There are some common misconceptions out there about less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping. If you fall victim to any of these LTL shipping myths, you could end up thinking this mode isn’t for your freight. Or worse, spending extra time or money that you could have saved with your LTL shipping.

Here are some of the most popular misunderstandings about LTL shipping and why they’re simply not true.

LTL SHIPPING IS DIFFICULT

Many companies actually find this mode of shipping to be the most flexible and easy to book. As long as you’re working with a quality LTL carrier or third-party logistics (3PL) provider, you’ll find that LTL shipping can be one of the easier modes of transportation to work with.

LTL SHIPPING RATES ARE NON-NEGOTIABLE

Some believe that there’s no room for negotiation when it comes to rates for this mode. In reality, you can negotiate your LTL shipping rates but you’ll need a solid relationship with your carrier to see any benefit. You can also negotiate outside of peak shipping season when companies are more likely to offer lower rates. When you choose to work with Trinity for your LTL, you can trust that our experts negotiate on your behalf to get you the best rate for your specific shipping needs.

ALL LTL ACCESSORIAL FEES ARE THE SAME

In reality, accessorial charges in LTL shipping can fluctuate between carriers by as much as 50 percent.

To determine the accessorial fees charged by a specific carrier, you can look at their rules tariff. This will give you a breakdown of all the accessorials they charge. Some of the most common accessorial charges include liftgates, residential delivery, hazardous material fees, and limited access charges.

One reason these charges vary between carriers is whether they calculate the fee based on cents-per-hundred-pounds or by a flat rate. They can also vary based on different pricing agreements or contracts already in place. 

“I’VE BEEN SHIPPING THE SAME FREIGHT FOR YEARS, AND MY CLASS HAS NEVER CHANGED, SO I DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT CHANGING IN THE FUTURE.”

It’s important to always double-check to confirm your freight class hasn’t changed. The National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) board meets twice a year and revises the freight classes for dozens of different commodities, so there’s always a chance that your freight class could change without warning.

Even if you’ve never had issues with re-classifications in the past, LTL carriers remain strict about having accurate classifications on the bill-of-lading (BOL). Carriers often equip their drivers with tape measures and scanning devices to determine dimensions and double-check your freight’s class.

LTL SHIPPING TIMES ARE GUARANTEED

Unless specified as guaranteed, LTL shipping times are estimates. Due to LTL’s flexible service offerings, carriers cannot truly guarantee specific times.

This means both your pick-up and delivery times are never guaranteed (unless specified). Even with a specified guarantee, there can sometimes be a delay or missed window.

The good news is that you can receive tracking notifications from the carrier, so you know once they have picked up. The same goes for your delivery. You’ll receive an estimated delivery date but should be able to track and trace through your provider and receive any notifications if there’s a delay.

You can check with your LTL carrier or provider if they can offer guaranteed LTL shipping as an additional service – meaning there’s an extra charge for this. In this case, it’s imperative that you list the delivery time clearly on the BOL.

A guaranteed delivery time only takes effect once the shipment is picked up from the shipper’s address, and delays in pick-up will not be factored into that time. Transit time does not include the day of pickup or weekends and holidays. It’s also good to note that added requirements at the delivery location, like delivery appointments, can also void the guarantee. 

TEMPERATURE-CONTROLLED SHIPMENTS CAN’T GO WITH LTL SHIPPING

Many businesses assume that freight like produce or ice cream can’t ship via LTL because of their need for temperature control. LTL’s flexibility often gets overlooked. With refrigerated LTL, your temperature-controlled freight will be on the same truck as another customer’s freight that needs a similar temperature range. While there are a limited number of LTL providers that can offer this service, it isn’t true that you can’t use LTL for your temperature-controlled shipments. Refrigerated LTL can be a great way to ship any temperature-controlled goods without having to pay full truckload prices. 

WORKING WITH A 3PL FOR LTL SHIPPING ISN’T WORTH IT

This is the common misconception we come across when it comes to LTL shipping. Many companies don’t realize all the benefits that come with using a 3PL for their LTL.

Working with a 3PL like Trinity Logistics gives you the competitive edge of working with an expert in LTL who has a network of strong and trustworthy carrier relationships. What does this mean for you?

Getting LTL shipping quotes and booking shipments with quality LTL carriers is even easier. Especially through Trinity’s Customer Portal, with our LTL Quick Quote feature available. You’ll also have full transparency over your shipment’s transit.

And if your freight is temperature-controlled? No problem. We can help you with any refrigerated LTL shipments. 

Additionally, through our relationships with both large and small LTL carriers, we’re able to negotiate accessorial charges and LTL shipping fees to get you the best service at an ideal rate.

Keep in mind, too, that LTL shipping is about more than just rates. If you experience any service failures or frequent lapses in communication with your current LTL provider, switching to a best-in-class 3PL with top-notch People-Centric service such as ours can save you time and money, even if the rates are the same as before.

See how Trinity Logistics can offer you a better LTL shipping solution.

No one likes spending their valuable time working on manual tasks that take forever. Streamlining operations with automation is the dream for every business, yet many companies still rely on spreadsheets and manual interactions. One way to drastically reduce your manual processes is by implementing a transportation management system (TMS). Many companies use a TMS for their logistics management, like e-commerce companies, retail businesses, manufacturers, and distributors. By adopting a TMS, you’ll be able to eliminate manual processes and focus more of your team on revenue-generating tasks. Read on to learn how a TMS can help you make the most of your time by automating your manual processes.   

MANUAL PROCESS: TOO MUCH TYPING 

Even if you already have a TMS, you might still be doing more work than necessary if your software doesn’t have integration capabilities for order entry. You might be stuck typing each order into your enterprise resource planning system (ERP), as well as your TMS. And if you don’t have a TMS, you certainly are spending way more time doing data entry than you should. 

TMS SOLUTION 

If you’re currently using an ERP, you should make sure the TMS you’re working with can interface with your system, allowing order information to transfer automatically. This prevents the need for dual entry and gives you and your team more time to focus on revenue-generating tasks. 

MANUAL PROCESS: QUOTE MANAGEMENT 

Shopping for shipping rates can be time-consuming if you have to look through each of your carrier’s rates on a lane, and that’s if they offer contracted rates. If not, emails and phone calls to every available carrier might be necessary for even just a single lane. And even after all that, are you sure you’ve selected the best carrier for the best rate? If you work with several different shipments, it can be time-consuming to be on the phone or going through emails asking for rates from carriers in your network. Trying to manually keep track of all those quotes can take you away from more important aspects of your business.  

TMS SOLUTION 

Quickly compare contracted rates or submit instant spot quote requests to multiple carriers at once with a best-in-class TMS. The carrier quotes are automatically filtered into the system by the lowest cost carrier for easy comparison instead of piling up your inbox. 

MANUAL PROCESS: DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT 

Manually managing documents or paperwork is monotonous and outdated. Everything from manually completing the documents to organizing and filing takes a significant amount of time. Not to mention the process of searching for the documents you need later. According to a report by CMS Wire, 36 percent of an employee’s day is spent looking for documents, with information going unfound up to 44 percent of the time. Going by those statistics, you could be spending almost three hours of your day searching for lost documents.  

TMS SOLUTION 

Managing large volumes of loads is timely, and in business, how you spend your time is critical. Sifting through filing cabinets or folders is not an effective use of your time. By using a TMS, all of your documentation is managed, stored, and shared digitally. Not only does this keep your information more secure, but it makes organizing and accessing your documents easier. Using a TMS is the easiest way to manage all of your documents while saving you hours of time every day. 

MANUAL PROCESS: FINDING AN AVAILABLE QUALIFIED CARRIER 

Calling or emailing carriers to see if they can not only accept your load but have the expertise to haul it can get quite time-consuming, especially if you’ve got hundreds of loads to cover. And even more so if you’re working with many kinds of freight. Because not every shipment is the same, the same carrier probably shouldn’t handle them all. Finding carriers best suited for your shipment needs is tough. In the midst of your workday, it’s easy to forget which carriers you’ve talked to already or those you’ve missed. This can translate to a long list of uncovered loads at the end of the day. 

TMS SOLUTION 

Say goodbye to the dozens of phone calls and emails previously used to secure carriers on your loads. With a TMS, you can send a load tender to your preferred carrier, allowing them to accept it electronically. If they reject the tender or don’t respond promptly, the load automatically goes to the next carrier on your list based on cost, performance, or other parameters defined by your company. 

MANUAL PROCESS: SHIPMENT DELAYS/TRACKING/TRACING 

Without using technology, you often won’t know about a shipment delay until your unsatisfied customer calls you. If you’re tracking your shipments, you’re usually doing this manually through emails or phone calls to find out where your freight is, which can be time-consuming and frustrating. While it can be common for several different shipments to be in transit on different company trucks and located all over, tracking can be a challenge. Without a TMS, a lot of time is spent manually tracking shipments and trying to get ahead of delays.  

TMS SOLUTION  

Spend less time tracking your loads and more time filling your orders with a TMS. Carriers will have the ability to provide their own status updates on each of your loads either manually or automatically, allowing you to easily manage your shipments and know in real-time whether there is a delay or not. When asked what features they were looking for in the aforementioned survey, 25 percent of shippers said they needed shipment tracking.  

MANUAL PROCESS: REPORTING 

Reports can be a pain to produce manually since they require merging multiple spreadsheets or pulling information from different sources. This is often done in Excel, which has no way of validating if the reports are accurate. It’s also almost impossible to track carrier performance since it’s hard to see if loads were delivered on time and who shipped which load, all on one spreadsheet. Without proper reporting, how can you really know which carrier had the best performance, what your freight costs were on specific lanes, or which carrier was cheapest the past year? 

TMS SOLUTION 

Forget spending precious time compiling reports from multiple spreadsheets. A TMS will give you the ability to generate all your transportation reports on demand. Do note that not every TMS can generate the reporting you may need, but a best-in-class TMS can offer you advanced reporting to go into specific logistics metrics. From gauging your monthly freight spend to rating your carriers’ performance, you can easily access it if you need it. Need it on a regular basis? With Trinity’s TMS, you can schedule reports to be run daily, weekly, or monthly and even have them automatically emailed to recipients on a distribution list. 

READY TO ELIMINATE MANUAL PROCESSES FROM YOUR LOGISTICS? 

With the ability to eliminate multiple manual processes, it’s easy to see why a TMS allows you to focus your time and attention on more important things, like widening your profit margin. 

If you’re ready to make the move to automation to improve your logistics, we’re here to help. Our combination of experienced account management and best-in-class TMS technology offers you a customized solution to help you achieve your unique supply chain goals. Whether you’re looking for Saas, a Managed TMS, a fully integrated Outsource, or something in between, we’ll work with you to design a solution that’s unique to your business. Gain control, cut costs, improve performance, and most importantly, eliminate those manual processes! 

Author: Christine Morris

Picture what it was to be a 3PL (third-party logistics company) 30 years ago. Filing cabinets were full of paper documents. Fax machines, handwritten documents, and corded phones were the way of communication. There were no navigational systems, only paper maps.

Thanks to advancements in technology, 3PLs can function without filing cabinets. Now documents can be saved to the cloud and sent in seconds through email. Very few documents are handwritten and employees are highly mobile with the ability to work in office, on the road, or even from home. As great as that all is, even more technology is needed for a 3PL to compete in today’s market.

Technology Improves the Customer Experience

Reducing paper use, being mobile, and wireless, is not enough to keep a 3PL competitive. Customers are looking for more visibility, while carriers are looking for easier and quicker processes to book shipments. There are still many manual processes that are able to be automated with technology, offering a better customer experience. Technology such as digital freight matching and artificial intelligence are some examples of what is now available to 3PLs.

Trinity Logistics looks for ways to improve efficiencies and serve greater support to our customers, carriers, and independent Agents through technology. Over the past few years, we’ve been able to grow our technology and offer our industry audiences many improvements with their experiences.

Trinity Stays on Top of Technology

Trinity’s Technology Team is always growing as we look for ways to stand out and provide excellent service as a modern day 3PL. We have a team of our own software engineers who keep our business applications up-to-date with newer technology.

Are you ready to read about the technology we can offer to support your business?

Tracking and Tracing Options

Trinity offers our customers and carriers their choice of tracking and tracing applications. Currently, we offer FourKites, Trucker Tools, and Macropoint. A carrier downloads one of the apps, giving Trinity the ability to keep track the shipment and offer real-time visibility to our customer. This also helps reduce the check-in calls to the carrier, allowing them to focus on reaching their destination safely.

Quick and Easy Carrier Setups

We have a Carrier Relations Team to ensure Trinity connects with fully vetted and qualified carriers. We have taken what used to be a two hour process down to an average of 20 minutes thanks to integration with My Carrier Packet (MCP). Instead of printed paper packets that had to be filled out, scanned, and emailed or faxed in, My Carrier Packet gives the potential carrier the capability to fill out information online through their website. Thanks to MCP and our Software Engineering Team, the packets and insurance are seamlessly integrated with our Transportation Management System (TMS), making carrier set-ups a breeze.

Up-To-Date Systems

As stated earlier, our Software Engineering Team works hard to continue improving our systems. Our TMS was updated which made our carrier module more user friendly and offered the capability of housing more vital information, making it easy to link up to services like My Carrier Packet. The new carrier module also offered our Team Members a capacity and history tool to help continue building relationships with carriers who have hauled with us before.

Managed Transportation Technology Solutions

Geared toward our shippers, we offer Transportation Management Systems (TMS). A TMS gives you more visibility into your supply chain, reduces your costs, and improves performance. Choosing to house all your transportation management needs in one place and having access to a Team of logistics experts through Trinity’s Managed Services can help increase efficiencies.

Banyan for LTL

Instead of manual processes you can utilize our easy-to-use system to manage your LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments fast and more efficiently. When choosing to work with Trinity for your LTL shipments, you get the use of Banyan Technology at no extra cost to you. You are trained and given a login and password and gain exclusive access to Banyan’s Live Lane Specials and Ground Freight Pricing.

With one of Trinity’s guiding values being continuous improvement, we look for new ways to improve and better serve our industry audiences. Right now, as you are reading this article, our Technology Team is working to improve your experience. Don’t just choose to work with a company that arranges the shipment of your freight; choose to work with a company that serves you the data you need and the experience you deserve.

AUTHOR: Christine Griffith