5. CAPACITY. Most commodities that could be shipped via intermodal transportation could also move on a truck. But certain products have speci c requirements that an organization needs to take into account. One is equipment availability. “What kind of equipment does the product require, and what’s the best way to get it?” asks Anne Reinke, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, a professional association of third-party logistics providers. “Is the commodity over-dimensional? Does it require special handling?” Refrigeration is one example. If you transport strawberries, you need to work with specialized reefer equipment that is held at a precise temperature. “Refrigerated moves generally require additional technology, such as sensors that can detect any changes in the
Shippers typically select using LTL carriers such as Roadrunner based on transit time and consistency. Knowing how long it will take to get from point A to point B helps them plan operations accordingly.
Reinke. “You miss a lot of opportunities if you don’t spend time planning in regional areas.” There are many factors to consider in mode selection, and the tumult of the past three years has not made the decision any easier. The good news is that companies that plan ahead and employ an agile mindset will be prepared for the next freight cycle, whatever form it comes in. n
temperature of the container or reefer van,” Reinke adds. It’s equally important to understand how regional activity impacts freight capacity. For example, carriers might gravitate toward California during produce season, or haul large orders of bottled water from the Northeast during the summer months. “Looking at capacity on a national level doesn’t tell the whole story,” says
HOW MUCH TRUCK DO YOU NEED? When loads are too small to fill a 53-foot trailer, a shipper may choose to haul them using less-than- truckload, or LTL, service instead. In this method of transportation, multiple shipments are loaded onto a single truck and transported across a multi-stop route. A benefit of LTL is that instead of paying for an entire truck, shippers are charged only for the space they use. “There are generally weight or cube requirements from an LTL standpoint,” explains Scott Schara, chief commercial ocer at BlueGrace Logistics, a third- party logistics provider headquartered in Tampa, Florida. “Up until roughly 10,000 pounds, there's a cost benefit to shipping LTL versus truckload. One pallet is much more cost eective to ship LTL than it is to ship truckload because you're paying for the entire truck.” Transit time is an important consideration in LTL. Shippers must be cognizant of their schedule requirements, as freight typically won’t move along a direct route.
“LTL freight traditionally goes through breakbulk,” Schara says. “It might get loaded from Los Angeles to Dallas, get broken down, travel from Dallas to Atlanta, get broken down once more, and then shipped out again. The nuance of lead time comes into play.” That process means loads are touched more frequently than full truckload freight—a service that can come with accessorial charges. “If there's a driver touch that wasn't specified at the time of the quote, if there's an inside delivery, if there is a lift gate required, there can be accessorial costs,” says Christopher Thornycroft, executive vice president of procurement at Redwood Logistics. “Eventually those charges add up,” he says. “What may start as a quote for $325 could go up to $600 one week later. You can lose the sense of visibility and control that comes with over-the-road truckload.”
188 Inbound Logistics • January 2023
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