Whether you ship B2B or B2C, creating a distribution chain is essential for your business. If you are looking to expand your reach to retail and the more than 125 million households nationwide, it’s time to create a coast- to-coast distribution chain.

Creating a logistics management process that is able to service locations across the country takes precise planning, strategy and a network of capable partners and resources to help you succeed. To get started on your nationwide distribution, follow these insights.

Warehousing
Warehousing is a good place to begin because it’s the initial starting point for your freight. Whether you own your own facility or are leasing space with an outside company, make sure that your warehouse is strategically placed to allow for faster transit times to all points across the country.  Also make sure that the facility is right for your product.  The number of dock doors, ceiling height, security, hours of operations and climate control are just some of the factors to take into consideration when looking for the right space.

Outsourcing to a 3PL partner can allow for faster scalability as well as a full time staff to pick, pack and distribute your product in a timely fashion.  The right partner will also have proper WMS or IMS to provide you greater visibility to your inventory level and orders.

Plan routes and trips accordingly
There are approximately 4,071,000 miles of paved roads in the US, leaving you numerous ways of shipping freight to your destination. Strategic freight planning that utilizes your shipping and customer data will create a network of routes that reduce the amount of time your carriers are on the road. The benefits of effective route planning are numerous:

• It decreases shipping times
• It reduces shipping costs
• It helps limit liabilities from theft and damaged freight

To help further decrease costs, setting up an LTL shipping plan is also recommended. By consolidating your shipments, you can optimize the amount of deliveries you make with each truckload and reduce your shipping costs considerably.

Find the right carriers
The last part of the coast-to-coast puzzle is finding reliable carriers who can make cross-country trips consistently. Over the years, carrier shortages and have made it more difficult to find the right carriers for the right price. Before you invest in nationwide shipping, take the time to build up a network of carriers you can trust.

Don’t limit yourself
There is a huge network of consumers across the country who are willing to purchase your products. Don’t limit your business to local shipping. If you don’t have the resources (warehousing space, carriers, etc.) to help you create a coast-to-coast distribution network, consider outsourcing your shipping to a third-party logistics provider. King Solutions can give you the capabilities to touch all corners of the country and even ship internationally. At King, we help small and large businesses manage their fulfillment and shipping with responsive customer care, reliable delivery and huge list of capabilities for additional logistics services. Contact our team to discuss your needs.