LTL Freight Shipping
If you are a manufacturer of mufflers, you might use an LTL Freight Shipping service to send twenty of your mufflers to an auto supply store. If you work for an accounting firm, the 500 pounds of paper and other office supplies will likely arrive by and LTL Freight Shipping service. The term LTL means less than truckload and refers to the shipping method where different small orders are combined on to one truck and usually delivered to more than one destination.
The transport of LTL goods are subject to the ratings of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC), ad guide that classifies each item shipped based on its density, size, value, fragility and several other factors. Each item is given a classification of between 50 and 500 and a certain charge per hundred weight based upon the classification.
The lower the classification, the lower the shipping charge. For example, if you want to transport 500 pound load of bricks and 500 load of pillows from the same origin and to the same destination, you will pay more for the pillows, than the bricks. In this case, the pillows would have a much higher NMFC rating because the same weight takes up much more space on the trailer.
LTL Freight Shipping can be handled by trucks of varying sizes. It does not matter if it is a short 20 foot truck or a large 53 foot truck. What makes it LTL is the transport of multiple orders on the same truck.
Unlike LTL Freight Shipping, truckload (TL) shipments are shipments where you transport a truckload to one customer. The term does not necessarily mean that you will have a full truck, but rather, that you pay an agreed upon amount for the exclusive use of the truck. Truckload rates are usually calculated on a per mile basis or there may be a flat rate negotiated for the move.
Our economy would grind to a screeching halt without trucks constantly moving LTL and TL freight across the country. The men and woman who haul these loads serve to be thanked for the job they do.
Click here to find great shipping service.
