Less-than-truckload freight shipping often comes with its own unique set of challenges. Issues like frequent delays, unexpected charges, or unclear documentation can cost shippers and carriers time and money.

The best way to avoid these costly fees is to prepare your shipment from the beginning properly. This means ensuring your freight dimensions are accurate, which can prevent overpaying for truck space or re-classing fees down the road.

Communicating with Carrier

Once you’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s with your LTL shipment, sending it on its way is time. And with top-of-the-line freight tracking solutions, keeping an eye on your shipment location is more accessible.

Your shipment is assigned a progressive number (PRO) when it leaves the dock. It’s often paired with a standard carrier alpha code (SCAC) to form a barcode that can be scanned throughout transit. The PRO and SCAC serve as unique identifiers for your freight and allow you to track its status and movement through a trucking company’s network of transfer facilities.

Many leading carriers offer real-time LTL freight tracking shipments through a dedicated client portal. They use RFID and GPS technologies to relay real-time shipment locations to clients and give customers visibility into their supply chain.

Having this kind of tracking available helps you communicate more clearly with your freight carrier and prevent any delays from impacting your delivery date. For example, if your freight is delayed due to weather or customs issues, you can now easily communicate this to your customer and manage their expectations. And if you need to adjust your delivery timeline, adding extra shipping days allows you to match your freight expectations with your customers better.

Preventing Damage

The first thing shippers can do to help prevent damage to their less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments is to take care of their packaging. Before shipping, they should wrap all their freight in plastic and wood and use pallets to keep the load from moving around during transit.

LTL carriers also have a maximum liability they’re willing to pay out in the event of damaged freight. To ensure they’re covered if this limit is reached, it’s a good idea for shippers to get gap insurance. This additional policy can cover the difference between a carrier’s maximum liability and a product’s total value.

In addition, it’s a good idea for everyone involved in the shipment to ensure all paperwork and information is correct. Having the right delivery address, points of contact, and special pickup/delivery requirements will help ensure the proper carrier is on route when the time comes for them to pick up or deliver. And having dock workers who are organized and on schedule for pickups will also reduce scheduling delays and minimize the possibility of an accessorial charge from a carrier for incorrect addresses.

Even with preventative measures, some shipping delays will be unavoidable. When this happens, shippers and carriers must communicate freely and thoroughly about the situation to manage expectations and adjust accordingly.

Identifying Issues

If your LTL freight shipment has been delayed or lost, it’s essential to identify the cause so you can take steps to correct it. This requires proper communication between shipping teams and your carrier and accurate ETAs based on real-time data.

Less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments comprise multiple smaller loads packed into one large truck for linehaul transport. This allows carriers to maximize their efficiency and cut costs by not paying for a whole truckload for the freight they’re hauling. However, the less reliable nature of LTL freight can make it more difficult to pinpoint precisely where your shipment is at a given time.

When tracking LTL freight, many carriers assign a Progressive Number or PRO number to each load when the pace picks up your shipment. This PRO number can be accessed through the carrier’s website and will provide a detailed account of the status of your freight in transit. To track cargo, you can also search a shipment by other numbers, such as the BOL, PO number, customs bond number, and customer reference number.

When you partner with a 3PL, all this can be done from a single online freight management platform. This way, you can quote multiple carriers, book your shipment online, automatically generate and print all necessary documents, including the bill of lading, and then track your freight with a single PRO number throughout in-transit shipment phases.

Managing Expectations

In a fast-paced digital world, most customers expect a very rough estimate of when their product will arrive at their door. The shipping industry knows this is a critical aspect of customer satisfaction and often offers a window of time or a day of arrival. However, these rough ETAs are rarely met due to the many terminal stops and varying transit times associated with LTL freight shipments. This leads to frustrated customers both for retail and e-commerce companies alike.

To minimize this frustration, tracking technology is an excellent solution. Modern digital solutions give shippers and carriers a centralized platform to manage their truckloads from start to finish. These platforms allow businesses to quickly provide their BOL or PRO numbers for easy and transparent tracking. This helps to alleviate the need for phone calls and endless hold times with the carrier to get shipment status updates or confirmations of delivery.

Another advantage of tracking technology is that it can help manage shipment costs for shippers. Less-than-truckload shipping enables smaller shipments combined with other loads in one trailer to charge only the space used. This saves on fuel costs, labor, and other transportation expenses. It also reduces the chance of damage by minimizing handling points and ensuring fewer contact points between cargo and additional truckloads in transit with yours.