Shipping 101: Unpacking Common Questions

10.22 Shipping 101: Unpacking Common Questions 
 

[00:00:00] Peter: We'll go ahead and get started, with our content. We're doing basically common questions when it comes to shipping and packaging, for suppliers into major retailers. We're always going to have a Walmart kind of emphasis cause that's where we, got started. But, but yeah, a lot of this should be pretty universal and it should apply to other retailers, other teams as well. 
 

A little bit on the logistic side, but all of this is relevant to suppliers as well, what we're going through today. Alrighty. This is us. We are on the SupplierWiki team. So what we do is we, create this content for suppliers and major retailers, anything to help you iron out the kinks in your supply chain or in your process, just, common issues, pain points that suppliers run into, and anything that we can try to help you guys fill out your knowledge. 
 

That's really the stuff that we are concerning ourselves with on SupplierWiki. So that's that. I think we have another slide here about we obviously do a lot of webinars, but we also have a lot of ebooks, articles, and other kinds of content as well. we have these resources now that we started doing. 
 

We have cheat sheets. that are very helpful for basically just downloading and then you can keep it as a resource, for your team. So we've got a lot of stuff like that out there and I'm sure that I will be posting more of these in the chat as we go through. And I think in this one we have specific slides where we call out other forms of content that, that you may want to be aware of in the future. 
 

But yeah, that's us. We want to be a wiki in the truest sense of, basically, just an encyclopedia for all of the things related to being a supplier. Today specifically we're going to be going over some, kind of high level packaging stuff. We'll be covering the FTL and LTL, kind of Distinctions, right? 
 

Which, what are the benefits of shipping a smaller size parcel, doing the LTL thing or FTL if you can, if you have big enough shipments. We'll cover, collect and prepaid. Again, pros and cons. What are the benefits there? And then, We'll go over a little bit, about more, of our area of expertise, which is the shipping documents, how those are helpful to regular business practices for suppliers, how those can be helpful for, fighting invalid deductions or really just keeping an eye, on your own supply chain and on Walmart's processes. 
 

or whatever the retailer is. And then we'll finish with the Q&A, session at the end. So some FAQs that we get, we have all of our webinars recorded and, and on our landing pages for the webinars. We also keep the slide decks on our website as well. So all of these, live there, but we'll also be sending them out to the email that signed up for the webinar in three to four business days as well. 
 

So there's multiple different ways of accessing. This content, we're on YouTube as well. So that's what I always do whenever I'm looking for an old webinar, basically, is I just go to YouTube and I search it. so that can be pretty helpful as well. And then, speaking of questions, we have a Q&A tab and a webinar chat. 
 

Sometimes people put questions in the chat and chat stuff in the Q&A tab. And basically we just wanted to call out that. If you have a more formal question for us about, about your shipping process or whatever, based off of some of the content we've been, providing or, just something that's been bugging you for a while, that can go in the Q and A and the webinar chat is more for the kind of public facing stuff, answering questions that we ask or giving feedback or something like that, all of that can go in the chat. 
 

All right. And then SupplyPike is our, organization that we're a part of, and it got its start in AP deductions, at Walmart for the most part, looking at shortages. how can we bring together the shipping document side of things in order to do validity checks on deductions and in order to keep our books, tidy. 
 

So that's how we got started, but really now SupplyPike is covering a very broad range of revenue loss buckets at a bunch of major retailers. So we're an Amazon, Target, and other places as well. And, we're really excited with the growth that's happening there. We're expanding into new retailers and we're expanding into a bunch of different kinds of revenue loss and not just revenue loss, but, any potential areas or pain points where, your shipping document information could be valuable to your business insights. 
 

we're. We're partners with a lot of different suppliers, which is, probably the coolest thing for us is that we get to work with really big companies and we get to work with really small companies that are really just trying to stay in one of these major retailers or trying to break into one of these major retailers. 
 

And that's really cool for us on the, wiki side of things, because we get to. We get to hear basically from people in a wide variety of categories, in a wide, diversity of development points and growth points. So all of that is really cool. and that helps us curate content for the widest range of suppliers as well. 
 

so yeah, that's that. Melodie, take us away.  
 

[00:06:08] Melodie: Perfect.  
 

Excited to cover this with you all today. so let's start with some of the packaging basics. All right, so pack sizes. What are they? You can really think of it in three different ways. So you have a vendor pack, which is the outer box. This is what is going to be received at the, the DC. 
 

This is what the person at the DC who is receiving the goods inside of the warehouse, they're going to be scanning, they're going to be looking at. Inside of a vendor pack, you have a warehouse pack. This is what's going to get broken down and, actually put on the shelf inside of the warehouse rather than what is shipped. 
 

And it's going to be a smaller grouping of the products inside of the vendor pack. And then lastly, we have the SKU. So that's, going to be the individual item that is going to, or the items, that are going to be inside of the warehouse pack that will actually be on shelf at the store. let's look at vendor packs. 
 

Here you can think of it as a master pack or a case pack or a break pack. It doesn't always necessarily mean exactly the same thing, but it will usually be used interchangeably depending on the dependent. the different context of, what you're looking at. So remember VendorPack is going to be what is actually going to be shipped. 
 

we do have the minimum and maximum requirements here on the slide, and really you're going to be looking, thinking of this as what a supplier is sending to your retailers, a distribution center, or fulfillment center. Inside of the VendorPack, you have the WarehousePack, or sometimes called the InnerPack. 
 

this is going to be the box inside of the MasterPack or VendorPack, that contains one or more eaches. individual SKUs. And then, let's talk about the different pack sizes. again, I'm throwing a lot of words at you, let's talk about some of the different definitions. So I'm moving some stuff around. 
 

So inside of, the vendor pack, we have a, or a vendor pack or case pack. This is going to be what is again, sent from the distribution center or the fulfillment center, and it's going to contain syllable units or eaches. A warehouse pack is actually going to be the box inside of the vendor pack that contains one or more eaches. 
 

And then the vendor pack or the break pack is going to. or called whenever it's called a break pack is going to be whenever it contains one or more of the warehouse packs. So this is so that you can send different break packs to different stores. So let's think about that. in the context of, this image. 
 

So you can see here down at the bottom where it says Breakpack, it says the VendorPack is greater than the WarehousePack. So you have these individual, how many times do you think I can say pack during this webinar, but you have these individual, boxes that you can actually separate out and send those individual boxes to different stores. 
 

So that's whenever a VendorPack is called a Breakpack, that is what it is meaning is that you can actually. break the vendor pack up, so that it can go into different locations and you're not having to send smaller boxes to a warehouse, which, may get lost. For a case pack, the entire vendor pack is going to be filled with, what is going to be received at a warehouse and what is going to be shipped out of store. 
 

So hopefully that's helpful. VendorPack, again, can be used interchangeably to mean either CasePack or BreakPack, but CasePack doesn't necessarily mean BreakPack. Okay, next we have Palette. So what does it look like on a palette? so Here we have the language of MasterPack and InterPack. MasterPack is going to be the outer box. 
 

Again, VendorPack. That's going to hold your, products and it's going to be protecting the smaller packages inside of it. so this, also helps in the shipping process because, there's fewer packages that need to be handled. And, shipped in general, and that's one of the reasons why they have those minimum and maximum requirements is to make sure that, whatever is being shipped, things can't get lost. 
 

so all of the masterpacks, should be on a pallet or floor loaded inside of a container. and then A pallet is going to be whenever there is a master pack, or master cases, stacked on top of a wooden frame. So just think of those pallets that you saw. they were really popular five years ago, where everyone was making, like furniture and backgrounds and stuff out of pallets. 
 

That's what we're talking about whenever we're saying pallets is the wooden. The wooden, like carrying devices that, people will stack goods on top of and you'll usually see somewhere behind on a, in a grocery store. And then what is an interpack? So an interpack, and again thinking about, think back to, those warehouse packs that we were talking about, it's a smaller grouping of the products that are usually inside of a master pack, vendor pack, All of the products inside of, inside of an inner pack really should be the same as the base product, so only one unit of any product, or one SKU of any product. 
 

if there's more than one type of product, then the retailers will consider this a kit rather than a pack. so usually, fragile, large, and heavy items, inners will go inside of an inner case. so what does this all mean? What are the things that you need to be considering? You need to be considering how your product needs to be packaged in general. 
 

is it fragile? Is, do you have a lot of them? Do the stores need to only, do the stores only usually need four units, but you need to ship it in eight due to the size? how many of your products can fit on a pallet? And then how is your, how is the pallet going to be parceled out from the warehouse to the DC, to the store, to the customer? 
 

So hopefully that's helpful. This is one of the more confusing topics. We do, I think, in the next Oh, perfect. Next slide, we talk about what the packaging standards are. there's an entire book on it, so go and check that out just to fully understand, what is needed here. And, oh, this is a fun little interaction I haven't seen in our previous webinars, but, comment link in the chat and we'll, actually send it to you. 
 

That's fun, Peter. Really making you work for it today, huh?  
 

[00:13:12] Peter: Yeah, just like usual. 
 

[00:13:14] Melodie: Yeah, so sorry. perfect. Okay, so let's talk about LTL, FTL, and parcel. So what is less than truckload? Less than truckload is going to assume that you as a supplier are only paying for the space that is needed. And usually this is going to be weighing in between 100 to 500 pounds. 
 

And so you're not taking up the full truck, you're taking up less than a truck, but you still need to ship things. So what do you need to consider whenever you're shipping LTL? this is usually going to work well for suppliers who are looking for cost effective ways to ship. So if you can't, if you're really not shipping enough items and you can't fill up an entire truck, then if you didn't have this option for a LTL, you'd be paying for a full truck that didn't have all of the items on it. 
 

LTL is really great whenever you, don't have enough. product to fill up a full truck. it's really, it's good for whenever you're flexible with delivery timing, because typically in less than truckload, the rest of the items inside of this truck will be filled up with another person's or another supplier's or someone else who is trying to ship items. 
 

And so you need to be flexible with your delivery times so that, because there's the consideration of someone else's goods on that truck also have to be delivered. And so there could be some, maybe not delays, but it's just going to take a little bit longer to get there. And then also for LTL, because someone else or another company's Goods might be on the truck. 
 

there is a slightly higher risk of damage or misplacement because you're going to be having people going in, taking those other goods, and, either delivering them to a different place or the same place. There's just more opportunity for things to get lost or damaged. So what is full truckload shipping? 
 

So FTL is whenever you are, you as a supplier or a supplier is paying for the entire truck with only your product. And typically this is going to be weighing more than 20, 000 pounds. So you are filling up the entire big semi full of goods. This is the best option whenever you have lots of volume, you need fast shipping, or you're expecting for there to be, you want less handling. 
 

So taking on less risk of assuming that your, goods are going to be jostled around a little bit. Okay. What is parcel or package shipping? So this is going to be for smaller, lightweight individual shipments, less than 150 pounds. And this is going to be delivered by carriers like FedEx, UPS, or United States Postal Service. 
 

And so this is a really great option for suppliers who are looking to ship individual items. If you're doing online only or direct to store or drop shipment vendors. And there is a higher risk of stolen or damaged products. Just just like your, Maybe you buy something from Amazon and it gets delivered to you and someone steals it off your front porch. 
 

It's a similar type of concept with, using FedEx or UPS. so that's it on the different types of shipment. I'm going to just go back and talk about LTL maybe a little bit more of how this, usually works. Typically, if you're going to be using less than truckload shipping, you're going to want to use a third party logistics provider. 
 

so SupplyPike, we actually came from, we originated, our company originated from a 3PL called Kate Stack. And the idea here is that you go and you ship your goods to a 3PL, a provider that will then, They will store it in a warehouse and then they will be responsible for building these LTL truckloads and shipping them out. 
 

And so typically if you're, looking, if you're looking at something like LTL or you're looking at something like Full truckload. How you actually create your systems and your supply chain in order to support that is going to look very differently. you're typically for LTL, again, going to need some third party logistics provider for the full truckload.  
 
you can just be scheduling, full trucks to come and pick up your goods and take it from your warehouse to the DC. That's just another thing to consider is if you start, if you're building out your supply chain and you're thinking about, which shipping option works best for me, there's some other steps that you will need to take to, be able to ship either LTL full Or full truckload or even parcel. 
 

for parcel shipments, I usually see this working very well for some of the, smaller suppliers who are experimenting with new items. Let's say to Walmart, like the, Open to Buy, there's a, man, Peter, help me out here. What is that, program that Walmart just did where they have new suppliers come in, you get a golden ticket? 
 

[00:18:35] Peter: I don't know what you're talking about. Golden, an actual golden ticket? 
 

[00:18:40] Melodie: It's an actual golden ticket. The Athletic Brewing Company was part of it, a few years ago. 
 

[00:18:45] Peter: I think you're thinking about, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 
 

[00:18:49] Melodie: That's not, no, that's not what I'm thinking of. Man, someone help me out in the chat. 
 

but there is a program that Walmart has where they will invite Suppliers who don't have distribution with them and, they will pitch, people can pitch almost like a Shark Tank style to the merchants of that category. And then Walmart will select, a few different suppliers, during that time period. 
 

in order to try to encourage more innovation inside of the stores and give more opportunities to companies that they, typically wouldn't. And so what you'll, see, and I'm so sorry, you guys, that this name is escaping me because, it is a really great program that they do every year, but. 
 

typically that's whenever we see people using partial shipments, because you're only, sending one or two rounds of goods to maybe 50 to 100 different stores, and so typically that's whenever we'll see in a district like Walmart, you'll be leveraging partial, parcel shipments. Someone have an open call. 
 

Yes. Thank you, Holly. Thank you. That's what I was looking for. Open call. Look it up. great program. Athletic Brewing. I actually just, if any of you guys get to go through the XNA airport up in Bentonville, we're located in, Northwest Arkansas and I saw a big spread of how Athletic Brewing, which makes the non alcoholic beer, they apparently actually got their start at open call, which I had no idea. 
 

But, very exciting. Okay, let's move us along to collect and prepaid. What is collect freight? So this is usually when the retailer is owning the transportation, in order and they will actually retrieve the order. So that means, that you as a supplier are in charge of getting the orders ready at your DC for pickup. 
 

And then the retailer is going to be paying for all of the transportation fees and charges, including any of the, Just assessor royal or their related fees. And then, the retailer is actually taking ownership of the product at the supplier's facility. So let's take a step back. Collect means that you as a supplier, you're just getting the goods ready. 
 

The retailer commits and picks it up and they own it after they pick it up. So they're paying for it. they accept any damages that may occur from that point forward. And so typically if you are a collect supplier, your goods, what you, the price that you give, say Walmart or whatever retailer, is going to be lower than if you are a prepaid, supplier, which is the alternative, and we'll get here in a second, because you are giving them a lower price because you're not having to pay for any of the transportation, you're not having to pay for any of the risk or take on any of that risk once it gets picked up. 
 

so there's a few pros of Collect Freight. So you're, not responsible for any of the poor delivery performance. You're only responsible for making sure your orders are complete and ready by your appointment time on your purchase order. You're offloading a lot of the work onto the retailer or onto your customer because you're not in charge of shipping. 
 

there's that other cost of time where your customer is doing all of the work. you're not having to dedicate resources, to make sure that, It's arriving on time and, all of everything that goes behind making sure something is transported correctly. And then your transportation costs do not fluctuate. 
 

You're locking in your transportation terms with your customer, usually annually, which removes a lot of those variables and shipping costs. I will say there is one caveat to this, Walmart Using a lot of Walmart examples today, but, Walmart especially just released a program, that they will do fuel surcharges if you are collect, just to help, negate some of that cost of the fluctuation in transportation in general. 
 

We do have an article on that. I wonder if Peter would be kind to send the article in the chat. But I won't hold you to it, Peter. so what are the cons of collect freight? So you're not in control. That means that you're not in control of the costs, the shipping times, the carriers, the compliance, any of that. 
 

thankfully, usually you don't have to worry about that if you're a collect. as I mentioned up at the top, your customers or the retailers are going to subtract the cost of transportation from what they pay you, so that means that you, have, if, you've locked yourself into a collect, shipping method, usually you're going to be locked into that for a year. 
 

And, even if you're able to find how to transport something more cheaply, there, then what you've maybe provided to the retailer, they're not necessarily going to give you that flexibility of saying, Hey, let me ship this item. I can do it a lot more cheaply for you and increase the price on this item. 
 

they're not going to let you do that. And then lastly, you lose control of on time delivery deliveries. So you're responsible for making sure your orders are ready, but you have. No control on when they arrive, actually arrive at a DC or inside of a store. So this can impact, thinking of long term costs of this, it could potentially impact your in store, your in stock, rates because You may have gotten the item ready, you did everything that is in your power, but something happened in the retailer supply chain where they have actually been unable to deliver to the store and now you're out of stock even though you've done everything that you're supposed to. 
 

Okay, what is prepaid freight? So this is the alternative of collect. This is whenever the supplier is responsible for arranging the terms and conditions of getting the products in stores or to distribution centers. Usually you're going to be using a 3PL like what I talked about with the less than truckload to do delivery on their behalf. 
 

And then usually the supplier is paying for a carrier or a 3PL and you're incorporating that cost into your invoices. So that means that you can charge a higher amount for your product because you are having to pay for the, the storage and the transportation and everything that comes along with that. 
 

The pros of this is that you're going to be in control. It's your freight. It's your responsibility. It's your choice. you're managing the carriers and determining which order, what order goes on that truck. so say you, I'm not going to use Walmart example, say you have an Amazon, a Target and a Piggly Wiggly deal, or order coming in. 
 

now with prepaid, you're, you are able to say, Hey, I'm going to give. Fill the entire order of Amazon. I'm going to fill 80 percent of the order for Target. I'm only going to fill 30 percent of the order for Piggly Wiggly because I just don't have enough goods to go around. And, you're going to incur chargebacks for that. 
 

but it is more, there's more flexibility to just decide. what goods that you're going to be passing on, where. You can also do that with Collect. but just the, again, the chargebacks that you're going to incur are going to be looking a little bit differently. And in prepaid, you can utilize a 3PL or consolidator and let them do the work. 
 

this is a really great option for especially, smaller suppliers. if you aren't dealing with a lot of volume and you don't necessarily want to invest in a warehouse, invest in, in, in maybe people who can, the expectation is. 
 

And then lastly, you can determine the cost of shipping and pass that on to your customers. As I mentioned in this last slide, you're, the expectation is that you're incorporating the cost of transportation into your, the cost that you're passing on to the retailer. you can utilize other services, that gives you a lot of choices. 
 

The only caveat with this is that, if prices go up, then, it's going to be very difficult for you to pass that additional cost onto your retailer. Not impossible, but it's going to be difficult. What are the cons? it is all on you. So you need to make sure that your three pills and carriers, make good on getting the order within the dates listed on the purchase order. 
 

so say you've done your part, again to make sure that the items are ready, but the three pill or the carrier that is actually picking up the goods from, you or from your warehouse, something happens, something breaks, or they're not able to get it to you, get it to the retailer in time, that's still going to be on you. 
 

you're going to have to be the one who is taking on the responsibility of that. You have to be very selective about your logistics and consolidators, so you can't afford, or maybe you can afford it, but you don't want to pay for a carrier who is late or even early all of the time. so making sure that you're selecting the right, logistics provider in order to help make sure things are getting there. 
 

And then lastly, you have to constantly be monitoring performance. So there's not only the work of making sure goods are, On time, in full, there's also the work associated with making sure that things are on time and in full. so making sure you have the systems and the, again, the people in place so that you can be looking at that performance to make sure that you're adjusting as needed, adjusting your supply chain as you need it. 
 

So do you have more questions on collect versus prepaid? we have a SupplierWiki article and once again, comment link in the chat and we will send it to you. Making Peter work for it today. Sorry, Peter. Alright, important shipping documents to know. so what are the common shipping documents that are needed for disputing? 
 

for those of you who are not as aware, or maybe disputing isn't in your, wheelhouse, we talk a lot about AP deductions, which are gonna be like shortage type deductions. Or shipping related deductions. those are the easiest ones for you to actually go and, win money back. And they're the ones that are most commonly, invalid and, easy to, prove that, maybe the retailer took it in error. 
 

And there are some shipping documents that are needed to actually go and win that money back. for most retailers, you are guilty until proven innocent. So they will just, Take money from your bottom line or take money from your check and say, hey, if you want this money back, you actually have to go and prove it to me that you shipped what you said you did. 
 

And so these are some of the documents that we'll be covering, that will help you with that process. And we have a lot of content on SupplierWiki around that. disputing and what that looks like inside of each of the retailers. Go check it out if this is something that you're curious on. But let's talk about ASNs, BOLs, PODs, and emails. 
 

So Advanced Shipping Notice or an ASN. An ASN document is going to provide information on four main levels. So it's going to be the order level, the shipment level, the item level, and the pack level. And it's going to include a variety of different things. So carrier information, tracking number, purchase order numbers, the types of packaging used. 
 

It's going to have everything. This is the, this is Exactly what it sounds like. It is a document that gets sent to the retailer, usually in the form of EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange, telling the retailer that, hey, this is everything that I am going to be sending you, and this is the date that I am sending it. 
 

So they can be preparing in their systems and in their warehouse. for the goods that you are shipping to them. Next, we have lading. this is actually a legal agreement, or a receipt and, or a title of all of the goods that are on for each of the POs. So typically this is going to have a written description of the item. 
 

It's going to have the party responsible for payment, the quantity, and the packaging of the items. It's going to have all of that in here, and you can actually see it down in the bottom, this is typically what it's going to look like. Bill of Lading, this document is really helpful because it is, yeah, your receipt of, from the retailer, whoever you're shipping this to, to say, Hey. 
 

This is how many goods that I actually received versus you saying, I shipped you 30 and you're saying you only received 20, where's the disconnect? maybe things got broken, maybe things got lost. but that receipt is the actual. like legal contract to say, the bill of lading is that receipt to say, hey, this is how many goods that I've, received. 
 

And this is what's going to be very helpful whenever you're going through that dispute process. because sometimes inside of systems, The retailer systems, something will say that they only received 20. but then you go and you look at the bill of lading and it says they received 30. great document to have just in case there, in case anything goes wrong. 
 

So let's talk about shipper load, shipper count. So SLC, so shipper load, it's a shipping method for suppliers where the shipper is actually receiving the responsibility for both counting and packaging the correct amount of product. to ship to the retailer for a particular load. So you as the shipper, you as the supplier are saying, Hey, I'm not only going to be the one who is sending you the goods. 
 

I'm also going to be the one who, I'm also saying that I'm going to sign the receipt at the end. so I don't need you to sign the receipt. I don't need you to sign that BOL. I'll sign it, and you don't have to. so this is typically in collect shipping where the retailer's not held accountable for checking the load and count on the BOL. 
 

so this is typically what it will look like. You'll, you see those Back here we had TrailerLoadedByShipper and FreightCountedByDriver, or the pieces. Here we have TrailerLoadedByTheShipper and FreightCountedByTheShipper. So ShipperLoad, ShipperCount. 
 

and as I mentioned in the red box, it will say buy shipper boxes, been checked in both the trailer loaded and freight counted portions. And so why will people use, SLC? Typically, this is going to reduce the time for the product to be picked up. just because it's, easier, you're the, once again, the freight provider or the retailer is not assuming the responsibility of making sure that receipt is very accurate. 
 

Walmart specifically will sometimes request SLC for certain shipments, again, because of how quickly just the process will move, because You, as the shipper, are having to assume some of the responsibility for him. drivers may also request an order to be SLC upon pickup or if they're behind schedule or in a hurry because they don't have to wait for someone inside of the DC to come out and count everything. 
 

They'll just say, hey, can I will sign something as SLC. Can you, can I just leave this here with you and you guys process it as you're, when you're ready to, and I can leave. and then lastly, it could be an effective way to free up lanes at warehouse locations just for everything that I mentioned earlier on. 
 

one of the things that I will note here for SLC is that, It may sound great because you're getting your products picked up, your carrier, your, the people, the carriers are not having to sit there and wait, for someone in the warehouse to, to count everything. But it is very difficult, near impossible with SLC to win money back, through disputing. 
 

So if you are starting to receive a lot of deductions around shortages, SLC, if you, if your bill of ladings are signed SLC, typically a retailer like Walmart is not going to accept that as proof because you, are the one who signed it. and so They don't have a person or someone on their side who have verified that you actually sent all the product that you said that you did. 
 

so SLC, we sometimes caution for people to not necessarily utilize this very often due to the fact that it could drastically impact, your win rate for invalid deductions. Okay. Let's talk about proof of delivery. proof of delivery, it's typically going to look like a stamp. You can see it over here on the right. 
 

that has been filled out with, different bits of information. it's going to include a SHIP 2 address. It's going to include the purchase order number. It's going to have basic item information. And then, that warehouse or store stamp showing it was received in full. Or maybe not received in full. 
 

if you're shipping collect, then you're actually not responsible for providing this document. And what I mean by that is you're not responsible for providing that document, for actual disputing. this is really only for prepaid suppliers. What are some of the best practices with shipping documentation? 
 

making notes of any damages on the POD or the BOL, ensuring that your product's replacement value is not the same as the retail value, following your proper packaging guidelines, Those are all things that you should be doing. don't sign a freight shipment without inspecting, don't leave BOLs unsigned without documentation, and don't wait to dispute damaged or short shipments. 
 

a lot of this for the best practices are going to be related to those chargebacks or the deductions that might be coming later down the line. One of the reasons why we focus on that whenever we're talking about packaging is, It is one of the more immediate effects of shipping and packaging. You can receive a deduction or a charge back within, just a couple of days of a shipment being received at a warehouse. 
 

There are long term potentially impacts to your business, however, if you're not necessarily following some of the best practices whenever we're talking about shipping. Okay, and now we're doing a live Q&A. Do we have any questions, Peter?  
 

[00:39:00] Peter: We do not. so get your questions in, if you have any. Melodie, I will ask you to, share that again. 
 

Yeah, we can put our, emails up here too. I think that's the last slide. and, if you want to write these down now, just to if you think you might have some more questions later, if you want to. confer with your team first or something like that. And then if you want to go on the, to the previous slide, one more time, Melodie, we've been sending a lot of, our other resources in the chat as we've gone along. 
 

but here's a little bit of kind of the variety of the retailers that we have full length ebooks on for, if it's, if it's more like the shipping and logistics side of things, that you're looking for, there's some of that, but then we also have basically deductions and revenue loss at some other major retailers. 
 

as well. So definitely go check that out, SupplierWiki. SupplyPike. com. you can also just Google search us too. but yeah, I think that's it for us.  
 

[00:40:09] Melodie: thank you so much everyone. It was great seeing you and I hope you have a great rest of your day.  
 

[00:40:14] Peter: Thank y'all. See ya.