To calculate the cost of delivery of goods, many logistics companies provide the opportunity to use the transport calculator on their website or partner website. This option is undoubtedly convenient, but in order to get the correct result, you need to know some nuances.
Choosing a transport company
It is necessary to understand that each logistics company has its own routes and branches, so the cost and speed of delivery can vary significantly. If one company has established cargo transportation towards Siberia, then the group car will be recruited much faster, and the price will be lower. The other one specializes in bulky cargo and it will be more difficult to send a small parcel, it will lie at the assembly point for more than one day.
All this information can be found on the official website of the transport company, in the reviews and recommendations of other customers. As a rule, the average delivery time is reported at the time of ordering, based on previous experience. It is best to use a transport calculator from several companies to compare costs and times.
Partner sites that collect information from several companies at once are certainly convenient for making a choice. But this applies only to standard cargoes in popular directions. And even in this case, they give only approximate data, often having nothing to do with reality. If the matter concerns remote cities, non-standard or "dangerous" goods, you can find out about the delivery only on the official website or through managers. Calculators of transport companies differ in the form and completeness of filling, the more details they require to fill in, the more accurate the result will be.
How to use the online transport calculator
So, the official website of the transport company is open. Most logistics organizations provide a convenient form in which you only need to enter the required information to obtain a result, but not always everything turns out to be simple.
So, a very big difference in cost can be given by the choice, to send the cargo by a separate machine, groupage or container. The latter option is for large transportations to remote areas, by rail or ship. Dedicated transport goes directly from point A to point B, delivers goods quickly, but the cost of transportation may be several times higher. The collection car will wait until enough parcels have been collected in the desired direction and only then will it go. Moreover, if there are several unloading points on the way, you will have to wait at each of them. For example, when delivered from Perm to Omsk via Yekaterinburg, the assembled car will be formed not only in Perm, but also in Yekaterinburg.
You should also pay attention to the item "delivery to the terminal" or "delivery to the address". In the second case, the cost can sometimes grow by 10-30% - it may be easier and cheaper to pick up the cargo from the terminal (branch in the city).
Dangerous goods, according to the rules of transportation, must be transported by special transport, with an appropriate permit. Dangerous include not only explosive or flammable, but also paints and varnishes, household chemicals, aerosols, gases. Many transport companies prefer not to contact them, but with personal contact with the manager, it is quite possible to agree on the transportation.
Also, when filling out the transport calculator form, you must indicate the weight, length, width and height of the cargo (total). Some companies also allow you to immediately find out the cost of packaging at the terminal - in a box, bubble wrap, pallet board, rigid box.
