Keyan Bazargan ⚒️

shipping carrier RFP management for brands.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Iron Margin stands out for three reasons.

Aligned Incentives, market intelligence, carrier relationships.

Those three ingredients enable us to save shippers 10-30% without burning bridges or sacrificing customer experience.

Let's dive into each of our three differentiators.

--> #1 - Aligned Incentives

Think of Iron Margin as your outsourced VP of Transportation. Rather than acting as a middleman, we fully align our incentives with our clients. This means that the rates we negotiate on your behalf are what they are - they don't have any secret markup fees. Our pricing is completely transparent and comes with a 100% savings guarantee.

--> #2 - Market Intelligence

We've conducted dozens of audits and reviewed hundreds of rate cards for shippers across all carriers, locations, and commodity types. So we can quickly assess if you are overpaying or not. We know the unique strengths and weaknesses of each carrier, and constantly are staying up to date on this evolving market.

--> #3 - Carrier Relationships

Although our incentives are fully aligned with the brand, carriers benefit from having someone who can honestly convey their value prop to shippers and make partnerships happen. In any negotiation we engage in, we make sure to understand the shippers point of view and maintain good will and mutual respect, even if we don't make a deal.
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In a market as dynamic as last mile delivery, I feel like our service is much needed.

Before starting Iron Margin, I sat in the seat of the shipper, and know what it feels like to try and navigate the nuanced transportation world while also managing competing responsibilities.

Transportation itself is a full time job, but most do not have a dedicated transportation role.

Self-fulfilling brands, 3pl's, and FBM distributors, if you are wondering if you are overpaying or what options are out there, I'd love to talk to you.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

DHL eCommerce committed to USPS as its sole final-mile carrier in a $10B-plus exclusive deal.

Consolidators usually keep regional carriers (Veho, UniUni, OnTrac) as a fallback. DHL gave that up.

What they get: years of committed volume in exchange for rates they could not reach otherwise. What they give up: the option to pivot.

The bet: USPS has the deepest final-mile reach in the country, and it is durable enough to commit to.

If DHL eCommerce is in your carrier mix, that locked-in pricing should keep their rates competitive.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@AlexYancher Congrats Alex! Very well deserved.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@jamesmerilatt Separate two things.

1) its not a foul
2) shai is right to protect his feet

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@jimjannuzzio agreed. no 4 wall building can do everything well.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Good example & something for all brands to beware of.

3PL's sometimes hard code in weight values at a higher value than your actual weight.

So the shipping carrier bills the 3PL at the correct weight, and the 3PL earns the extra margin for charging at a higher weight.

Happens a lot.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@Seanfrank @KodyNordquist just curious, why no overnight or 2 day option?

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@geezer_nerd @wholyv "Sorting" is process that is already mostly automated with conveyer belts and scanners

This is one of the parts that's not automated. Humans do this exact task in every sorting warehouse.

It's a very practical use case.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@JakeHigley53 @RomanEcom Greed is one of the 7 deadly sins

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@ChadCarleton Not UniUni specific, but I'm going to start monitoring actual carrier performance much more closely.

They break their SLA's all the time to save costs.

Consistently poor performance is a leading indicator of who might go out of business.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

If someone is offering you supply chain service "for free" or "at zero cost to brands".

It means they making their money through middleman fees, which almost always exceed what you'd be paying as a flat fee.

Always be skeptical of free. It's never free.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Vendors see a brand that doesn't understand the 3PL & parcel world, and their first instinct is to take advantage.

Rather than educate, they take advantage of the information asymmetry.

There will always be a new batch of naive brands taken advantage of by grifters.

The grifters only need a few naive accounts like this to make a financial killing.

Sad behavior.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Brand I evaluated is overpaying on shipping by 41% compared to their actual market value.

They are using one of those big legacy 3PL's.

I'd love to switch them to a better 3PL, but their termination fee's are so aggressive, that the best financial choice is to wait until their annual contract term is up.

This is a relatively small growing brand that will be over $100k worse off financially because of the excessive markup and predatory contract.

This type of shit pisses me off.

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@yo_yahli this video is so clean

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@Reinfish This is true thought leadership

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

@RossMackay111 I help brands with 3pl sourcing, vetting, analysis, negotiation, and contract review.

But for DIY, check out:

matchmakers/directories: https://t.co/GPqQb2v0W8, https://t.co/gKKQwfow15
good 3PLs founders on x, like @jeffannaraj or @EDunion

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Full write-up on the blog: https://t.co/KcGJcGuF9F

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

Most 3PL contracts get signed once, filed, and not opened again until something breaks. Here are 5 patterns that show up across most supplier-favorable drafts:

[Keyan Bazargan ⚒️ @OpsWithKeyan]

The single sharpest counter: ask the supplier to fill in their SLA schedule with the standards they can commit to. Tie chronic breach to no-fee exit. Either they commit, or they reveal they can't meet them.