Six Modes of Transportation

In this mode, you will find the brown box packages and letters. Typically, items moving through this mode are small, and not heavy. There are specifications to how big the item can be to go through this network. Common services providers are UPS, Fed Ex, USPS, and DHL.

Less-than-Truckload is abbreviated as LTL, which is most known in the transportation industry. LTL means that a shipment does not take up the full available capacity of a truck’s trailer. These shipments generally are up to 5 standard pallets, weigh no more than 20,000 pounds and take up less than 12 linear feet. All LTL carriers pricing and availability vary based on contracts.

LTL companies will make pick-ups at various shippers who all have shipments that do not take up the full capacity of a truck trailer. These pick-ups are performed by Pick-up and Delivery (P&D) drivers. Shipments will be transported back to origin terminals, consolidated onto full trailers, and moved to destination terminal, or, to one or series of hub / distribution facilities for redistribution. These trailers are moved by linehaul drivers. 

Linehaul shipments can be moved on single 48’-53’ trailers or on double or triple 28’ trailers (Also called pup trailers). Destination terminals will deliver the LTL shipments to individual consignees, via Pick-up and Deliver (P&D) drivers. 

Volume LTL shares all the characteristics, language, and accessorials as LTL and the service is performed by the same LTL carriers. Volume LTL rates are used when a shipment consists of more than 5 standard pallets (48” x 40”), weighs more than 5,000 lbs or occupies more than 12 feet of a trailer. Each carrier negotiates cubic-capacity limits on when standard LTL rates are invalid. Once limits have been met, standard LTL rates do not apply. Shipping a shipment via standard LTL that exceeds these limits results in a cubic capacity penalty which may greatly increase freight charges. Generally, cargo liability often changes for volume LTL shipment. Standard liability for a volume LTL shipment is $1.25 per pound.

Partial Truckloads are quite like Volume LTL in that it’s in the middle of LTL and Truckload shipments, but the difference is that the service comes from Truckload carriers instead of LTL carriers. These shipments are direct point shipments – meaning that terminal transit is not involved. A carrier will pick up multiple shipments in an area and then head off to the destination. This practice is most common in flatbed shipping but is also done with dry van equipment. Some disadvantages to this practice are that pickup and delivery may be delayed slightly than booking your own truck. 

Unlike LTL freight, the shipper purchases exclusive use of the truck and has access to the entire capacity of the trailer to load freight. Once the freight is loaded on the trailer at the origin, it is expected that the driver will drive directly to the destination and make the delivery - the freight will not be offloaded at the terminal. Some shippers will place a trailer seal on the door to ensure that the trailers are not opened while in transit. This practice is common in pharmaceutical, food-grade, or high-value shipments.

Larger trucking companies with hundreds or thousands of trucks on the road will, occasionally, have drivers switch trailers with other drivers to keep the trailers moving towards the destination.

Equipment types for truckload vary based off the cargo requirements. The main types of equipment are dry vans, flatbeds, and refrigerated. Speciality trailers include step-decks, low boy, conestoga trailers, and many more.

Expediting is a service that is utilized when standard LTL or truckload service is not fast enough to meet the customer’s required delivery date or time. Expedites are also an alternative when no other capacity can be found for truckload shipments that must ship on a specified date - this option should be used as a last resort as it’s expensive. 

The service is comprised of exclusive use vehicles of varying sizes that are dispatched to drive directly from the shipper’s dock to the consignee’s dock without making other stops or deliveries along the way - the vehicles can normally be scheduled to arrive at the shipper’s dock within hours after a phone call is placed. These vehicles are generally driven by a team of drivers so that delivery can be made as soon as possible after pick-up. Vehicles may be selected to fit the size of the shipment - there are generally four sizes of vehicles to choose from.

An air expedite is an alternative to be explored if ground transit cannot fit time constraints. From an operational standpoint, a truck which is usually contracted by an air freight company to make pickups and deliveries between shippers, consignees, and the airports, will make a pick-up at the shipper’s dock and take it to the airport to fly to an airport in another city with another truck awaiting to take the product to the ultimate delivery location. In some cases, the product will make transfers at other airports, much like a passenger would.

International Transportation is shipping from one country to another. International shipments are defined as either exports or imports depending on the direction. As a shipper in the United States, an export is a shipment that is leaving the United States and is destined for another country. As a consignee in the United States, an import is a shipment that is shipping from another country and is destined for the United States.

International shipments can be transported by ground, air, or ocean transportation. The shipments can move as Less-than-Truckload (LTL), Volume LTL, Truckload (TL), Air, and Ocean (FCL, LCL) and are priced the same as discussed above under the related transportation method.

International shipments are not limited to overseas countries - they also include shipments moving between the United States and Canada, Mexico or Puerto Rico and other U.S. Territory islands.