2014 is promising to be a better and exciting year for new and existing businesses. For existing businesses this means that the rate their truckload and LTL rate quote needs will increase exponentially. For medium and large businesses truckload and LTL shipping is nothing new but for new business owners they will find that they will require freight shipping services and by far LTL will be the most common type of shipping that new small businesses will be making.
LTL is an abbreviation for less than truckload. There really is no set weight or linear feet that define an LTL shipment but as a good rule; LTL shipments that are shipped on common carriers should be kept under 12 linear feet or 10000 pounds. LTL shipments that are larger than these standards are sometimes better off being shipped using volume spot quotes; but a customer must be careful with volume quotes as they carry caveats that many times offer money saving advantages at the cost of less liability responsibility of the carrier. A good way to get around this is by using owner operators that can handle the same shipment for less money than traditional common carriers and typically carry $100,000 in cargo insurance. No matter the method using a professional knowledgeable freight shipping professional can be the key to your shipping success.
As 2014 gets started, freight shipping customers doing a quick search will find a vast amount of freight service providers online to choose from. New and established businesses would benefit from doing a little leg work and researching who they hire to handle their freight shipping needs. With the new provisions that went into effect on December 1st 2013; the MAP-21 states that a freight broker must have a $75,000 freight brokers bond on file. It is the customers right and also advisable for a customer to request a certificate from their freight service provider. If they are unable or not willing to provide a certificate it is probably best to take your business elsewhere.
