Lara GuevaraSupply Chain expert (Product and Service)

These Questions Save Freight Costs

11 May 2026 · 1 min

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Lara Guevara walks through four questions to ask your packaging supplier to cut freight costs: Are cartons oversized? Can you test smaller ones cheaply? What's the cost difference between custom and standard sizes? How long do packaging changes take? She also notes that freight surcharges fall on the buyer, not the supplier.

Chapters

4 questions to ask your packaging supplier this week. 1. What is the minimum dimension that still protects the products? Make them answer this. Most suppliers default to bigger because it is safer for them. 2. Can we test a smaller carton first? Samples cost almost nothing. You do not have to commit to 10K units to find out if it works. 3. What would custom sizing cost versus standard. Sometimes custom is 0.03% more per box, sometimes the deemed savings pay for it in one week. 4. What is the lead time for a change? If you need to move fast because of tariff pressure, you need to know the timeline now. Show them your deemed weight mat when you have the conversation. They're not paying your freight surcharges, you are.