When deciding how to move your products, you must take into consideration a number of critical factors, including what aspects are most significant. How do you balance the shipments' demands of speed, rates, and visibility? Full-truckload freight, commonly known as FTL, allows you to optimize all three so that you may take advantage of the most direct routes at competitive costs to ensure your products arrive on time and in good condition.
What is FTL?
FTL entails packing an entire trailer with just one shipment, even if it isn't completely packed. Unlike LTL freight, which combines many shipments from different businesses to fill a trailer, you get the entire trailer to yourself, allowing you greater authority over the load. Because there are fewer, and often no, extra pit stops or pickups along the way, FTL is quicker and safer than LTL.
There are two basic methods for booking FTL. You can choose between longer-term, scheduled contractual agreements and one-time contracts per cargo on the spot market.
Contract freight establishes rates in advance and gives stability and predictability, that can be especially useful when capacity is scarce. The spot market can be great for short-term surges or irregular channels, but it often offers less certainty because rates are dependent on current market conditions and can vary from day to day.
7 Compelling Reasons To Opt For Full Truckload Services
There are various advantages to using FTL shipments, whether you're expanding and need extra trailer space or looking for ways to combine your LTL shipments into one truckload.
Increased Efficiency
FTL shipping improves efficiency in a variety of ways. Because the full container is dedicated to your cargo, your products arrive faster and with fewer stops, reducing transit time.
Guaranteed appointment times are used for FTL pickups and deliveries, providing you with greater control over when your products are picked up and delivered. You may work around your schedule to ensure that your things arrive on time. You are not subject to potential delays caused by freight loading and unloading along the way. As a result, you will be able to better plan for labor, inventory, and client demands.
Better Visibility
Full-truckload shipments provide the chance for greater tracking and visibility, allowing for informed decision making in today's operating environment. Inventory difficulties and out-of-stocks can have a negative impact on your bottom line.
Knowing where your cargo is and when it will arrive allows you to improve your operations and provide reliable updates to end customers or others in your supply chain, increasing overall customer service.
Exclusive Use of Trailer
The exclusive usage of a trailer for the duration of the transport process is a huge lure for high-value or fragile transportation demands. Whether you use the entire trailer or not, paying for exclusive access has various advantages.
- Increased shipment security:
The fewer times a trailer must be opened and closed, the less chances there are that something will go missing.
- Lower risk of damage in transit:
When transporting fragile products that require careful packaging, such as glassware, having the sole package in the trailer decreases the possibility of another package shifting and causing damage.
- Dedicated Services Available:
Some carriers include a complete truckload service in their daily or weekly service. For that amount of time, a driver and vehicle are devoted to you and your consignment. This service may be useful if you know it will take longer to load a truck or if you are in the process of merging many shipments.
Fewer Touchpoints
FTL shipments are handled less frequently than other types of cargoes, lowering the chance of product damage or theft. Loads do not need to be loaded and unloaded several times as they travel to their final destination. You may be able to utilize less packing and save waste if your products are loaded and unloaded only once.
Fewer touchpoints boost the security of your shipment. Because the trailer is entirely dedicated to your freight, there is less chance of unintentional loss or theft during travel with FTL. Once loaded, you may lock and seal the trailer, making it easy to check whether anything was tampered en route.
Shorter delivery timeframes and fewer days on the road reduce the amount of time your cargo is at risk. Shipments that are faster, less susceptible to damage, and more secure increase the likelihood that the products will reach on time and in good condition.
More Competitive Rates
For heavier shipments, FTL shipping might also be an economical option. You pay a fixed charge, and unlike controlled LTL transportation prices, you are able to negotiate truckload costs. Full truckload eliminates the need to weigh and measure each pallet, as opposed to LTL, which can boost efficiency even further.
LTL and even package carriers frequently include accessorial charges that vary from reweigh fees to schedule pickup or delivery fees, which can quickly mount up and may surprise you. Overall, the cost per pound for full truckload freight is often cheaper than that of alternative transportation options.
Peak Season Capacity Space
Every business has a peak season. It might be holidays like Christmas or Halloween for retail stores. It might be harvest season for farmers' crops. Whatever the case, finding unoccupied truck space during busy seasons when everyone else is doing the same may be frustrating and costly.
When it comes to using complete truckload services to gain during these times, it all depends on what you're shipping and how much profit you intend to generate.
Conclusion
Contact Three Lines Shipping if you believe the benefits of full truckload service can aid your company goals. We think that our biggest asset is our people, and we try to give you an unrivaled customer service experience.
Our company uses cutting-edge technology to make interaction between you and the drivers and carriers easier than ever. Let us know the type of cargo you need moved, and we'll find a way to transfer it for you.
No comments yet