This is the season when many people are in the process of making plans for the holidays even though they are months away. For many people, in fact, shopping during the summer is the best way to find the bargains that allow you to buy even more gifts than if you were shopping for the hottest gifts of the season with only a few minutes to spare. When consumers are shopping for items out of season, however, they can sometimes be even more at the mercy of shipping charges. In fact, less than truckload (LTL) shipping is involved in many shipments that are ordered during the off season.
With the use of freight management software and various types of load boards, managing LTL shipments is easier to manage. And while a consumer probably does not think too much about ordering three different items from three different sites, the reality of the shipping industry is that a number of purchases that are made fall into a group of challenges that are solved by experts who are used to managing LTL shipments, from across the state, or across the country.
Shipping Costs Often Extra Costs for Expedited Services
Transportation broker software helps companies of all size make sure that they get their products to their consumers. As more and more purchases are made online instead of in the store, the role that shipping costs play in the overall costs increase.
Consider some of these facts and figures about the shipping industry and the role that it plays in both the nation’s economy, as well as in the purchase decisions of consumers:
- The value of freight moved is expected to increase from $882 per ton in 2007 to $1,377 per ton in 2040, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Public truckload carriers report that the average length of haul has decreased 4% between the years 2011 and 2016, according to Satish Jindel, president of SJ Consulting Group.
- 23% of all for-hire freight tonnage can be attributed to retail, according to the same report from Satish Jindel.
- Nearly 12 million locomotives, rail cars, trucks, and vessels move goods over the transportation network.
- Trucking transported nearly 15 billion tons of cargo in the year 2013. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, however, predicts that by the year 2040, that number is expected to increase to 18.79 billion tons.
- $35 billion is the current estimate of the LTL market in the U.S.
Whether you are shopping for your online holiday gifts during the middle of the summer or the second, week of December, the price you pay will be affected by the cost managing LTL shipments.
