Nowadays, many businesses operate on very tight margins and so figuring out areas where your dollar is not being stretched very far is critical to staying afloat. One of those areas, for many businesses, is shipping. When shipping over the road, there are really only two primary options that are used: full truckload shipping (FTL) and less than truckload (LTL) shipping.
What is Less Than Truckload Shipping (LTL) Shipping?
Less Than Truckload—or LTL, is ground freight transportation that doesn’t take up an entire truck, hence the name less than truckload.
The major benefit of LTL shipping is that you do not have to pay for the entire cost of a full truckload shipment. The cargo area of a freight truck is a very valuable space. The logistics industry has experienced a tremendous boom over the past 30 years due to the sheer number of items that are constantly travelling around the country.
People are far more comfortable transporting, shipping, and receiving essential items today than ever before. And so you can imagine that each foot of space in a truck has a dollar amount of worth. This is the concept behind LTL shipping—where the shipper only pays for the portion of space they are occupying on the truck.
This is a very economical and efficient way of transporting cargo as not only is it budget efficient for the shipper, but it also ensures that freight trucks are always stocked up as much as possible which can limit unnecessary gas expenditure and traveling when looking the system on a national level.
When Should You Use LTL Shipping?
The simple answer is if you wish to ship cargo that is less than the amount which would require a full truckload. LTL shipping is a blessing for smaller businesses that are operating on smaller margins and haven’t yet scaled to requiring a FTL. However, sometimes the scale of a business is not an indicator of their level of growth as well.
Move Freight has had several clients in the past whom—despite being greatly successful in their industry, simply never require a full truckload due to the nature of their products. Why should they pay for the entire space when their product can be densely packaged on the truck and limit space as well as weight?
LTL shipping companies such as Move Freight offer a much more convenient shipping experience. However, because LTL shipping is essentially sharing cargo space with other companies, it means your shipment will take longer than a dedicated FTL because the truck will have to stop at nearby areas to drop the other cargo off.
This is a known downside to LTL but is typically outweighed by the cost efficiency and savings that are conferred. Since there will be multiple stops, tracking the shipment can be a time-consuming affair. Time is something that many businesses and business owners do not have much of. Knowing where your product is during the shipping process is crucial for inventory planning, customer service, and a wealth of other aspects of running a successful business.
LTL Shipping Glendale CA
At Move Freight in Glendale CA, we do all of the work for you. Not only will we track your shipments throughout their lifespan for you, but you can also make handling your accounting easier since you will be paying only a single vendor for multiple services.
Are you looking to make a cost-effective LTL shipment with a company that can keep you informed every step of the way? Contact us at Move Freight in Glendale CA. Our contracts with several large independent carriers afford us some of the best rates in the business!