subject: Smaller Freights Delivered at Cheaper Rates [print this page] Smaller Freights Delivered at Cheaper Rates
Two common types of cargo shipping and delivery are truckload and less than truckload. In contrary to the former, the latter type allows the transportation of smaller freights. At present, alternatives to this type of shipping are also available. These are parcel carriers that handle small packages that can be broken down into smaller units less than 150 pounds, and semi-trailers that also require smaller freights.
Less than truckload shipment is the type which can accommodate between 151 to 20,000 pounds of freight. As opposed to truckload shipping that has the same type of cargo in each carrier or trailer, less than truckload freight allows heterogeneous cargo. This system is relatively simple.
Freight will be collected from different shippers, consolidated into trailers for hauling, and will be delivered later on to the hub terminal for further sorting before transporting it to the ordered destination.
Drivers of carrier companies are usually the ones responsible for pickup and delivery. Each day, they are assigned to different areas depending on the demand and number of shippers. Their typical day starts with delivery before freights are picked up after the trailer is emptied so usually deliveries occur in the morning while pickups do take place in the afternoon. When freight is obtained from a shipper, it is then loaded to the trailer for it to be brought to the main terminal where protocols are strictly followed.
Such protocols usually involve the checking of pertinent documents submitted by the shipper, unloading of freight, weighing, inspecting, and sorting among others. However, it isn't guaranteed that the freight will not experience several transfers during transit mainly because transit depends on the networks of terminals that a specific carrier company operates. But despite this, less than truckload freight is still opted by many shippers because of a cheaper cost compared to hiring an entire trailer for shipment.
On the other hand, most carrier companies of this type offer services that truckload carrier companies do not. Such services include lift gate and residential service during pickup and delivery, inside delivery, notification before delivery, and freeze protection. They come at a fee which is billed depending also on the weight of the shipper's cargo.
In some cases, it is possible to integrate truckload with less than truckload shipping. Example, if a shipper has a group of cargo enough to fit an entire trailer that is to be delivered in different but close states, he can opt for a truckload shipment at first and let it be transported to a break-bulk facility before having it sent to the specific states through less than truckload delivery.
The shipper can save a lot of money since the freight will travel fewer miles in the less than truckload carrier's network.
