What do you think when you hear about freight forwarding? Endless convoys, hundreds of containers, and tired or even exhausted drivers? Nowadays logistics is a trendy business that deals with orders of any type and size. It’s possible to ship cargo of any parameters. It’s a great misconception to believe that forwarders work only with those clients who need to transport enormous amounts of products.
Delivering small freight is a common experience. Yet, it has several peculiarities you should know about. The first thing to understand is what small cargo actually is. The carriers pay attention to the weight of the goods when defining the types of freight. It’s small if the weight is up to 150 pounds. Many businesses prefer to deal with small cargo while nowadays the sales are not huge especially when it comes to retail stores or the food industry.
Small freight forwarding has several significant advantages:
- More available modes of transportation.
Truck freight forwarding is the most favorable and preferable method of delivering goods from one place to another. Yet, when it comes to expedited shipping, you can hardly find a better solution than air logistics. It has some restrictions, however. Thus, non-standard items won’t be shipped by planes.
- Lower prices.
It’s not a secret that the sum of money you should pay for transportation depends on the distance, deadlines, and the weight of the products. The less your cargo is, the less you pay;
- Convenience.
For both shippers and final consumers, it’s more convenient to deal with mini orders. As a rule, it’s not necessary to rent special tools or equipment to download or upload the parcels. The same is true about packaging. It’s faster and easier to pack the items;
- Flexibility.
You have more options to experience. Thus, it’s easier to deliver parcels right to the door.
At the same, there are some risks you should be ready to face. They include the following aspects:
- The high risks of losses.
The boxes which are not big are more likely to be lost. To avoid this, it’s better to use tracking apps;
- Longer delivery period.
It’s necessary to arrange the schedules of several trucks when it comes to the LTL type of shipping. It takes more time;
- The necessity to adjust to the needs of other shippers.
You are to coordinate your cargo with parcels of other shippers.
If you are not sure that you can cope with the transportation by yourself, it’s a cool idea to hire a logistics company. Moreover, nowadays the number of carriers is enormous. It won’t be difficult to pick up the one that meets your needs, desires, and budget. Both local and international freight forwarders deal with small cargo. They are able to solve lots of logistics problems for you. When it comes to LTC or LCL shipping, they are to pick up proper trucks and containers for you. They are ready to arrange document issues.
To sum it up, it’s worth mentioning that dealing with small freight is quite simple. The best way to savor trouble-free and damage-free transportation is to find a proper forwarder. With the help of competent and experienced logistics brokers, it’s possible to deliver everything everywhere in no time.