What Is LTL Shipping & How It Works

LTL shipping is the transport of freight that inhabits only a part of the whole trailer. More than one shipper share space on the same truck only paying for their portion, making LTL an affordable procedure of shipping freight.

Advantages of LTL shipping:

LTL provides you advantages beyond reduced shipping expenditures. Some of the major advantages of LTL shipping include:

• Environment Friendly – LTL not just keeps cost to minimum, but also cut down the carbon footprint by sharing space with other shippers on the same truck.

• Additional Service Options – Those who ship LTL have access to comprehensive services such as inside pickup & delivery, liftgates, non-commercial delivery and notification options.

• Trackability – Freight services usually offer an estimation of transit days & track shipment in real time.

Shippers gain access by referring to the bill of lading number, PRO number, PO number or shipment reference number.

What is the difference between LTL & TL?

They both have benefits, but one is better suited depending on the freight details – primarily weight, size and distance. Usually, you may take into account full truckload when freight surpasses 15 thousand pounds or when over 24 feet of trailer space is needed. If the distance to deliver is not more than five hundred miles, truckload may be a suitable option even for shipment below 15 thousand pounds & inhabiting less than 24ft. Also Truckload is a good choice when commodities are time-sensitive since it can move from shipper to consignee without having to offload and reload at terminals along the way.

How Less Than Truck Load Work?

LTL shipping runs on a hub & spoke model where local terminals are the spokes & larger terminals are hubs. Spoke terminals congregate local freight from the different shipper & merge that freight into outbound trailers. Then goods move to the hub terminal where freight is either sorted or consolidated for further transportation.

Who needs LTL?

When a firm has a significantly small load of freight, they usually pick an LTL carrier to ship their merchandises. These carriers are familiar to moving palletized freight that can be divided into smaller units. Also they transport drums & freight that’s properly crated.

Relying on your freight & delivery needs, LTL shipping could be the ideal substitute for your freight that doesn’t need a whole trailer. If you are looking for professional LTL software to simplify your shipment process, feel free to get in touch with Aurora Software.

Author bio:

This article is written by Aurora Software – a leading supplier of LTL software.