Skid

Weighing and Research Programs for Trucking Companies Prove to Be Practical, Profitable and Good Public Relationship

  Reprinted from National Freight Traffic Association

Trucking companies establish weighing and research programs to verify that shipment weights, commodity description and densities of shipments are accurate. This ensures that all shippers are treated equally, with like commodities moving at the same classes. The little-known benefit ( that is to carriers that have yet to establish W&R programs) is that they are a wise business investment.

W&R programs are responsible for recovering additional revenue of about one percent of gross revenue. Companies with established W&R programs recover an even greater percentage. In fact, establishing and supporting W&R programs, motor carriers have reduced their operating ratio by a full percentage point. In the course of doing business it makes sense to verify information provided to you by your customers. In fact, carriers have more than a business incentive to ensure that freight is properly classified, they also have a legal incentive.

The law states that no common carrier shall charge or collect or receive a greater or less or different compensation than the rates and charges specified in the tariffs at the time (49 USC £ 10761 (a). So, when you refer to the National Motor freight Classification (NMFC) in your tariffs as the governing publication, the involved shipments must comply with its provisions. That is to say, if a shipment of ping pong balls, (named in item 15580 and assigned a class 500) is listed on the bill of lading as a shipment of composition or plastic billiard or pool balls per item 15700 at class 85, it is the carrier's responsibility to correct the shipping papers and to reclassify the shipment accordingly.

Active weighing and research programs do more than just verify the description and weights of shipments, they also provide equity for carrier customers and inform and educate carrier staff and shippers. The correct assessment of freight charges guarantees that each shipper will bear its fair share, and only its fair share of the total transportation burden. This eliminates the potential for discrimination and unfair competitive advantage.

Further, most shippers do not have the resources to employ the necessary qualified personnel needed to correctly interpret a rate tariff, nor do they maintain tariff libraries. Even large firms with extensive traffic department could not be expected to keep pace and weights are often honest mistakes made by uninformed shipping clerks, not intentional misclassifications.

The law requires the correct assessment of freight charges, and all responsible companies recognize that fact. In most instances, the educational process or a competent W&R program will quickly correct erroneous descriptions and weights to the benefit of all. Also, a weighing and research program educates carrier and shipper personnel about how to use and understand a modern rate tariff.

Through a weighing and research program, carriers can take the time to explain to their customers why freight  should be described appropriately, they can lessen the impact of a description change that may result in a higher charge, and they have a capable group of well-informed employees able to quickly answer shipper questions. For these reasons, W&R has proven to be a valuable public relations tool.

As an added bonus, during the calendar year 1997, member carriers who reported their increased revenue derived over 100 million dollars from their weighing and research programs. The approximate the additional revenue that your company may expect to recover through such a program, consider the following:

The experience of carriers who currently have programs indicates that grossing 25 million dollars may expect to recover about a quarter of a million dollars that would otherwise be lost. As to the cost to this activity, the average operating ratio is 20. This means that 4 of every 5 dollars received is a pure profit. Without a Weighing and Research program, a 25 million dollar company, with an operating ratio of 95 would have to generate 5 million dollars in additional revenue to earn an additional quarter of a million dollars in operating income. Have your financial manager figure your share and carry the appropriate amount to the bottom line to see how a W&R program would affect your company's net profit.

For information on how to start your own Weighing and Research Program, please call Dan Horning at 703 838-1820

                         

No special training is required.

In the transportation and warehousing industry wherever forklifts are used to move products that require weighing or weight checking.

•  Cross checking shipper's bills for reported freight weight versus actual weights to recoup lost 
•  revenues.
•  Progressive weight checks as trailers are loaded for either axle weights or payload weights.
•  In manufacturing, checking end product weight or cross checking suppliers raw material weights.
•  Weight checking any expedited operation that involves the movement of any products by a forklift truck.

Three Easy Steps Is All It Takes!

1. Pickup a skid and read the weight shown on the bill of lading

2. Compare the actual weight indicated on SkidWeigh against the reported weight on the bill of lading. If the weight variance is over the acceptable company level, move the skid to the "Legal For Trade" floor scale for verification and creation of a scale ticket.

3. Follow the same procedure on multiple skid shipments, processing the paperwork and attaching scale tickets to the bills of lading for subsequent weight correction and corrected billing.

SkidWeigh System Benefits and R O I Analysis

Based on a freight weight charge of $10.00 per 100 lbs and with a weight recovery program of only 1,000* lbs per forklift, per working day; your company revenue can increase approximately $25,000.00 per forklift, per year.

This equates to a return of ten times your investment cost for the first year. Payback can be as little as four weeks, depending on the shipping practices of your customers and your timing and approach to recouping these lost revenues.

Obviously the more forklifts equipped with SkidWeigh, the greater the potential return.

If it takes 10 forklifts to handle your dock volume and you have only one unit equipped with SkidWeigh,  you could be missing out on 90% of your potential recovery revenue.

* Most fleets equipped with SkidWeigh are finding recovery weight losses greater than 2000 lbs per forklift per day.

SKIDWEIGH YEARLY REVENUE INCREASES

Loading Dock Forklift Fleet Size

SUMMARY

• SkidWeigh is easy to install.
• SkidWeigh does not require operator training.
• With SkidWeigh there is no slowdown for material handling activity.
• SkidWeigh can uncover additional revenues by including skid weights which are not included on your customer's bill of lading.
• With SkidWeigh there is virtually no down time for system maintenance or re-calibration, as the units are designed for a rough application environment.  External calibration is done in the interface module and in the unlikely event that repairs are needed, an exchange unit can be fitted in minutes.

The more SkidWeigh units installed in your forklift fleet, the greater the potential for recouping lost revenue.  Each vehicle equipped with SkidWeigh should be viewed as a potential revenue generator, having the capability to recover additional daily income that might otherwise slip through your operation unnoticed.

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TNT Overland Express  

T.N.T. Overland collaborated with Integrated Visual Data Technology in the testing and development of their on-board weighing device.  Trade name, "SkidWeigh System".

This was ongoing for a period of 6 months. The test results were extremely satisfactory and exceeded the manufacturers  projections.

In our particular application, we used the equipment for weight checking suspect shipments.

Based on these numbers, the payback period per unit is approximately nine working days.  We found the equipment easy to operate (no operators training required) and maintenance free.

I recommend it to all transport companies.

Yours truly,
Marc Beales
TNT Overland Express
Weighing & Inspection Coordinator

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