When you’ve up to thousands of pounds of palletized freight that needs shipping in a hurry, it’s understandable to think that prices can quickly ramp up. But there are ways to ensure that you’re only spending what you absolutely need to in order to get the job done right. Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the variables that one should consider as a part of their freight budget planning:

• Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) versus Truck Load (TL)
• Your Choice of Courier Service (National Chains versus Regional Couriers)
• Freight Scheduling
• Proper Packaging
• Review Your Shipping Inventory
• Assess Extra Charges

Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) versus Truck Load (TL)

Choosing the right type of freight shipping can affect your costs greatly. On one hand, you might get a discount for LTL shipping because your cargo will be sharing space with other freight from other companies. However, keep in mind that it also means your packages will all be exposed to the cargo of others, which means a greater risk of accidental damage. If you want to ensure the security of your packages and give your packages more personal attention, opt for Truckload (TL) shipping then. Use this information to help determine where you want your shipping budget to go!

Learn more about LTL vs Truck Load (TL) Shipments

Your Choice of Courier Service

It’s easy to think that picking a popular national carrier would be the best choice, but your situation will greatly determine this particular decision. A national carrier may be popular, but the transit time of your deliveries can be greatly extended by the hub-and-spoke type of delivery network that these national carriers operate on. With your packages stopping at various distribution centers, potentially changing vehicles, and switching their driver numerous times, it can lead to an increased chance of your packages getting misdirected, damaged, or lost. With a regional courier service, you may enjoy a more personal touch to your shipping as they often involve a dedicated freight driver and vehicle, minimizing your packages getting moved from beginning to end, which means less risk of damage from moving packages around and significantly fewer stops along the way. A regional courier service can save you much time, which is ideal especially if you’re in a rush to get something delivered.

Freight Scheduling

If you know you’re going to be regularly shipping a great amount of freight and you’re going to likely need multiple trips, adjusting your freight scheduling to consolidate as much as possible can help drive your costs down. This also helps in the case that you have customers or clients that all reside in one particular area, or maybe you’re serving different tiers of customers who have different expectations in their shipping—communicate with your customers in each area or service tier, and consolidate your shipping accordingly to minimize extra trips for your freight shipping. All in all, this practice of streamlining will improve your budget by a nice margin.

Proper Packaging

Preparing for your freight shipments in advance with the right packaging can help reduce the likelihood of damage to your cargo. This in turn will help reduce the need for damage claims, extra shipments to replace damaged or lost goods, and the added cost of any production that might be involved.

Review Your Shipping Inventory

When you’re shipping your cargo, it always helps to double-check to make sure you’ve got your numbers right and that your regularly shipped items are still needed. Ask yourself:

• What is the current pricing for the goods being shipped? Have they dropped? You might be able to renegotiate your shipping costs.
• Are you shipping a discontinued item? You might be shipping an item that doesn’t need to be shipped any longer—which could be costing you extra dollars.
• Are there new developments in packaging that can save you money? Packaging that might keep your items safer, reducing damage claims? Packaging that’s more affordable but just as protective? Any of these can save you some money.

Assess Extra Charges

At some point, you might’ve thought it was a great idea to request lining the trailer with padding for your packages. But maybe you had upgraded your packaging to the point that the trailer padding has become unnecessary. Assessing your extra charges can save you a lot of money, especially if it’s no longer needed. Take a look at the big picture and see whether your freight delivery add-ons are still necessary or if you could be devoting that money elsewhere.

Optimize Your Freight and Budget with Reliable Couriers

With our same day freight delivery services and our bonded freight drivers, you can depend on Reliable Couriers to provide a speedy and safe transport for all your cargo, all the way up to 10,000 pounds! We’re fully equipped with a fleet of cargo vans, box trucks with lift gate, and freight trucks to ensure that whatever amount of freight you have, we’ll have the perfect vehicle to accommodate your packages, keeping them secure for the entire trip. Using cutting-edge GPS, our drivers will always find the most direct routes to your destinations, so that you’ll get the most out of your dollar when you ship with us.

We provide both regularly scheduled deliveries for your supply lines as well as rush freight courier services for when you need an emergency shipment made. Call us today at 888-415-1781 to learn more about our same day freight delivery and how we can be your all-in-one freight delivery solution!