Selecting a logistics service provider based on COST alone is a recipe for potential disaster.

Getting it wrong can be detrimental to your business in terms of both cost and time - especially if you need to exit the relationship as a result.

One of the most effective ways to ensure that you are making the right decision is to develop an evaluation matrix that can be used to subjectively compare each potential service provider.

This evaluation matrix uses a series of questions to calculate a relative score based on both COST and other evaluation criteria such as RELIABILITY, RESPONSIVENESS, RELATIONSHIPS and GUT FEEL to determine which logistics service provider is not only the most COST effective but more importantly the most suitable for your business.

This evaluation matrix has been developed over the 20 plus years that I have been managing logistics service providers.

The methodology and the tool have evolved as a result of it being used to evaluate and select countless logistics service providers that have delivered many millions of dollars of international freight forwarding, 3rd party logistics and domestic transportation services throughout the Asia Pacific region, North America and Europe.

The spreadsheet is delivered unlocked and comes with the following features:

1. An instructions tab that provides clear and concise guidelines on how to use the tool
2. A main tab where the weightings are applied , the questions are selected and the scores are assigned and calculated
3. An evaluation questions tab that stores a list of questions for each of the evaluation criteria - there are over 30 predefined questions relevant to all logistics services and additional user defined questions can can be entered and used in the evaluation