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“Partialling” Full Truckload Shipments

partialling full truckload
cc image courtesy Michael McCullough via Flickr
 

Many of the full truckload shipments that make it over to my team are from customers that normally ship LTL, but for whatever reason they have a sporadic shipment that cannot move via LTL. What if your shipment exceeds the size allotment to ship LTL, or even a volume quote?

What if you have a large piece of equipment that needs to be loaded onto a flatbed with a crane? That’s when our truckload team might look into partialling your shipment.

Our job at FreightPros is always to help our customers find the most cost efficient ways to move every shipment, even if it is too large to ship LTL. If you typically ship LTL, you might be surprised how much a dedicated truck could cost compared to the rates you’ve been paying for LTL.

You might find yourself looking for an “in the middle” option, and this is when shipping as a partial truckload might be your best option.

Partialling a truckload shipment is basically a carpool for your larger freight. This is similar in practice to less-than-truckload shipping. Our truckload team will contact our partner carriers that are looking to head the same direction as your shipment, to see if they have any room on their trailer for your freight to ride along with another partial load.

This can be a much more cost efficient option for you, as we are offered discounted rates for taking up less trailer space, and helping carriers fill up their trucks.

While partialling a shipment may sound like a cheap/great option for all freight less than a full truck, there are a few catches.

Time Sensitivity – Adding extra pick-ups and stops adds to transit times. Much like LTL, the carrier determines the route the freight takes, so if your shipment is at all time sensitive, it is worth paying for a full dedicated trailer to deliver uninterrupted. Expedited shipping this is not.

Size of Shipment – Typically, if your shipment is going to take up more than half of a trailer, partialling your shipment will not work. To make your shipment a good fitting puzzle piece to other freight on board, there needs to be enough extra room for other freight to fit!

Where your Shipment is Picking Up and Delivering – In order for a shipment to be a good candidate for partialling, it also needs to be along a desirable lane for our carriers. If it is picking up or delivering in the middle of nowhere or a more remote area that is not along a desirable route, chances are it won’t work out.

We are always happy to look into partialling options for your shipment, and will be able to easily tell you if your shipment will be a good candidate or not. Exact dimensions are critical to finding a partial option, so please have these available when looking into partialling your shipment.

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