DON’T GET STUCK IN A RUT: WHEN TO CONSIDER LTL Sometimes shipments are just too big or too expensive to ship via parcel. That’s when LTL can be a big boost for your budget.
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anaging shipping costs is key to any e-commerce business, yet many merchants fail to use the full set of options at their disposal. Most retailers understand that a customer isn’t just buying a teacup; they are buying a delivered teacup. They know to consider the full cost of a shipment when calculating profitability. Most parcel-sized deliveries ship via USPS, UPS, and FedEx. After weighing the options, a merchant might elect to send the teacup via UPS 2nd Day Air. The end result: the customer hopefully receives an unbroken teacup in two business days, delivered directly to their house. But what happens when a merchant gets an order for 20 boxes of teacups? They could send each box via parcel, but they might have saved almost 50% had they shipped those boxes by freight. I find that merchants that don’t use freight often forget to look past parcel shipping to consider freight. For shipments too big or expensive for parcel shipping, it’s important to look
into “less-than-truckload” (LTL) freight. LTL refers to small freight deliveries that are too large to be classified as parcels and too small to fill an entire truck. Here are some factors to consider when deciding when to use LTL freight: 1. Package Size: Consider LTL if your package’s weight and dimensions are on the edge of USPS, FedEx, and UPS parcel size limits. Parcel size limits top out at between 70-150 pounds and/or 108 inches in length, depending on the carrier. 2. Number of Packages: If there are many packages going to the same destination (for example, 20 boxes of teacups) LTL could also be a cheaper, more efficient solution if the shipment can fit on a pallet. 3. Time to Transit: UPS and FedEx have predictable delivery times via Ground service and require little or no lead time to schedule a pickup. LTL pickups can take a day or two, and transit times are often estimates. If your shipment is time-critical because it is
perishable or a customer requires a specific delivery time, a ground parcel service may be the best path. If you can be flexible in shipment times, LTL can often save a lot of money. Overall, if cost is more important than speed, LTL freight can often be less expensive for shipments on the edge of parcel dimensional or weight requirements, or a large multi-parcel shipment of packages going to the same location. NAVIGATING THE COMPLEXITIES Often, merchants are concerned about the complexities of freight, but they needn’t be. Because of the complexity of the LTL/freight marketplace, I usually recommend occasional shippers work with a broker, since that can allow for single point of contact to a wide variety of LTL options. A broker can help a company sift through carriers to find the best fit for their needs. There are numerous national and regional freight services. Unlike parcel carriers, the cost of shipping and