One of the most complex transportation modes in the logistics industry is refrigerated less-than-truckload (LTL), due to its complexity and limitations. While many shipping providers are not able to accommodate these shipments, those that can will be better able to service your requests if you are aware of the intricacies of this mode of transportation.

You may have heard on the news recently that West Coast ports have been clogged, delaying the importation of international goods. This is having an effect on both intermodal and truckload shipping. Here’s the lowdown on the problem and how it could affect you.

When you get a rate for an LTL shipment, the cost is influenced by so many different factors that it’s actually pretty easy to make some simple changes and see your LTL shipping costs go down. While these tips may not be possible for everyone to implement, you’ll likely find at least one or two of them are relevant to your situation!

Transportation management software is often thought of as a tool to help shipping departments select the lowest cost carrier. Other times, it’s looked upon for consolidating shipments or enhancing the way a shipment is being routed. While these are definite features, a TMS also provides opportunities for savings in both soft and hard costs that create far-reaching benefits for your entire company, not just the transportation department. The TMS has a dramatic positive effect on the profitability of all departments. Let’s take a look at how.

In the LTL world, there are many ways to guarantee your freight moves quickly. Each LTL carrier has their own set of options (and rules for those options). In general, you have two options – schedule an expedited LTL shipment (which moves faster than a standard LTL shipment) or a guaranteed LTL shipment (which comes with a guaranteed delivery date and time, and if they aren’t met, the cost of your shipment may be refunded, depending on the carrier.) Learn about the ins and outs of shipping guaranteed or expedited LTL shipments.

Scott Harrison, Manager of Sales, Support and Development at Southeastern Freight Lines, shares the three metrics that have an impact on LTL carrier capacity.

The debate about which kind of provider is “better” – asset based or non-asset based – has been ongoing for years. Some argue that they’ll only work with asset based carriers, others swear by sourcing everything to a single 3PL, and a good amount of companies work with a mix of both kinds of providers. When you’re trying to decide which type of provider is a good fit for your business, weighing the pros and cons can be difficult when you haven’t had the experience of working with both. Check out the pros of working with a non-asset based provider in this blog.

In the world of transportation and logistics, sometimes all it takes is a minor curveball for something to go majorly wrong. One of the most common and devastating arenas where curveballs happen is the world of weather. From hurricanes to blizzards, and tornadoes to floods – when a severe weather incident strikes, it strikes hard. Let’s take a look at the top five worst weather incidents of all time.

Shipping temperature-controlled freight can be a very nervewracking experience. Whether you’re shipping ice cream that could disastrously melt, or beer that might freeze in transit, the risks are higher than a regular truckload shipment because your product is more vulnerable. For a long time, the go-to for shipping refrigerated freight has been, of course, reefer truckload. But did you know that there’s an alternative that is often cheaper and more reliable? Shipping your temp-controlled freight over the rail with refrigerated intermodal is quickly becoming an extremely popular trend.