Less than truckload (LTL) goods transportation services are very much popular in the shipping industry and are frequently engaged where you don’t need an entire trailer for delivering your consignments. This shipping method can be particularly useful when your shipment weighs between 150 pounds to 15,000 pounds. When shipping via a third-party logistics provider for LTL, the shippers need to pay only for the amount of their freight occupies in a standard trailer truck, while goods from other shippers fill the space remaining.
In this blog, we’ll introduce our readers to the fundamentals of LTL transportation.
A Primer on LTL (Less than Truckload) Third-Party Logistics
Some of the key advantages of LTL shipping are lower transportation costs and carrier charges, greater accountability, increased flexibility in consignment scheduling and shipping time, as well as speedier deliveries. Furthermore, you not only save a significant amount on fuel expenses but also are allowed to ship the goods on the pickup day itself most of the time.
Many small business owners are yet to appreciate the importance of LTL freight. A third-party logistics company providing LTL service will often load smaller goods than a standard carrier does, saving you the costs of excess cargo as well as additional charges for excess handling and storage. Because LTL carriers employ small-sized trucks and trailers for transporting the goods, it saves the small business owners both time and money in handling their shipments. In the event of any exception, LTL carriers have extra resources available to them for sorting out things, and they aren’t limited by the size as well as the shape of a truck or trailer.
The following factors determine how much it’s going to cost if you transport your shipments using an LTL carrier.
The greater the physical distance between the origin and destination location, the more your costs will be.
Both the weight and the dimensions of your consignments decide your freight class, which has a direct impact on carrier charges and transportation costs.
For an additional fee, you can choose to expedite the shipments if required.
If your goods need special equipment or handling, such as the case for fragile articles, perishables, hazardous substances, etc., your costs will be increased.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in the USA defines a standard truck as having a gross weight of at least 53,001 pounds. When looking at the gross weight of a standard truck, you would find that these trucks are classified as light.
A standard truck weighing over 53,000 pounds is also considered a van and hence, doesn’t qualify as a large truck. If you intend to use standard trucks for shipping LTL freight, you should check with the local or state regulators and/or shipping carriers to determine the maximum legal weight of an LTL shipping vehicle and also the maximum load that it can carry as stipulated by the state law.
If you need a trustworthy, third-party logistics service, you can call Welkin Transport as they’re one of the most respected names in the LTL shipping business in both the USA and Canada.
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