Freight is a word required to describe the transport of items and is typically a commercial activity. Items are more often than not set into various shipment categories before they are shipped out.
This is dependent on several factors:
- The nature of the item being channelled, i.e. a kettle could easily be put into the list 'household goods'.
- How large the item is, both in terms of item sizing and quantity.
- How long the item for sending will be in transit.
- Cargos are sometimes branded as household goods, express, parcel, and freight Cargos.
Furniture, fine art, or similar Cargo are always sorted as household goods.
Very small business or personal items like envelopes are counted as overnight express or express letter goods. These shipments are not usually over a few pounds, and almost always travel in the carriers own packaging. Service levels are variable, depending on the shippers choice. Express items just about always move some portion of the way by air travel. An envelope will go coast to coast overnight or it could take numerous days, depending on the service options and prices paid.
Bigger shipments like small boxes are counted as parcel or ground loadings. These goods are rarely over 100 pounds, with no single piece of the load weighing more than more or less 70 pounds. Shipments are always packaged, occasionally in the shippers packaging and typically in carrier-provided packaging. Service grades are again varying; but just about all ground dispatches will move close to 500-700 miles per day, going coast to seashore in about four days depending on origin. Parcel despatches rarely journey by air, and ordinarily move thru road and rail. Parcels comprise the absolute majority of business-to-consumer (B2C) payloads.
Aside from HHG, express, and parcel loadings, movements are described as freight shipments.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight:
The first category of freight consignment is less than truckload (LTL). LTL carriers trailers are typically 28' long and complete utilization of a 28' pup is considered capacity. Unlike express or parcel, LTL shippers must provide their own packaging, as LTL carriers do not provide any packaging supplies or assistance.
Truckload (TL) freight:
In the United States of America items heavier than around 15,000 pounds are normally classified as truckload (TL) in that it is most frugal 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.
Schemes for increasing load size include: consolidating orders onto the truck using a Transportation management system. Here the "optimal combination of orders and stops can be used to fill out the truck. When transporting freight, it is highly important to understand pricing, claims, and insurance.
More about rail freight
How freight pricing works:
Appointments or notification before pickup or delivery: by default, carriers make pickups and deliveries in order arranged by geographic location (a route). If a shipment requires the carrier to call ahead, or schedule and appointment, the carrier will charge an additional fee for this service.
Inside pickup or delivery: requiring the truck driver to pickup or deliver inside a building a route takes longer to complete. The carrier will charge an additional fee for this service. Also, charges for additional insurance or literally hundreds of other possibilities may be added to the final freight bill. It is extremely important that the LTL shipper works with the carrier or intermediary to completely understand all of the requirements of a shipment in order for an accurate price to be quoted.
Cargo insurance:
About 10% of all freight shipments will experience some significant loss or damage. It is a common misconception that a freight rate includes full coverage insurance, when in fact a base freight rate typically includes only a bare minimum of cargo insurance. A shipper should always ask their carrier or intermediary what the insurance coverage is for every specific shipment. LTL shipments will often be insured for less than 25 cents per pound, and TL shipments will often be insured for only slightly more than LTL shipments. Most TL carriers have maximum cargo insurance of $100,000 for the entire load; but for a 40,000 load, thats only about $2.50 per pound.
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 commodities to many locations. Shippers ordinarily first check that they are using the most beneficial type of carrier for their specific type of article: using an LTL carrier for an LTL shipment, for example. While parcel carriers will accept LTL goods, and LTL carriers will accept TL shipments, shippers will often have lower quality service at higher rates when carriers service payloads that is "non-standard" for their particular company.
assuming the shipper has chosen the correct kind of carrier, the shipper then shops several carriers in order to find the most beneficial service and price for their article. Shippers search out all-inclusive quotations that include all surcharges and accessorial expences.
after the shipper has chosen the mode and carrier and is geared up to ship, they often over-package their freight cargo and verify insurance policy coverage, to avoid damage & claims.
Inexperienced shippers ofttimes use the services of a freight intermediary or advisor to help them find the right carrier, service, and price for their loadings.
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