What Is Freight Shipping?
Sometimes you need to move something big, heavy, or more than one item, and freight shipping is often the best shipping method to do so. Also known as freight forwarding, items are generally put on pallets or in crates and can be moved by a number of different transportation methods during their journey through land, sea, or air.
There are a number of freight shipping companies and freight transportation services however and often this can make it difficult to compare each one and work out which is best for you.
Professional Shippers can send custom cheap freight shipping quotes for your job, often up to 75% cheaper than standard rates, but first, you will need to gather some basic information on your delivery and what freight transportation service you require to get the most accurate pricing.
Types Of Freight Shipping Services
There are two common methods of freight shipping that you will need to decide between, but the first thing you need to work out is whether your goods will go on a pallet or not. If your items are loose and do not need to be secured to a pallet then you should put them in a container like a crate, whereas if they do need to stay secured together then they would go on a pallet.
Often freight shipping companies will put your non-palletized items on a pallet anyway as it is easier for them to move about, but this is something you can discuss with a shipping company when you have collected some freight shipping quotes.
As mentioned before, the two most common types of freight shipping services are:
Less-than-load (LTL) Freight Shipping - This means that you do not require an entire vehicle to hold your items, just some space within one. Typically these types of freight shipping quotes will be a lot cheaper as they do not require a company to ‘make’ a journey for you, they would be making it anyway. You can read more about LTL freight shipping here.
Truckload Freight Shipping - This type of freight shipping service is required when you have a lot of items that need moving and will require a full vehicle to do so. This will generally be more expensive as it requires a freight shipping company to make a journey just for you. You can read more about truckload freight shipping here.
How Much Does It Cost To Ship Freight?
It is almost impossible to give an accurate quote for your freight shipment due to the details required to do so, but you can look at the following factors to determine what you require and it will give you some idea of whether you can expect your shipment to be expensive or not. Of course, one great way to get accurate pricing is to list the item on our site and receive custom quotes from freight forwarders. Some of the most important factors that will affect pricing are:
Distance - How far your freight shipment needs to travel will affect the price. If you need to make international shipments then this will inevitably be more costly, whereas interstate fright will come out cheaper.
International Freight Shipping - In line with distance, any international freight will likely cost significantly more than domestic shipments. This is due to the increased logistics involved in international freight shipping, from getting the items to and from the port or airport to loading and unloading them from the overseas transport method. International freight will also require more paperwork than a domestic delivery.
Timings - How quickly you need your freight items delivered will also affect the price. The more lenient you can be with timings, the cheaper your quote will be, whereas rushed shipments will usually incur extra charges.
Pallet Dimensions - As stated above, the size and weight of what you need delivering will have consequences on the price, with full truckload shipments costing significantly more than partial loads.
Locations Of Pickup And Delivery - If the pickup location is remote then the freight shipping company you select will have to travel a fair distance to get your item. The closer the pickup spot is to the freight shipper the less they have to travel to get it, which will be reflected in their quote.
Time Of Year - Unfortunately weather can also play a part in land, sea, and air travel. Adverse weather conditions such as ice, snow, and wind can block off certain routes and make travel times slower which can, in turn, drive up or lower the price.