Freight is a term applied to describe the transit of trade goods and is ordinarily a commercial process. Items are usually put into various shipment classes before they are shipped out.
This is dependent on many factors:
- The nature of the item being sent, i.e. a kettle may be put into the listing 'household goods'.
- How large the cargo is, both in terms of item sizing and number.
- How long the item for sending will be in transit.
- Goods are sometimes put into catagories as household goods, express, parcel, and freight Consignments.
Furniture, artistic creations, or like Shipments are usually separated as household goods.
Very small business or personal items like envelopes are regarded as overnight express or express letter goods. These shipments are not usually over a few pounds, and virtually always travel in the carriers own packaging. Service levels are variable, depending on the shippers choice. Express loadings virtually always travel some distance by air travel. An envelope could go coast to coast overnight or it may take many days, based on the service options and prices paid.
Bigger things like small boxes are viewed as parcel or ground goods. These shipments are not usually over 100 pounds, with no single piece of the payload weighing more than approximately 70 pounds. Shipments are always packaged, occasionally in the shippers packaging and every now and again in carrier-provided packaging. Service levels are again varying; but the majority of ground cargos will move approximately 500-700 miles per day, going seacoast to sea-coast in just about four days depending on origin. Parcel items not usually travel by air, and generally move thru road and rail. Parcels make up the majority of business-to-consumer (B2C) dispatches.
Other than HHG, express, and parcel loads, movements are referred to as freight shipments.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight:
The first listing of freight load is less than truckload (LTL). LTL carriers trailers are typically 28' long and complete utilization of a 28' pup is considered capacity. Air cargo or air freight shipments are very similar to LTL shipments in terms of size and packaging requirements.
Truckload (TL) freight:
In the United States of America loads greater than about 15,000 pounds are sometimes sorted as truckload (TL) in that it is most economical to only use a truck rather than share it in an LTL environment.
A load is limited to the space available in the trailer -- nominally 48' or 53 long and about 100 inches wide and 106 inches high. Under the current U.S. truck pricing model, adding more to a load costs nothing more.
Programs for increasing load size include: reducing truck equipment weights for example, by "light weighting" the equipment. This may involve extensive use of lighter- weight materials such as aluminum. When sending cargo, it is highly crucial to realize the facts about pricing, claims, and insurance.
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How freight pricing works:
More dense items such as steel and machinery have low classifications such as Class 50 thru 85. Fragile or bulky items fall into freight classes 125 to 500, and pay higher shipment costs.
Truckload (TL) carriers usually charge a rate per mile. The rate varies depending on the distance, geographic location of the delivery, items being shipped, equipment type required, and service times required. TL shipments usually receive a variety of surcharges very similar to those described for LTL shipments above. In the TL market, there are thousands more small carriers than in the LTL market; so the use of transportation intermediaries or brokers is extremely common.
Cargo insurance:
Whether a shipper deals directly with a carrier or uses an intermediary, the amount of cargo insurance coverage the carrier will be providing on the shipment must cover the cargo value. Shippers do not assume that full-coverage insurance is provided, as it almost never is. Shippers typically ask the carrier or intemediary about the procedure in place regarding freight loss or damage claims. Responsible carriers and intermediaries will always have additional insurance available for purchase and will have fast and easy ways to manage claims.
Freight packaging:
All shipments should be palletized and wrapped in plastic to protect from damage. Most shipments should be fully crated in order to ensure a damage-free delivery. A good rule is to ask the carrier or intermediary for the specific packaging requirements for each shipment then exceed those requirements. Also, since shipments may be reloaded several times, it is important that the packaging has all the shipper and consignee info clearly noted on at least two sides of the shipment. Filing claims with freight companies is a cumbersome and time consuming process, so shippers should take extra care in packaging to avoid freight claims.
Freight shipping summary:
Railcars could ship any bulk cargo to numerous locations. Shippers typically first ensure that they are using the most beneficial type of carrier for their particular type of consignment: using an LTL carrier for an LTL item, for example. While parcel carriers will accept LTL despatches, and LTL carriers will accept TL loadings, shippers will occasionally have lower quality service at higher rates when carriers service freight that is "non-standard" for their particular company.
when the shipper has chosen the correct form of carrier, the shipper then shops several carriers in order to locate the most beneficial service and price for their shipment. Shippers search out all-inclusive quotes that include all surcharges and accessorial expences.
after the shipper has chosen the mode and carrier and is organized to ship, they generally over-package their freight item and verify insurance coverage, to ward off damage & claims.
Inexperienced shippers sometimes use the services of a freight intermediary or adviser to help them find the correct carrier, service, and price for their loadings.
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