Mastering LTL Shipping: Strategies to Become the Carrier’s Top Choice

Analyst Insight: In an environment with increasing supply chain complexity, fluctuating capacity, and consistent technological advancement, shippers that stand out as a “shipper of choice” for carriers are most effectively able to drive lower costs and more productive provider relationships. To stand out from the crowd and become a shipper of choice, shippers will need to focus on designing packaging that eases the movement of freight, providing clean, clear and crisp data, and developing relationship governance. 

The natural ebb and flow of economic cycles reminds us to be prepared. The market will change again, and our behaviors today will dictate how we are seen and treated next time. For LTL transportation, becoming a “shipper of choice” is a great way to be prepared for any changes ahead. One way to achieve that status is to focus on packaging designed to ease the movement of freight, providing clean, clear and crisp data, and managing the relationship. 

Packaging designed to ease the movement of freight. Carriers ideally covet cubed, palletized freight packaged in a manner that makes it least susceptible to damage. LTL by nature is a high-touch mode of transportation and you can help facilitate more efficient transfer of your freight by ensuring it is packaged in a carrier-friendly manner. This not only ensures that you encounter fewer incidents of damage, and fewer re-classifications; it also drives cost out of the carrier network. This in turn will often be reflected in the pricing agreement. Carriers will reward those shippers that keep LTL transportation in mind during the packaging design process. 

Clean, clear and crisp data. The more a shipper can do to remove uncertainty for a carrier, the better. With the technology available, there is no excuse not to have clean, clear and crisp data readily available to provide the carrier with accurate documentation. Ensuring addresses, classes, dimensions and weights are accurate at time of pickup is critical for controlling your LTL spend. Each time your data is cloudy, dirty, murky or dated, it creates an additional cost that is passed back to you, or creates opportunities for late deliveries, mis-routing or lost freight, which leads to unhappy outcomes for everyone.

Relationship governance. Consistent feedback between shipper and carrier is critical when it comes to managing expectations, wants, needs and evaluating overall performance from both sides. This could come in the form of quarterly business reviews, carrier scorecards, or predefined communications around specific instances that may arise. Communicating up-front if you have classification changes, product moving to a new facility, or are introducing a new product or business can help eliminate confusion, uncertainty, and head off any potential issues. Being up-front about your needs and expectations helps confirm that a specific carrier is right for you. If being on time is critical to your business needs, make sure the carrier you are looking at has the time-frames published for those lanes.

Outlook: The LTL market continues to consolidate, and capacity will fluctuate. It is how you set yourself apart from other shippers that will make the most difference. Start by being proactive with your packaging during the product design process, understanding routes and locations of your customers, and building the relationship with your carriers’ regardless of transportation mode.