Shipping costs for small businesses reached $1.49 trillion in 2018. The growing trend of online shopping will likely put pressure on the logistics industry, something that will definitely affect costs in the coming years.
Despite this pressure, it’s still imperative to enact effective shipping strategies as a business owner. The options in the industry are quite many, ranging from small freight shipping to large. Choosing the right option helps you save costs and stay ahead of the competition.
So, what’s the best option when it comes to freight shipping for small businesses? How does small freight shipping stack up to large? What’s the difference?
Here is a more in-depth insight into large vs. small freight shipping to help you get started with the right decision.
What Is Small Freight Shipping?
The industry commonly refers to small freight shipping as less than truckload (LTL) shipping. LTL is a go-to option for shipping small packages without having to book space in the whole trailer.
This means that you’ll have your products delivered alongside other packages from other businesses too. Nevertheless, you only pay for the amount of space that your goods occupy in the trailer as other businesses pay the rest.
What Is Large Freight Shipping?
Large freight shipping refers to any type of transportation that includes large cargo across the world, whether by air, sea, or road. Freight shipping companies load your goods into pallets or large shipping containers and move them through various modes of transportation.
Other Types of Freight Shipping
As noted earlier, there is a myriad of options for freight shipping, including LTL. Others include partial truckload (PTL), full truckload (FTL), expedited, and intermodal.
FTL shipping entails booking a whole transportation container to move your business goods either by road or rail. In most cases, FTL containers can hold up to 26 standard-size pallets. This shipping is prevalent when moving goods from manufacturers to fulfillment centers.
Partial truckload shipping is nearly the same as LTL. The difference is that your goods won’t be moved to another truck during transportation.
This shipping is ideal if you’re looking to move your goods in up to 12 pallets. Still, LTL is better for small packages.
Expedited shipping is a go-to option for highly perishable or time-critical goods. Small freight shipping companies offering this solution usually use both trucks and air. This makes this shipping more expensive than all types of freight shipping.
As the name suggests, intermodal shipping entails using various modes of transportation, including sea, rail, and road, to move products to the end-user. Intermodal shipping can help save costs, especially when railway transport is part of the strategy.
What’s the Best Way to Ship Small Freight?
Freight shipping for small businesses should involve strategies that gear towards saving more coats. In that case, options such as LTL sound like a good option. Moreover, the benefits of LTL freight are quite many.
For instance, your business pays only for used space in the truck. This makes freight shipping for small businesses easier because you can move a handful of goods without incurring significant costs, distance notwithstanding.
On top of that, LTL shipping helps you reduce warehouse costs because you fulfill orders on demand. In other words, you only stock goods in your warehouse after taking orders from consumers.
Also, you can access relatively affordable costs by getting quotes from different small freight shipping companies. Competition in the logistics industry is quite stiff, and all players want to offer the best rates to their customers to stay in business.
Tips for Moving Small Parcel or Freight Shipping
Freight shipping is different from moving a small parcel, say a gift to your friend. You want to ensure that your goods reach their final destination in time without damage. Most importantly. You want to ensure that nothing gets lost along the way.
Here are some tips that small businesses can apply when it comes to freight shipping.
- Know the Right Pallet Size
Using pallets for freight shipping enables easier handling of goods, especially if you’re employing an intermodal strategy. Prevalent pallets in the industry feature plastic or wooden material construction.
The three prevalent pallet sizes include 48×40, 42×42, and 48×48. Go with the size that complements the size of your goods. Whichever size you opt for, ensure the design is sturdy enough to minimize the chances of product damage.
- How Do You Transport Non-Palletized Goods?
Not all products are ideal for pallet transportation. In that case, consider other shipping containers, including standard crates and corrugated boxes. The catch is in choosing a container that can withstand the weight of your goods.
To cut the costs of acquiring containers, you should also consider recycling. Although many companies advise against this, it’s one way through which small businesses mitigate the high costs of shipping?
So, what do you do to reuse your containers effectively? First, check whether the crates or corrugated boxes are in good condition. There shouldn’t be holes or visible breakage. Secondly, update shipping barcodes so that your goods don’t end in the wrong destination.
- Labeling and Other Carrier Instructions
Right labeling is critical because it prevents goods from getting lost. Ensure that your labels are up-to-date with shipping addresses and telephone numbers. It will also help if you add labels on either side of the shipping carton or label.
Besides, engage your shipping company to determine other instructions you may need to fulfill before moving your goods.
- Estimate the Right Shipping Costs
Estimating the right shipping costs will help you plan your budget beforehand. Factors that you need to consider include the mode of transportation and the distance covered. The longer the distance from the origin to destination, the more you’ll pay.
Also, you need to consider size and weight when estimating your shipping costs. Large freights cost more than small freights. Similarly, goods that require special handling equipment to move cost more than goods that don’t.
Choose the Right Shipping for Your Freight
Business owners have many options for small freight shipping. Even so, LTL proves more affordable and sustainable for the long term than other options. Read other articles on this site for tips on choosing the best freight shipping companies.
