LTL Freight News

There’s no doubt the ruse of free freight can be very attractive to buyers. Many companies insist on free freight being included in their purchasing agreements and negotiations and will also make large purchases from vendors to qualify for it. There is no such thing as free shipping. Freight is never free. Someone has to pay for it.  When sourcing products, having free freight included in the purchasing agreement may feel like a win, but you are paying for the freight cost somewhere else in the cost of the product. Free freight is often used as a psychological selling tool, with the actual freight cost simply factored into the price of the goods you ordered. Some vendors will use this to their advantage and solicit business with the lure of free freight on qualifying bulk orders knowing that companies will place larger than normal orders simply to qualify for it. The problem with placing orders big enough to qualify for free freight is that, in some cases, it requires a company to ...

Broker model 3PLs buy freight from the carriers and put a markup or margin on it and resell it to the shipper at a higher rate. This is how they make their money, and their margins can be adjusted on virtually every shipment as they fit. With the 3PL broker model shippers are normally unable to go directly to carriers for copies of the actual freight bills, and in some cases they are unable to obtain rates directly from the carriers. Since the 3PL broker is actually the one “buying” the freight from the carrier, they invoice the freight to a shipper on their own freight bill instead of one from the carrier. Otherwise, if shippers had direct access to the carrier freight bills then the shippers would be able to see how much the freight actually cost versus what the 3PL was "re-selling" it for.   As a part of their proposed value to shippers, many broker model 3PLs will tout that they file claims for their customers. They portray filing claims as their willingness to go th...

It is important to keep in mind that each claim is different and involves different circumstances, so not all of the below information will apply for every claim. Typically, the payer of the freight can only be reimbursed for the freight charges, so they are usually the ones to file a claim. Anyone can file a claim, however, but this is usually the simplest way to do it. If the item was noted as damaged and refused, someone will first need to take possession of the freight. The carrier will typically only store the refused items for 15 days at the terminal until they begin to charge storage fees. If warranted, it is typically during this time that the carrier will have an inspection done by an independent third party. This third party, or inspector, will mainly be looking for the extent of the damage, what type of damage, and as to why/how it occurred (i.e. was packaging sufficient). After it is completed, someone qualified to make an assessment will need to do so in order to estim...

It’s A Carrier’s Marketplace  The Freight-rate Climate Is The Best It’s Been In About 20 Years  Shippers Should Expect Rate Increases Up To 10%  Carriers Purging The Poorest Paying Routes In Favor Of More Lucrative Business  Higher Than 10% Rate Increases  Driver Shortage & Government Regulations Are #1 Concerns For Carriers  The Situation Is Likely To Deteriorate Further  More Government Safety Regulations Working Through The Federal Regulatory Pipeline LTL In The Middle Of The Best Market Conditions Since 2005  2013 Weighted Avg. OR Of Public LTL Carriers was 92.9 – The Best LTL OR Since 2007 Carrier, 3PL & Shipper COLLABORATION IS A MUST To Drive Efficiencies 3PLs Will Become An Extension Of The Ltl Carrier’s Sales Channels  Carriers Will Not Tolerate Bad 3PL Relationships  3PLs Must Bring Good, Profitable Business To Carriers To Be Partners  The Best 3PLs Will Get The Best Pricing  Barriers To Entry ...

According to the American Association of Railroads, the intermodal volume increased 5.9% year-to-date for all of North America to 10.3 million trailers and containers through the week of August 9th. T he Georgia Ports Authority reported that the container volume at the Port of Savannah reached a record level in July. "Container trade increased to 293,889 20-foot equivalent units at the port, surpassing the record set in May by almost 3,500 units."  The Georgia Ports Authority stated that this was a 19.2% increase year-over-year.  The GPA Executive Director said in a statement: “Improved confidence among U.S. retailers, newly added port customers and shifting cargo from U.S. West to East Coast are all fueling the growing cargo volumes at Georgia’s deep water ports.” Per the  Intermodal Association of North America in a report last week, the  Southeast came in with a 12.9% growth rate, but with just a little over 200,000 shipments it had the lowest total of overall...

The reasons for the driver shortage can be debated amongst several issues, but the bottom line is that freight companies have been turning down business because they already have enough problems dealing with the business they have. In an economy where supply (capacity) and demand (freight) aren't matching up something has to give. The trucking industry is at full capacity and there is excess demand for trucks and the movement of freight. The trucks are there in many instances, but there is not enough qualified drivers to operate the tractors. "The American Trucking Associations has estimated that there was a shortage of 30,000 qualified drivers earlier this year, a number on track to rise to 200,000 over the next decade. Trucking companies are turning down business for want of workers." This is quoted from an article in the New York Times on August 9th: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/upshot/the-trucking-industry-needs-more-drivers-it-should-try-paying-more.html Wit...