Transport, Freight, Logistics and Supply Tenders

Transport, Freight, Logistics and Supply Tenders range from small delivery and trucking contracts, to large, multi-site 3PL contracts. They are often complex, involve a range of different services, and have strict performance targets. In addition, Transport, Freight, Logistics and Supply Tenders often involve questions and requests for information on your entire operation – from warehousing facilities to truck and vehicle maintenance.

Our team of tender and bid writers is experienced in helping businesses large and small across New Zealand prepare and submit tenders and bids to the government and private sector. We know the industry and enjoy helping logistics countries secure new contracts.

Contract Opportunities and Challenges

Both the government and private sector provide opportunities for contracts. It’s important for organisations to go through a thorough bid / no-bid process when assessing opportunities. You need to ensure you have the appropriate experience and capacity to deliver on the contract.

For companies that have been sub-contracting to a major logistics supplier, a newly released RFP and RFT is often a great opportunity to secure the head contract and better margins.

When purchasing logistics services, companies will want a complete and thorough understanding of your operations. This will include your warehousing facilities, IT and trucks and equipment as applicable to the tender. It is important to be detailed and transparent (within reason) in your tender response in order to provide a clear snapshot of your operation and give the reader the confidence that you have the capacity and credibility to deliver.

Strategies for winning Transport, Freight, Logistics and Supply Tenders

Demonstrate what your technology can do

Freight and truck management technologies have become the norm for logistics tenders. Most companies have a comprehensive truck and personnel tracking system that provides real-time information to their clients on where their goods are at what time. In order to differentiate your proposal from your competitors, it’s important to take screenshots of your system and clearly demonstrate through images what your transport management software is truly capable of. In addition, you need to integrate the capabilities of your GPS and other tracking systems into your entire response, and not simply a response to your IT and systems questions.

For example, let’s assume you are submitting a logistics (trucks) tender for the transport of goods across New Zealand. There may be a question regarding how you ensure your drivers comply with licencing requirements and safety laws, and what initiatives you have in place to ensure the safety of your drivers. In addition to talking about the compulsory breaks you have in place at certain intervals, and your driver induction and safety training, you should talk about and graphically present the capabilities of your trucking maintenance system, and it’s safety capabilities.

For example, some systems have alerts if the drivers have been driving beyond a set number of hours without a break. Other systems have motion-controlled stability sensors in place that will immediately alert management if a truck has overturned. The capabilities for your system need to be detailed in the respective area of the response, in this case safety, and not only in the question regarding IT and capabilities.

Responsiveness and issue resolution

It is not uncommon for a number of trucking and logistics companies to have similar capabilities and experience. In this case, price can become a differentiator. However, there are other ways to differentiate your service and still maintain a healthy profit margin. Focusing on your responsiveness and issue resolution capabilities is one such way.

Clearly articulate your escalation procedures and ensure that you demonstrate a high level of hands-on involvement from management. In addition, detail your ability to deal with temporary spikes in demand and to source and manage additional resources to deal with any spikes in demand. This is a good opportunity to provide a case study where you recently had to respond to a temporary increase in demand. One example may be an increase in deliveries for a supermarket contract over the Christmas break. A supermarket client will want you to demonstrate that you have:

• Provisions in place within your employment contracts to ensure your personnel are available over the Christmas break.
• Contracts with potential sub-contractors that stipulate their capabilities over the Christmas break.
• Contracts with heavy vehicle mechanics to ensure they will service you over the Christmas break.

Demonstrating you have this capability sells your proposal and bid on the basis of quality, as opposed to price.

Focus on your maintenance program

When engaging freight and logistics companies, clients want to ensure they are dealing with a quality and reliable supplier. One of the ways to demonstrate this is to go into detail about your trucks and equipment, and include information on your maintenance program. As yourself:

• What processes o you have in place to ensure the reliability of your trucks and equipment?
• Do you have an in-house maintenance team?
• How do you ensure you have adequate access to spare parts to keep your trucks on the road and decrease any waiting times?
• Do you upgrade your trucks on a yearly basis with the latest new safety equipment?

In your proposal, if you cover off the above issues, and provide images of your warehouse and other facilities, it will boost the credibility of your bid or proposal and give you a greater chance of winning your logistics or freight tender.

Detail your ability to deliver on similar contracts

Most requests for proposals will require you to detail your previous experience providing similar services and freight, trucking and logistics tenders are no different. What is important, is that you clearly identify and communicate the similarities between your experience and the contract you are looking to secure.

For example, if you have extensive experience providing cold storage solutions, 3PL (third party logistics) as well as freight services, and the contract you are bidding for requires the same services, clearly detail in your case studies that you have experience across these areas, and that this is very similar to the requirements of the proposed contract.

Furthermore, where you have specific knowledge of a certain geographic region, and the issues that can come with it (for example optimal transit times, delivery challenges, etc) it’s important to talk about your experience in that region, particularly where the contract requires operations in that same region.

How we can help

Our team of tender and bid writing experts can help you write, review and/or submit your tender response. We have helped businesses across metropolitan and regional New Zealand including in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Napier secure government and private sector contracts. Contact our team to talk about your next tender and how we can help.