When you think about logistics – the infrastructure needed to move goods from one point to another – it’s common to think about your warehouse, your supplier, your customer, transportation costs, labor costs, weather – days lost, etc. But too often companies forget to think about their transportation provider’s infrastructure. If you ship through UPS or FedEx there is a significant time premium paid for when you can ship next day air based on how close to a hub you are. If you are near the LTL provider’s main dispatch it may mean better and more timely service.
Sometimes these small items are the difference between bad customer service and outstanding service. Sometimes the difference between bad service and outstanding service is your profit margin. It may cost more to be near that hub, but are you making it up by getting things out faster?