6 Benefits to Use Flat Rate LTL Shipping 2022

Flat rate LTL shipping is no less than a wonder within the domain of transporting and shipping. Offering you the fastest and most cost-effective services, this shipping method brings ease to your life. But before going to discuss further things, let us know about yourself.

• Are you a newly-established business owner looking for a reliable and budget-friendly shipping service for your orders?
• Are you considering a flat rate LTL shipping company for your orders but are not aware of how it works?
• Do you want to know whether flat rate shipping is a good choice for your company?
• Or you might be planning to establish a shipping company with a flat rate LTL policy.

Whatever your planning is, Flat rate LTL shipping is a good choice for either a newly established or a fully-developed business. And we are here to discuss the basic concept and details of this specialized shipping procedure that benefits both the companies and the customers. So, ensure that you read the details of flat-rate LTL shipping here until the last.

Before moving further to understand the working of this shipment, let's look at the basic concept of flat rate LTL shipping. So, let's get started!

What Is Flat Rate LTL Shipping? The Basic Understanding

We all have experienced product deliveries through online shopping or sending orders to your customers worldwide. But those shipments used to charge according to the number of products or orders, sizes, and weight we transported.

Now, flat rate LTL shipping has put a full stop to those high shipping charges and made the process simple and, most importantly, budget-friendly.

Flat Rate LTL shipping refers to the special type of shipment that depends upon the size of the container in which your products fit, regardless of its weight or number of products, as long as the products fit in the container and are weighting up to or under the standard weight.

In simple words, in the flat rate LTL shipping system, you pay for the boxes containing your heavy or light, multiple or single products, until it is under the standard weight. It is a great way of saving finances in shipping huge orders internationally or in eCommerce businesses.

How Does Flat Rate LTL Shipping Work?

The process of flat-rate LTL might be a little complex compared with the normal shipment procedures. But, its money-saving outcomes deserve this.

The LTL carriers mostly have their packed routes and days. Working with the shipping companies, LTL drivers have heavy trucks and trailers with shipping cubes and containers to carry out the shipments.

So, suppose your single or multiple products, whatever their total weight, fit in a box with standard sizes and dimensions unless it does not exceed their standard weight measurement. In that case, the drivers with fixed routes and timings will deliver your order for a lot fewer charges than the traditional shipping processes. That's it.

Why Choose Flat Rate LTL Shipping Rather Than Other Methods

The shipping logistics are evolving with every passing second. And every shipping country is working for one shared goal; to make the processes simple, quick, and effortless for the users and make them profitable for their businesses.

And in this race, where 80% of the shipments are taking place through maritime shipments and airway cargo is more costly than other delivery processes, making your tools, technologies, and strategies up-to-date is critical.

Whereas flat rate LTL shipping makes the delivery procedures hassle-free and quick. Let's have a look at the basic benefits you can expect from it:

1. Cost-effective Compared to Other Shipping Methods

As the rates, routes, and weight are fixed, the process of flat-rate LTL shipping is much less expensive than the traditional ways of delivery. However, low prices are not always a show of reliable and fast services, as for flat rate LTL transportation.

Not only this, but it is also a great solution to continuously changing quotes. As long as your products weigh in the standard weight measures and you are not changing your drop-off location, the quotation will remain the same because of the LTL system.

2. Fast Delivery System

Shipment through LTL carriers is faster and more reliable than other shipping methods because these transporting methods require a full truckload to start their shipping journey. However, the complete truckload is not an exception in fast rate LTL shipping.

Furthermore, LTL carriers have few stops in their journey to ensure the safety and weight of the product. And as the containers and cubes are not full, they easily get their safety check done and resume their journey from the check posts.

3. Work Regardless Of The Type Of Products

You can get all kinds of your orders shipped with LTL shipping. Even if you have a single product or multiple small products that weights some kilograms, you can get it delivered to your customers all around the globe with inexpensive, fast, rate LTL shipping.

However, these shipments depend upon fewer factors, which will be discussed in the article later, but the size and category of the order are not an option.

4. Secure Delivery Of The Products

You might be thinking that in all kinds of shipments, the protection and security of products, making them reach their destinations in their original state, is critical, so whats' so special about the LTL shipment?

So, with the fast rate of LTL shipping, the products are securely protected with extra tools and equipment. Compared with the FTL deliveries, the ratio of product damage is way lesser in LTL deliveries.

5. Free Product Insurance Policy

Unlike other shipping processes in which you have to purchase the product insurance policies after delivery, most of the transporting companies offering flat rate LTL shipments offer around 50% or less insurance policy of the product without paying a single penny.

At the time of shipment documentation with the transporting company, you can get the insurance policy paper from the company office.

6. Tracking Of Orders Becomes Simple

In this era of rapid digitalization, shipment tracking has become effortless with the latest tools and technologies. As most LTL deliveries are carried by the trucks and trailers, you can easily track their pickup time, live location, drop-off time, and order details.

You can contact the company's customer support if you have any queries regarding your order deliveries, routes, or drop-off details.

Why do LTL Carriers Cost Less Than Other Shipment Methods?

Fast rate LTL shipping is a perfect way to get your less-weighting or single products delivered to other locations at the lowest cost and as fast as possible. Not every business can afford the costly and time-taking maritime, air Bourne or rail shipment.

Now you might be wondering why flat rate LTL shipping is charging so less, right? Well, the only difference is the minor weighting of products.

However, let's discuss various factors on which this specialized mode of the shipment depends.

Distance Between Pick Up And Delivery Location

The main factor your flat rate LTL shipping cost depends on is the distance between the pickup and delivery destination. The charges for the nearer drop-off location are less than the distant locations.

In addition, there is a chance that the company you choose doesn't have a direct LTL route to your delivery location, so your order has to be handed over to another shipping trailer in between the journey. This exchange of your order can result in additional prices in the shipping costs.

Classification Of The Delivering Products

The National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) has made a standard freight transportation chart, and the pricing of the deliveries depends upon the classes in which your order type falls.

This standard chart has 18 classes, ranging from 50 to 500. These classes are made based on the product's value, stability, handling, and density.

Lower classes mean products that are simple, easy to handle, and less vulnerable to damage, while high classes products are totally opposite. The lower the class of the products, the less its delivery will charge.

Minimum Pricing Of The LTL Shipping Companies

Flat rate LTL shipping is a highly flexible and simple way of shipping your orders from city to city and country to country. It doesn't involve any complex quotes, strategies, technologies, tools, or documentation like other traditional shipping procedures, and you can also transport products of any size or weight.

But, the problem occurs when it comes to the minimum shipping charges of the LTL companies. Even if you want to transport a small, single, less-weighing product that is right according to the standards of LTL shipments, the price can't go less than the minimum charges of LTL companies.

Permitted Time For The Delivery

Time is a big factor that can increase the flat rate of LTL shipping. Normally, the details of the time taken for the delivery are discussed with the routes and freight transporting details.

But if you want to get your order delivered urgently or have a tight deadline, the charges may multiply. For example, same-day or overnight shipment can cost double the normal LTL shipping rates.

Additional Services And Their Charges

There are hundreds of additional services that vary depending upon the type and nature of the product. For example, if you are shipping medicines that are temperature-sensitive products and require temperature-controlled shipping cubes or containers. Similarly, if you deliver furniture, you might need services for its disassembling and assembling.

Again, if you are shipping a product with a high chance of damage, even with a small mishandling, additional protection will be charged on your shipping bill. These special additional services require extra pay for shipment.

Is Choosing Flat Rate LTL Shipping A Good Option; Yes or No?

After all the above discussion, a question may arise flat price LTL shipping a good option or not? So, keep reading because we are just about to address your query!

LTL carriers are a good option if you want to save your money and time as their transportation is way more budget-friendly than other shipping processes. Choosing flat rate LTL shipping is a good option for the following scenarios:

1. If You Have A Tight Deadline
   Flat rate LTL shipping is a perfect solution if you have short deadlines for delivering your products. You can also get special delivery services like overnight transport, same-day delivery, or an in-house drop-off option in LTL shipping. It might cost additional charges, but at least you can get your tasks done urgently.
2. If You Have Less Weighing Products
   Let's suppose you have an order from a client out of your city, and you have to deliver it while keeping your pockets warm. In such cases, getting the FTL services will require emptying your wallet. Therefore, LTL carriers can get your work done for lesser money. No need to buy a whole shipping cube for your order; just pay for the place your parcel takes and get it delivered safely and timely.
3. If Your Company Follows The Same Delivering Patterns
   If you have an eCommerce company that delivers online products or a company that has to ship the minor or non-weighing orders compared with other types of cargo-delivering products. In that case, LTL shipping is a workable option.

Transporting small parcels into the same cities or drop-off locations can work effectively with flat rate LTL shipping.

Flat Rate LTL Shipping -An Environment-Friendly FTL Option!

Flat rate LTL shipping is an environment-friendly method of transporting your small parcels to other cities and neighboring countries. As it doesn't require purchasing complete shipping cubes and containers and can transport multiple orders simultaneously, it saves the fuel, time, and pollution caused by the heavy trailers and trucks.

In addition, it is not that affected by the climatic conditions and extreme weather compared with other shipment processes. As the multiple products are getting delivered at a time, you don't have to worry about the climate and delays of deliveries just because you had to rent a whole shipping cube and hire a driver for your company's order only.

The Final Verdict

Transporting your parcels to the customers in neighboring cities has never been as pocket-friendly and easy as flat rate LTL shipping. Regardless of the weight of the order, unless it is under the maximum weighting limit, flat rate LTL shipping provides you with all the additional services at lower costs than the Full Truck Load shipment.