If you are in the shipping and supply line industry, then you know all about LTL (lighter than truckload freight), which is when the goods you are transporting don’t require a full truckload to transport. You’ve got lots of smaller freight items, all loaded on pallets, and they are moving around to warehouses and other places.
You’ve got one truck that combines several smaller loads into one full truckload, and then you pay out the shipping costs based on the items being shipped, the space they take up, and where they are being picked up and dropped off.
However, how do you make LTL freight work for you? It’s not a full truckload, so how do you manage the movement of the freight efficiently and make sure you are moving the items you need in a fast and cost efficient manner?
Well, LTL loads and carriers are all about optimization, where carriers need to optimize their loads to move their goods in an efficient manner. They need to take advantage of the flexibility, cost effectiveness, and the support that going LTL gives them when moving freight around, but how do you do that?
How To Manage LTL Loads?
First, one of the best things that you can do is focus on the speed of your orders. Instead of having to wait for an entire truckload’s worth of orders to both be ordered and to fill up your truck, you can place your LTL orders onto the truck and have it take up a smaller space. Then that space is what you are paying for.
First, you are saving some money whenever you split up your loads like this, but you are also aligning your shipping with the needs of your customers. Customers expect their goods to be delivered fast and to be delivered in good condition. So instead of waiting for a full truck to be filled and ordered, you can take the orders your customers have already made and create an LTL load.
This lets your inventory be where it needs to be (in the hands of your customers) much sooner. There is a small time tradeoff whenever you load up a small portion of a truck with your items and the rest with other items, as the truck needs to make those additional stops, but it is still faster than waiting for a full truck to fill up.
Use A Transportation Management System
Now, since you will be using a lot of trucks that will be holding a lot of freight to deliver your goods to your customers, you need a way to manage it all. A good transportation management system is designed to examine your loads and help you map out your routes to provide the best efficiency for everyone involved in the freight delivery. As long as you take the time to consolidate your freight, you can make nearly every LTL delivery work for you and your needs.
If you want to work with a supply system that knows the benefits of LTL freight, then feel free to contact us at American Manufacturing Solutions.
