FTL and LTL—Which Road Freight Should You Choose?

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FTL and LTLWhich Road Freight Should You
Choose?
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Freight transport comes in three categoriesair,
land, and sea. The most popular and sought-after
choice for logistics is road transport. Thanks
to the level of convenience and flexibility it
offers. There is no denying that a vast majority
of businesses and individuals choose road
freight to ensure quick and smooth
transportation. What Exactly is Road
Freight? Commonly known as road haulage, road
freight stands for cargo transportation through
roadways. Being one of the most commonly used
forms of transport in the world, road freight has
become peoples favorite choice for all types of
logistics transportation. Road freight could be
used alone or in conjunction with sea freight in
order to enable door-to-door delivery services
whenever required. In this post, we will discuss
the two most popular types of road freight
servicesLTL and FTL. Lets take a look LTL and
FTL Road Freight LTL stands for the Less Than
Truckload freight. Its for businesses that need
small-sized cargo to be transported to the target
destination. LTL is basically for those who
dont have enough cargo to fill the loaded
truck. If you choose the LTL, you have to share
the space in the loading truck as well as the
transport cost with other companies. It happens
to be the most cost-effective method of
transportation since you get to share the cost of
transportation with other businesses. At the
same time, it takes a lot of time to deliver the
cargo through this method. The delivery takes
longer than usual because the truck takes
several stops on the way, and the packing and
re-packing of the cargo could be really
time-consuming.
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FTL stands for the Full Truck Load Freight. As
the name suggests, this method of transportation
is for large businesses that have a large-sized
shipment. If your shipment is heavy and big
enough to fill the entire truck, you should
consider opting for FTL. The method is mostly
preferred for delicate goods. Even if the cargo
size is not big enough to load the entire truck,
people might consider FTL. It is also a great
option for companies that need to deliver the
cargo within a specific time limit. Choose
Between FTL and LTL There are quite a few factors
you must consider before choosing between FTL
and LTL. Size of the Shipment For small cargo
delivery, LTL looks like the best and most
viable option. This method works for all types of
small shipments so long as they dont fall in
the high-risk category. Budget There is no point
in hiring a huge truck when you have to
transport small freight. The rest of the truck
will be empty, but you will end up paying the
full cost of transportation. However, if you
have large-sized cargo, you can consider FTL. It
is the most cost- effective option for
budget-conscious buyers. Time It goes without
saying that LTL is a more time-consuming process
than FTL. Since the truck is loaded with a cargo
of different sizes and types, it might take
frequent stops. This makes the delivery a little
complex. The vehicle stops at several points
since the cargo has to be delivered to different
destinations. You dont have to worry about this
problem with FTL. It involves one origin and
only a single target destination, making the
delivery faster and most cost-effective.
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Shipment Type Although the size of the shipment
is an important factor when it comes to choosing
an appropriate mode of transportation, it is
definitely not the only thing to consider when
transporting goods from one place to another.
There are certain types of goods that cant be
transported with other goods. Put it this way,
some dangerous, high-risk goods cannot share
space with other items in the truck, which is
why they need to be transported separately.
Lets say a company is transporting hazardous
chemicals from one point to another. These
chemicals cant be shipped with other
regular-use goods. Thats where FTL seems the
most reliable option for transportation. Although
there are many methods of transportation to
choose from, the most flexible and viable one is
road freight. It comes with its set of unique
advantages.