Freight damage is a highly misunderstood transportation cost.

I see a lot of focus on claims, packaging improvement initiatives, or discussion about who's liable, and all of this happens after the damage has already occurred.

Reactive rather than Proactive.

In my experience, damage is often upstream of that. It’s connected to how freight is routed, how often it’s handled, and whether the mode actually matches the product.

When you redesign the transportation network to reduce touches and unnecessary transfers, damage rates often improve faster than people might expect, and this can happen sometimes without changing the packaging at all.

I know a lot of these topics I've already touched on, but maybe you can see how a Transportation Network Optimization initiative can do more than just save a few bucks on freight costs.

This video breaks down how I think about freight damage through a network design lens.