The transportation industry is under relentless pressure as profit margins shrink and the demand for sustainable practices increases. With stringent environmental regulations and rising customer expectations, companies must balance investments in state-of-the-art equipment and IT systems with managing day-to-day operational costs. One area that demands attention is the impact of failure costs. In this blog, we explore how these costs affect the industry and how you can effectively reduce them.

The impact of failure costs on the transportation industry

Transportation is all about moving goods efficiently from A to B. However, failure costs – extra hours or miles wasted – pose a significant challenge. A common cause is an incorrect loading or unloading address. Even in companies with advanced IT systems, address information is often incorrect.

Approximately 5% of all addresses in basic registration contain errors. Our own research shows that this percentage is even higher for transport order address data. Even digital order exchanges can contain errors, especially by e-commerce orders where addresses are often entered manually.

The importance of correct address information

In addition to having the correct address, it is important to have additional information, such as adjusted hours of operation, to ensure a smooth transportation process. For example, for known addresses, sometimes deliveries can be made earlier if we know the goods can be unloaded before opening hours.

Shipments with the correct address and additional information immediately saves hours and miles. Any improvement in this process has a positive impact on your margin, reduces emissions, and contributes to your carbon reduction plans.

Address Import Analysis makes the process more efficient

Address Import Analysis allows you to more accurately match transport orders to your existing address file. This new feature prevents duplicate addresses by not creating a new address when an address is not found. Instead, it creates a document address.

The document address is encrypted on the fly. And a new search feature checks if an existing address can be found. This search function uses geocoding data and adjustable search values. If there is a 100% match, the system automatically selects the correct address and adjusts the order.

If no match is found, the document addresses appear in an overview (see image below). This shows addresses that are close to the document address.

The planner or customer service representative (CSR) can then choose to create a new address or link the document address to an existing address. If the document address occurs more than once, all of these addresses are processed immediately.

This procedure ensures that the system automatically links the correct address the next time. This is because the system has learned from the previous event. This minimizes duplicate addresses and automates the process. Customers’ original spelling is preserved, which can be useful for bills of lading.

Want to learn more about Address Import Analysis?

With Address Import Analysis, your transport orders now include validated and existing addresses. This allows your drivers to effortlessly navigate to the correct address without wasting hours or miles searching. This reduces your error costs and increases your profitability.

Want to learn more about Address Import Analysis? Or would you like to see how to use this functionality step-by-step? Then check out Boltrics' Learn page: Address Import Analysis | Learn 3PL Dynamics (boltrics.com)