Small businesses face the challenge when transporting their goods to retailers, distributors, or customers across the country. The common modes of transport, including trucks, rails, and ships, are unnecessarily extensive and costly for small businesses. They often sell large products with lighter weights, and standard transportation doesn’t provide efficient solutions.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight is a targeted service that solves the challenge of small businesses needing to reduce their transportation cost while offering larger trucks for their light in weight products.
This article dives deep into Less-Than-Truckload Freight and discusses everything you need to know about it.
What is Less Than Truckload?
Less-Than-Truckload means that you can hire a trucking service to transport a consignment weighing up to 15,000 lbs. Generally, trucks have loading capacities twice or thrice more than this weight, so the containers are shared with shipments from other sellers. LTL freight offers services to businesses that require transportation of small loads of goods frequently against the cost of the space that only they are using in the container.
Benefits of LTL Shipping
There are several benefits of LTL shipping for businesses who look to ship smaller freights without incurring unnecessary costs. These benefits include:
Cost-efficient
Since you share the carrier with other businesses transporting their goods, it only makes sense to pay for the space your shipment takes up. Good transportation services also offer reasonable rates for providing extra care for your goods if you have any fragile or sensitive products.
Ability to Ship Smaller Quantities
LTL freight allows you to ship as low as 150 lbs. of goods. You don’t have to wait for your business to grow enough and start producing a massive amount of products to be transported through professional services. The smaller quantity of shipping means you can trade your goods easily, which will help your business grow faster.
Better Security
As you will be sharing the carrier with other business’ shipments, their boxes and goods can be different from yours, making it hard for the trucking company to maintain a universal security level. Some require more fragile handling, while others can be transported with ease. However, LTL freight keeps your goods secure and together with well-packaged pallet security.
Easy Tracking
Technological advancement in the transportation sector has made it easy for customers to trust the service providers. You can track your LTL shipment online by using specific details.
Eco-Friendly
Besides cutting your costs, you will also be contributing towards a greener environment. Since LTL shipment carries consignments of several businesses, they don’t have to hire individual transportation, saving fuel and cutting carbon emissions by the vehicles.
How Less-Than-Truckload Shipping Works?
The LTL freight process is relatively simple and makes shipping faster. The service provider picks your consignment from the warehouse and processes it through the terminal. The shipments required to be delivered to a specific location are loaded together and dropped at the regional terminal. From there, smaller areas are targeted, and the LTL trucks are loaded accordingly to deliver the consignments to their final spot.