LTL Shipping for Small Businesses: What to Know

Less Than Truckload (LTL) shipping for small businesses has seen considerable growth and expansion in recent years. LTL shipping allows them to transport goods that are not large enough for a whole truck. Transport and logistics companies have also extended their services to save small-scale shippers from the burden of having to use parcel services or hiring an entire truck for themselves.

Do you want to ship business items such as machinery and other products that cannot fill a whole truck? This post details what LTL shipping is and why you should use it to transport all your business products.

What Is LTL Shipping?

Also known as less-than-truckload, LTL shipping is a method of transporting goods that cannot fill an entire truck. With LTL, multiple businesses can transport their goods in one truck.

For instance, if you supply goods to a small or medium-tier client that cannot fill a whole truckload, you can use LTL carriers where your products will go together with shipments from other people.

Why Should You Use LTL for your Small Business?

Unlike large businesses, small business deliveries involve less cargo as most clients require small deliveries, thus the need for LTL shipping. Discover valid reasons why you should use LTL for your small business shipments.

Ensure the Safety and Security of Your Goods

Small business products such as packaged goods and small parcels require proper handling during transportation. LTL carriers carefully pack goods and organize them according to size, shape, and fragility. This ensures that your products reach clients in a safe and secure state. Additionally, the truck drivers usually have dock workers to help rearrange goods after delivery, preventing damages and disorganization. 

Because they transport goods for many people, companies offering LTL usually have tracking technologies that help monitor shipments. This ensures the security of goods and the proper deliveries.

Save on Costs 

Hiring a whole truck is expensive and only convenient when transporting a sizeable commercial cargo that can fill an entire truck with a single destination. Small business shipments may leverage multiple stops along a truck route, bringing cost down and making LTL a cost-effective choice for small businesses.

Additionally, with LTL, different small businesses ship their products in one truck, saving the costs of hiring many trucks and lowering your shipping costs because many people contribute to the charges of hiring one truck.

Benefit From Additional Services

Another reason for moving your products through an LTL company is that you get additional services that you won't find in regular truck companies. The company helps you with services like reclassification and reweighing, delivery updates, and freeze protection.

LTL carriers will also usually provide liftgate services if you don't have a loading dock at the point of delivery. Liftgates are hydraulic equipment that extends from a truck and helps lift heavy loads from a vehicle to the ground or the other way round. With LTL, you won't have the burden of moving heavy goods.

Monitor Your Shipment Easily

One of the most significant disadvantages of parcel companies is the difficulty of predicting when your shipment will arrive. They often give you a delivery timeline or even a day but not always a specific time. This may inconvenience you if you have other activities to handle, or they might miss you at delivery time.

Monitoring your shipment is easier with LTL because of the tracking technology. This enables you to predict when your goods will arrive, making planning easier.

LTL shipping is now the real deal if you want to transport goods that are not large enough to fill an entire truck. Reach out to us for the best LTL shipping services for small businesses.