Every company that sells tangible items either to other businesses or to the end consumer needs low LTL freight rates. Small businesses rarely can deal with the quantity requirements of full load shipping services, and shipping a pallet or two of items using package delivery services is not plausible at all in terms of cost. Even large companies such as Walmart and General Motors have long been taking advantage of less-than-a-load (LTL) shipping to shave some all-critical time from the length of their supply chains and turnaround times.
So where does a small business find low LTL freight rates? Logistics became an Internet process shortly after 2000. Many customers go online to reach an LTL shipper to for LTL rates, but this approach doe snot always get LTL freight rates. If the business customer can find an LTL shipper in that way and make contact by phone, it is virtually certain that the shipper will refer the caller to the shipper’s website for arrangements and to learn the company’s LTL freight rates.
Low LTL Freight Rates with a Freight Broker
Any search engine can provide a list of companies. But each of those companies necessarily requires specific information. This includes details about the sender, the destination and the shipment. Only with this information can they provide LTL freight rates even for a single shipment.
If the shipper spends a great deal of time with lengthy forms and data sheets only to learn LTL freight rates, the process certainly is not efficient. The best and fastest choice involves using a third-party company like a freight broker.
Freight brokers maintain relationships with all types of LTL shipping companies. Such a company can arrange for virtually all types of LTL shipping. Parcel, land, sea, rail, air or mixed methods make up most types of shipping. A third-party company acts as an important liaison to each shipping company. This relationship gets it much better and lower LTL freight rates than an individual company can secure on its own.
In addition to being able to offer better LTL freight rates than if a small business approached shipping companies directly, the use of a third-party shipping company simplifies the entire logistics process for the company using its services. There is no need for the shipper to contact several vendors where mixed methods – such as sea, rail and land – are necessary for a single shipment. Rather, the third-party company can supply a single LTL freight rate for the entire shipment.
Every company needs to operate as efficiently as possible in today’s business environment. Using a third-party company for LTL freight rates directly contributes to increasing the shipper’s internal efficiency and overall profitability.