud of our huge network of final-mile delivery partners who ensure your packages are always delivered successfully.
Restrictive contracts or carrier obligations do not tie us down. We take a carrier-agnostic approach, which means we’re free to adapt to your changing circumstances and find the best, most cost-effective and efficient delivery service.
We handpick final-mile carriers based on their range of delivery options, the strength of their communication and the level of customer experience they deliver so your customers always end up delighted.
Find out more by reading our case studies or speak to an expert today for a free quotation.