G Singh
1 year ago
Freight coming back
the other way.
Why returns are
harder than outbound
Outbound freight is predictable. You know what it is, what it weighs, when it ships and where it is going.
Returns are none of those things. The volume is uncertain, the freight is often repacked badly or not at all, the pickup location has no interest in helping, and nobody there is measured on getting it done. That is why returns sit, and sitting returns are inventory you have already paid for and cannot sell.
1
Retail returns and unsold inventory
Post-peak, post-promotion, or a discontinued line coming off a retailer dock. Usually on a deadline, because the retailer wants the space back.
2
Recalls
Time-sensitive, documentation-heavy and usually urgent. Chain of custody matters, and so does proof of exactly what was picked up where.
3
RMA, warranty and asset recovery
Consolidated pickups from several locations back to one facility. Also displays, racking, containers and returnable packaging that has to cycle back before the next shipment can go out.
- What makes it work
What makes a return actually happen
- A real pickup contact. Not ‘the warehouse’. A name and a number.
- Realistic pickup windows. A location with no incentive to help you needs an appointment it has actually agreed to.
- A known piece count and packaging. ‘Some pallets’ is not a shipment.
- Consolidation where possible. Several small returns to one facility usually beats individual LTL pickups.
- Documentation at pickup. What was collected, signed for at the point of collection rather than reconstructed afterwards.
How we work a return
We build backwards from the deadline
Tell us the date the dock has to be clear and the locations involved, and the schedule gets built from that rather than from whenever a truck happens to be free.
We consolidate where it pays
Routing one truck through several pickups to a single destination, or pooling the freight and moving it as a truckload, is usually cheaper than a string of individual LTL pickups.
We document at the point of collection
What was actually collected, at each stop, signed for there. On a recall that paperwork is the job, not an afterthought.
Testimonials
- Returns processing
What happens after the pickup
Moving the freight back is half of it. The other half is what happens when it lands: received, inspected against your disposition rules, and either returned to sellable stock, sent for rework or scrapped. That side runs through partner facilities and is covered on the warehouse and fulfillment page.
Pickup locations, rough volume,
and your deadline
Send those three and we will build the schedule. If the deadline is not achievable across that many locations, we will tell you which ones are the problem. Or call 1-800-632-1760.
Ground freight
Full truckload and LTL, which is what most of a returns program actually moves on.
Consolidation
Several small returns pooled into one move, which is usually the cheapest way to run a multi-location pickup.
Warehousing
Somewhere for the freight to land, and transload or cross-dock if it is going straight back out again.