Freight procurement consulting
Run your bid with someone who has priced the other side of it
Freight Procurement Consulting for Shippers
Sherpa helps shippers plan, run and negotiate freight bids, then make the award stick. I spent years on the carrier and forwarder side pricing RFPs like yours, so I know how your bid gets read, where carriers build in cushion and what makes them sharpen their pencil.
Collecting rates and picking the lowest one is the easy part. The hard part is everything around it: a clean lane list, clear bid instructions, the right mix of contract and spot, and carriers who actually honor the award when the market turns.
Get that wrong and the savings disappear after award. Carriers get greedy when times get tough, and a contract that wasn't built right is often not worth the paper it's written on.
Freight procurement is too important to treat as a rate exercise
We can run the whole bid with you or step in at the point where you need help.
What Sherpa Reviews
• Your freight spend and lane data
• How the RFP is built and the instructions carriers get
• Rate sheets, surcharges and accessorials
• Your current carrier mix and how they're performing
• Contract versus spot exposure
• Award scenarios, before you commit
• Carrier counteroffers during negotiation
• How the award gets implemented and measured
A practical approach to freight procurement consulting
Every step is built around how carriers actually decide, so the strategy fits your network, your service needs and your leverage.
01
Start with an RFP review
Bring your last RFP and award, or the one you're about to send, to a 30-minute call. I'll walk through it the way a carrier pricing desk would: where they'll add cushion, what they'll ask and what will get you a sharper number.
02
Build the bid
We set the sourcing plan, clean up the lane list, write clear instructions and agree how bids get scored, so every carrier prices the same thing.
03
Run it, negotiate and hold the award
I manage the carrier/forwarder back-and-forth, level the bids, run the award scenarios and push back where it pays. Then we make sure the award gets implemented and carriers live up to it.
Tangible outcomes
Lower Total Freight Cost
Savings beyond the headline rate: lane strategy, carrier mix, accessorials and contract terms.
Better carrier decisions.
Carriers picked on fit, service and risk as well as price.
A stronger hand in negotiation.
You know how carriers think, so your counteroffers land.
Awards that hold up.
Rates, service commitments and routing that still stand six months after award.
Why Sherpa
Most freight procurement advice only sees the buyer's side. I've spent my career on the other side of the table, at Maersk, Damco, Kuehne+Nagel and Panalpina, running global tenders, ocean product, intermodal and strategic accounts.
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Carriers and forwarders don't just submit rates. They read your freight, size up your leverage, price the risk and decide how hard to compete. I help you use that to your advantage, and pick partners who will play the long game on your relationship and protect you when times get tough.
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Freight procurement is often where we start. The same view helps with network design and transformation and integration work.