How to Reduce Truck Transport Costs: 5 Levers That Work
Hauliers reduce truck transport costs with five levers: fuller trucks, cheaper routes, fewer manual steps in dispatch, prices based on the real tour costs and a better choice of partners. For each lever below there is one action for this week and one measure to check the effect.
On this page
- Plan fuller tours
- Choose cheaper routes
- Automate dispatch
- Price by tour cost
- Choose partners wisely
- Start this week
- FAQ
1. Plan Fuller Tours
Avoiding empty kilometres is the cheapest saving. Bundle compatible part loads into one tour with several orders and match them by time windows and loading requirements.
Measure: average utilisation and share of empty kilometres per route. The step-by-step method is in how to plan an optimised truck tour.
2. Choose Cheaper Routes
The fastest route is not always the cheapest. A truck route based on the vehicle profile shows the toll per country and the driving time; for loads that are not urgent, comparing a cheaper variant pays off.
Measure: tour cost compared with the originally planned route, and on-time delivery.
3. Automate Dispatch
Manual coordination is expensive: calls, missed time windows, rework. Assign orders on the dispatch board by drag and drop, send tours to the DriverApp and let customers get an automatic notification one hour before arrival.
Measure: admin time per order and the number of customer follow-up calls.
4. Price by Tour Cost
A quote is only as good as the costs behind it. Calculate every tour with its real costs: diesel, toll per country, driver and truck, applied to distance and operating time. In the IMPARGO Planner these values come from your cost profiles for vehicle, trailer, driver and subcontractor, and the tour's total costs are known before you quote. More on the truck cost calculator page.
In the Planner, the toll of every country and the time at the dock belong to the tour, and you set the margin yourself.
5. Choose Partners Wisely
Costs fall when each route goes to a suitable partner at a good price. Rank your subcontractors per route, give the most reliable ones first access and request several offers for new routes. Look at punctuality and how well partners keep you informed, as well as at the price.
Measure: cost per route after reallocation and the share of accepted orders. The solution page shows how to request and compare offers from carriers.
Start This Week
- Monday and Tuesday: bundle three recurring part loads into one tour.
- Wednesday: compare a cheaper alternative on two routes without urgency; switch on arrival notifications.
- Thursday: set up cost profiles for vehicle, driver and trailer.
- Friday: rank partners per route and request several offers on one route.
After four weeks, check each lever's measure and keep the actions that paid off.
FAQ
What is the fastest lever to reduce transport costs?
Utilisation: every empty kilometre you avoid by bundling or a backload saves diesel, tolls and driver time at once.
How often should I update my cost profiles?
Whenever diesel, wages or tolls change noticeably; otherwise your quotes work with outdated figures.
Does it pay to give orders to subcontractors?
When their price is below your own tour costs or your trucks are fully booked. With your own tour costs as the benchmark, it becomes a calculation rather than a gut decision.
Do I need new software for this?
Clear figures are enough to start. To use the levers for good, you need tours, costs and orders in one place; the basic route calculation in the IMPARGO Planner is free.
