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VPL Helps the University of Oklahoma Save Thousands on Inbound Shipping Costs

VPL helps the University of Oklahoma save thousands on inbound shipping costs

The University of Oklahoma (OU) saved $55,000 this last year in inbound freight shipping costs by avoiding price markups from suppliers.

Byron Burr Millsap, associate vice president of administration and finance, said suppliers tend to mark up shipping and handling prices above what they are actually paying to FedEx or UPS to make a profit.

“This has been sort of a hard nut to crack  when you’re talking about a university and trying to figure out how we are leaking money in shipping and handling,” Millsap said.

To avoid paying these extra shipping and handling costs, Millsap said OU has been working with Vantage Point Logistics (VPL), a freight management service company.

“We tell the supplier not to charge shipping and handling, but that whatever FedEx charges them needs to be charged to VPL,” Millsap said. “So VPL pays FedEx, and we have an electronic accounting system where we get a file from the company, and we can get those charges back to the department.”

This saves money because those inbound freight shipping and handling costs are less than what OU would otherwise pay.

Millsap said OU started working with VPL in July 2015. According to the VPL’s website, they also work with universities such as the University of California, the University of Texas system, Emory University  and the University of Virginia.

Read the story straight from the source here.