If you ship LTL (Less Than Truckload) goods frequently, you always want safe, secure, and, more importantly, cost-effective means of transportation for their delivery. You try to find those shipping options where you don’t have to pay much to move your products without compromising their safety during transit. Fortunately, some modern shipping methods are reliable, dependable, and inexpensive compared to their traditional counterparts. One of these shipping methods is freight consolidation, a widely used transportation option for moving LTL (Less Than Truckload) shipments. Freight consolidation brings several advantages for both shippers and carriers. Before discussing these advantages, getting basic knowledge about freight consolidation is essential.
What is freight consolidation?
Freight consolidation refers to bundling or consolidating several small (LTL) shipments into a single truckload to move them on a single instead of many trucks. It’s a suitable shipping option for small shipments with the same delivery destination. The process of freight consolidation reduces the number of trips required to deliver freight, decreasing the shipping costs for shippers and retailers. Freight consolidation service has many other names, such as assembly service or cargo consolidation. However, the concept remains the same no matter what it is called.
Advantages of freight consolidation for shippers and carriers
Where freight consolidation provides cost-effective means of transportation for shippers and retailers, it also offers carriers a wide range of benefits. Here, we have discussed the advantage of freight consolidation for shippers and carriers separately.
Advantages of freight consolidation for shippers
1. Cost savings
The most significant advantage of freight consolidation for shippers is cost savings. Through consolidation, several small shipments can be transported on a single truck, reducing the trips required to deliver your freight. It significantly lowers your shipping and handling costs, saving you more money to invest in your business’s flourishment.
2. Time-saving
Freight consolidation saves you time by delivering all small shipments in one trip. It can be a real difference-maker for small-sized businesses that have their survival associated with ensuring the on-time delivery of their products to their customers. Delivering goods to customers in the shortest possible timeframe also offers you a competitive advantage.
3. Safety Advantage
It’s a reality that your shipments can be susceptible to various perils during transit. However, when they’re consolidated into one compact shipment, the risk of any damage or loss to it greatly reduces. Also, handling a single shipment is easier for carriers. Another aspect of the safety advantage of freight consolidation is that your freight is on a single truck instead of many. So, the odds of involving in an accident are low, offering you the peace of mind that your product is being transported safely.
4. Flexibility and efficiency
Flexibility and efficiency are one of the factors that attract shippers toward freight consolidation. Shipping a consolidated freight is an efficient option compared to transporting small shipments separately. It reduces the transit times of freight, making you a reliable choice for your customers.
Advantages of freight consolidation for carriers
Carriers or truckers can benefit from freight consolidation in the following ways:
1. Increased revenue
Consolidation allows truckers or freight shipping companies to combine or bundle shipments from multiple clients into one shipment, decreasing their trips and increasing revenue. Freight consolidation is a profitable shipping option for carriers specialized in moving LTL shipments.
2. Decreases deadhead miles
Delivering several shipments on a single truck decreases the number of deadhead miles a carrier has to travel, which improves their shipping efficiency, increases profits, and decreases operational costs.
3. Better optimization of trucking equipment
Freight consolidation allows carriers to optimize their trucking equipment more efficiently. When the trucks don’t have to travel empty miles, they’re certainly available to ship more freight, increasing the shipping capacity of a carrier.
Summing up, freight consolidation can be a win-win shipping option for both shippers and carriers.