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Package Theft is on the Rise: Here’s how Shipping Companies can Prepare for the Holiday Season

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Package Theft is on the Rise: Here’s how Shipping Companies can Prepare for the Holiday Season

Over the course of the pandemic, the rate of porch piracy peaked as online shopping surged. With people steadily trickling back to the office, porch piracy incidents will only grow in number, with packages being left at empty homes unguarded. Porch pirates stole 260 million packages estimated at $19.5 billion in 2022, impacting a huge swath of consumers — nearly eight out of 10 Americans had packages stolen from them that year.

The holiday season is fast approaching, driving up the rate of online shopping and with it, the rate of porch piracy. Additionally, when people go out of town to visit family, their packages will be left unattended. To combat this trend and gain peace of mind heading into the busiest e-commerce season, shippers need comprehensive coverage that includes protection specifically for porch piracy as well as other safeguards like shipping insurance with tracking.

Porch piracy prevention

Given the prevalence of porch piracy, there are several measures shippers can take to thwart theft before it occurs. Providing delivery timeframes and accurate delivery tracking may seem like simple solutions, but they can have a big impact. According to a consumer sentiment survey conducted by logistics leader Descartes ShipRush, 74% of consumers ranked delivery tracking as extremely important when it comes to home deliveries.

Shippers can even leverage delivery tracking to further engage their consumers with branded communications and notifications. A successful tracking program will enhance the customer experience, building confidence and brand loyalty.

Shipping protection for the inevitable

Knowing that prevention measures can get ahead of many piracy attempts, but not all of them, shippers should look into shipping protection to recoup the inevitable losses that will occur. Shipping protection should be regarded as a kind of safety net that helps shippers recover from packages that are stolen upon delivery.

Shipping protection not only safeguards the financial interests of the shipper, but also cultivates the trust of the customers who rely on their purchases arriving intact. Innovative products like Descartes ShipRush Total Shipping Protection enable shippers to easily add tailored protection to their shipments that includes package theft, ensuring they’re covered even after they’re left at the door.

Unlike carrier liability, which often entails coverage gaps and long wait times for claims, the right shipping protection will ensure comprehensive coverage with a frictionless claims process. Claims submissions shouldn’t take weeks to resolve, with shippers waiting on mailed documents and endless phone calls just to get reimbursed for their lost goods. Shippers should find a solution that delivers instant claims payments with straightforward filing, and around-the-clock support whenever and wherever they need it.

The advantages of buying shipping protection from logistics providers

When considering shipping protection, businesses have the option to choose between obtaining coverage from a shipping provider or seeking third-party sources. There are several companies that specifically sell package theft or other types of insurance, but opting for coverage from your shipping provider comes with a set of distinct benefits. 

Firstly, shipping providers can provide a more seamless experience that integrates with existing services including package tracking — no need to worry about managing multiple platforms or integrations. They can also provide more a more customer-centric claims experience that streamlines the submission process, for instance, by automatically filling out forms with existing data. 

In general, shipping providers possess an in-depth understanding of their delivery network and potential pitfalls, enabling them to tailor protection that meets the needs of their customers. They have long-standing relationships with carriers that enables them to offer an end-to-end customer journey, without the need for additional legwork.

As porch piracy continues to pose a hazard to the e-commerce landscape, shippers must remain steadfast in their commitment to package security and customer trust. The inevitability of package theft necessitates a robust shipping protection program to avert disastrous losses. Through a smart combination of prevention and protection, shippers can navigate the waters of porch piracy and ensure a smoother, more secure delivery experience for all.

 

freight

Tips For Hiring the Best Shipping Company for Your Business

In today’s modern world, multinational goods dealing is a well-known and well-liked industry. This is why the products of prominent worldwide brands are available in countries all over the world. Freight forwarders manage the transportation of products. They do not just assist in the transporting of products from one nation to another, but they can also aid with suitable storage if necessary.

Freight forwarding providers, in reality, play a critical role in the seamless operation of supply chains. Overseas freight forwarding solutions are in high demand, and numerous organizations provide them at reasonable prices. To pick the best company here are a few helpful tips.

Reputable

It takes several years to earn a good reputation, yet this can be ruined in an instant. The reputation and relationships of freight forwarders are what make them successful.

Verify if a forwarder is a WCA-approved membership if you’re apprehensive about their reputation and dependability. This logistics relationship network serves as an excellent barometer for determining whether or not a freight forwarder could be relied upon.

If you can’t locate any additional context, simply ask those questions from forwarders. Any credible forwarder should have no problems with this. Unless they are a closely owned corporation, you can also see their accounting information online.

Cargo Insurance

So, you’ve located a forwarder who can provide you fair pricing, third-party logistics solutions, and mutual trust. However, there is one additional aspect to consider, and that is cargo insurance. If you want peace and quiet and reduced risk, cargo insurance is a must. It covers your shipment while being transported by land, sea, and air and protects it from loss or damage.

Cargo tracking

Check with your freight forwarder to see if cargo tracking is available. A company sending products through freight forwarding companies will be concerned about the shipment till it arrives in great condition and on schedule. Shipping companies must provide cargo tracking to customers to keep them informed. You’ll know where your deliveries are at all times with cargo tracking. For the most reliable and precise tracking system you can consider zim tracking.

Pricing

Moving freight throughout the world is, in a nutshell, a complicated procedure. It entails various procedures, all of which might go wrong and trigger problems throughout the distribution chain. If you want to choose the cheapest logistics company provider, you will not get the degree of care you require, and their team will frequently lack industry information and experience on how to rapidly resolve difficulties. Picking the inexpensive freight forwarding provider can end up costing your company more in the long run.

Among the most crucial qualities to ask a freight forwarding business are delivery time as well as pricing. It’s critical that your business guarantees and ensures your items arrive on schedule and in great condition at their destination. Pricing is also important, in addition to fast delivery. Select a firm that provides dependable services at a reasonable cost.

shipping companies

Traits of Reliable Shipping Companies

More and more people are seeing the benefits of using shipping companies. When it comes to transporting items or moving your home to a new place, they are usually your best bet at using your time and money wisely. But, unfortunately, not every company is capable of or willing to provide you with proper shipping. In order to have a good shipping experience, you need to do your best to only work with reliable shipping companies. So, how is one supposed to filter out shipping companies and find the one that is reliable? Well, that is precisely what we’re going to go through.

How to Tell if a Shipping Company is Reliable

It is hard to overstate the importance of working with reliable shipping companies when dealing with shipping. An unreliable company will not only provide you with a sub-par shipping service but might also try to scam you. Therefore, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor by only working with companies that you are absolutely sure are reliable. So, with that in mind, here is what to look out for.

Ample Experience

The first trait you should look for in a shipping company is that they have ample experience. Now you can check for this online, but doing so properly can be a bit difficult. Even if a shipping company says that they’ve been in businesses for over 30 years, it doesn’t mean that all of their workers have that much experience. So, the best thing to do is to check for this trait during the interview. Sooner or later you will have to talk with a company representative. And during that time you should talk to them about their past experiences. The more tips and pointers they can give you, the more experience they probably have.

Excellent Customer Service

Speaking of company representatives, you also need to make sure that the company you are considering has top-notch customer service. Any reliable shipping company knows that good customer service is a must. After all, if they have a lot of experience with shipping, they’ve had to work with customers from all walks of life. And the only way to organize and deal with shipping properly with such a large variety of people is to have excellent customer service. Therefore, when trying to filter out reliable shipping companies, make sure to check their reviews for customer satisfaction.

Punctuality

Punctuality is another trait that reliable shipping companies possess. After all, having a decent shipping service means that you are able to deliver the shipped goods in the agreed time. Therefore, if the company representatives are not punctual, why should you expect their shipping crew to be? This, of course, is not always true as the company representative can be late due to numerous unforeseen circumstances. But, if they do not have a good reason for being late, know that the company probably has a loose policy on punctuality.

Multiple Shipping Options

Any serious shipping company usually has multiple shipping options. Now, if a company is small and focused on shipping locally, they might only use shipping trucks for their services. That’s ok, as not much else is needed for local shipments. But, if you are looking for a company that deals with long-distance shipping or even international shipping, you better find one that has multiple shipping options. Some routes can be quite difficult, especially if they have to be traversed in a limited time. This is why the capability of sending goods to another country by air or sea is a must for any large shipping company.

Looking for Reliable Shipping Companies

Knowing the traits of reliable shipping companies is useful. But, unfortunately, it won’t be enough to ensure that you find a competent shipping company to help you out. In order to find the best possible shippers to help you out, you need to use other methods to help you narrow your search. Now, finding reliable shippers is a large subject for which we would need an entire article to cover completely. Instead, what we’ll do is to give you an idea of how to use the traits we’ve outlined in your search. That way you will have a much better chance of finding movers that encompass all of them.

Online Reviews

When it comes to looking for reliable movers, online reviews will be your best friend. Sites like Google, Twitter, and even Facebook can be quite useful when it comes to online reviews, as they give clients complete freedom to post what they truly think. You can also read reviews from unbiased professionals in order to get a more educated oversight. Mind you, some companies still temper with their reviews. So, if you find a company that only has tremendously positive ones, be careful. An unsatisfied customer is bound to pop up even among the top-notch shippers. Therefore, try to find one that has an overwhelmingly positive review score, and that clearly doesn’t temper with customer reviews.

Using Free Estimates

Most shipping companies give free online estimates. This is something that you absolutely need to use, especially if it is your first time shipping. An online estimate should give you a rough idea of what your shipping should cost. Some companies might try to overcharge you for shipping. Especially if you don’t have much experience with it. So, the more estimates you have, the easier it will be to negotiate better shipping terms.

How Open are your Shippers

Most of the traits of reliable shipping companies we’ve listed can only be recognized if the company you are considering is open. A hard-working, well-functioning company will be more than happy to explain their shipping process to you and let you in on all the details. So, while talking to the company representative, try to figure out if they are trying to hide something. If they are, know that they are probably not to be trusted.

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Daniel Myers has been a freight service expert for years since working for companies such as easymovekw.com enabled him to understand the essence of this industry. He enjoys sharing his knowledge by doing freelance content writing and enjoys traveling around the globe whenever he has a chance.