How to Reduce Freight Spend Without a Full RFP

About this episode

The episode discusses strategies to reduce freight spend without a full RFP by leveraging data and optimizing carrier mix.

Freight costs are rising - but most shippers aren’t capturing the savings hiding in their own data. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton and Kimberly Reuter talk with Shannon Vaillancourt, President of RateLinx, about how companies can uncover 5–15% in transportation savings in weeks, not months, without running a full RFP. They discuss common overspending traps, the power of clean, unified data, optimizing carrier mix, and making smarter, data-driven decisions to reduce costs while improving operational efficiency. The episode unpacks key strategies for optimizing transportation spend without launching a full RFP, including identifying hidden costs across carriers, modes, and accessories, optimizing carrier mix with clean, unified data, and realizing anywhere from 5 to 15% in transportation savings in weeks rather than months. Listeners also get insights on managing LTL versus parcel shipments, evaluating carrier performance beyond on-time delivery, and understanding how poor master data can quietly inflate costs across networks. Together, they explore why real-time, integrated freight data is critical for decision-making, how companies can quickly act on actionable…

People in this episode

Hosts: Scott Luton, Kimberly Reuter

Guest: Shannon Vaillancourt

Topics covered

• freight cost reduction
• transportation savings
• data-driven decisions
• carrier optimization
• supply chain visibility

Keywords

• freight costs
• transportation savings
• data analysis
• carrier performance
• supply chain efficiency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: RateLinx

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