Prevent Common LTL Challenges by Working with a 3PL

The shipment of goods that don’t fill an entire semi-trailer – aka Less Than Load (LTL) – is often the top choice for shipping goods to and from stores and warehouses. However, even with this superior choice, there are fundamental issues to “get right the first time” in order to provide the best delivery experience and ensure repeat business. Below are a few of the most common issues LTL customers experience.

Finding the Right Carrier

As we know, shipments vary widely and not all carriers are in the LTL business. Even when a particular carrier is, it won’t necessarily mean that it will be the ideal choice for each and every shipment because carrier rates vary as well. And simply checking the Freight All Kind (FAK) box typically isn’t enough. In order to get the best, most accurate rates and avoid later issues, a shipper must be certain regarding the rate class into which each LTL shipment will fall. Additionally, finding the right carrier can take a lot of time to conduct in-house research.

LTL Shipment Delays

The transportation industry continues to experience a capacity crunch i.e., less available space for shipments, more than a year into the pandemic. This lower capacity is caused by factors such as:

• governmental regulations
• fewer available trucks
• truckers retiring without new drivers taking their places
• trucking companies spending less on new equipment

In addition, some freight is seen as less desirable by carriers and thus, lower priority, leading to longer transit times.

Lack of Transparency

Especially considering the boom of online shopping in the past year, the ability of all parties to track shipments has never been more important. Even if the “right” carrier has been selected, the rate seems excellent, the shipment has been picked up without issue and is in transit, lack of visibility from that point forward can cause multiple problems including, but not limited to:

• Missed terminal connections
• Partial and/or lost shipments due to mishandling
• Timing issues for deliveries

So, how can these issues be circumvented?

Partnering with a Third Party Logistics (3PL) provider can address these issues and many others. For example, here at Amware, we have relationships with over 400 carriers including all major carriers across the U.S., and can greatly simplify and streamline the carrier selection process, guaranteeing the most appropriate carriers and lowest rates for your LTL shipments.

After entering information just one time into Amrate 7.0, the latest version of Amware’s cloud-based transportation management system (TMS), a shipping professional receives competitive rates from hundreds of carriers enabling them to quickly determine the best option for their needs. And once a shipment is in process, Amware offers complete transparency to all parties with up-to-the-minute carrier management plus tracking and tracing for select carriers. It can even be integrated with most database-driven ERP, WMS, and Inventory Management Systems.

Contact us today, or click below to request a free trial of Amrate and learn how you can always get “the best rate for your freight.”