What’s in this Freight Paper?
- Quick and easy reference for additional services available for LTL shipping.
- Tips for understanding the service differences.
- List of the most common “accessorials” used in LTL freight.
What exactly is an “additional service?” How do I avoid them? How do I plan for them? These are common questions that we get at FreightPros. When it comes to LTL shipping, there are a lot of things to wrap your head around. It could be getting freight class explained, or it could be what kind of information is necessary on a good freight bill of lading. Regardless of how good you are at LTL freight shipping, there’s always a bit more to know. This doesn’t even include the constantly shifting structures of the freight carriers themselves, and how they’re going to handle particular shipping circumstances. With that in mind, we decided to create a quick and helpful “additional services” cheat sheet for LTL shipping. It acts as a simple reference tool to keep your “hot” shipments and your “guaranteed” shipments separate and understood. Remember, these are just simple reference points. For more information on LTL shipping, be sure to contact your FreightPros account manager.
Blind Shipment Fee
- The consignee thinks this is picking up at a different location than it actually is. The BOL will show a different address than the actual pick up location.
- Select this service, and notify your account manager of the blind shipment.
- These need to be scheduled at least one day in advance of the pick up because additional paperwork is required to be filed with the carrier. Your account manager will take care of that additional paperwork.
Guaranteed Standard Delivery Service (GSS)
- Freight is guaranteed for delivery by 5pm on given date.
- No additional services can be added to BOL when a GSS shipment is created.
- If using this service and the shipment is moving with SAIA or CENF, please include in the Special Instructions “Guaranteed Delivery by 5pm on DATE (mm/dd)” or else the carrier will not honor the service.
Guaranteed Noon Delivery Service (GSS12)
- Freight is guaranteed for delivery by 12pm on given date.
- No additional services can be added to BOL when a GSS shipment is created.
- If using this service and the shipment is moving with SAIA or CENF, please include in the Special Instructions “Guaranteed Delivery by 12pm on DATE (mm/dd)” or else the carrier will not honor the service.
Notify Consignee
- Once the freight has arrived to the destination terminal, the carrier will call the consignee to set up a delivery appointment, usually for the following day.
- If they cannot get a hold of the consignee, this may cause delays. They will leave voicemails for the consignee if possible and will not deliver until the appointment date has been confirmed with the consignee. Storage may start if it is not delivered within a few days.
- It is important to have a reliable consignee contact name and phone number on the BOL.
- Do not use the“Delivery Appointment” service for this because some carriers charge more for that service.
Destination Lift Gate
- A lift gate will be required at the time of delivery. Confirm with consignee before scheduling that they do not need a lift gate.
- Almost every residential delivery will need this.
Limited Access Delivery
- The delivering location is hard to reach by carriers because of its accessibility or area.
- Examples of this are construction sites, schools, farms, storage units, universities, narrow city areas (like New York City), etc. Check out our white paper for more information.
- Do not choose the “Restricted Access” service for locations like these.
Residential Delivery
- Freight is going to a residential location.
- The “Notify Consignee” service is not necessary on residential deliveries because customer will be notified ahead of time to make sure they are home.
- Consignee will always be notified before delivery because carrier will want to make sure someone is home. Delivery windows vary depending on carrier and driver route.
- If a business is operated outside of a home, it will still be considered a residential delivery.
Trade Show Delivery
- Freight is delivering to a trade show. Whether it is a convention center or tradeshow warehouse, this must be selected.
- Trade show deliveries take time and are often complicated, so setting up these shipments as far ahead as possible is good. We have some freight papers on trade show shipping.
- All freight going to a trade show will be class 125, no matter what.
