Solving the Shipping Puzzle

Moving a shipment means more than just getting it from point A to point B. There are countless details to consider, plus timing issues and cost implications to sort through. If you don’t have enough freight to ship a full truckload, LTL (less than truckload) can be a logical, affordable solution for your refrigerated shipments.

Perhaps you are trying to improve load factors and reduce costs but have conflicting demands. On the one side, you or your customers want to keep less inventory on hand - maybe your product has a short shelf life, or your storage space is limited - which means shipping smaller orders with more frequent pickups and deliveries. Meanwhile your receivers want you to combine shipments together so they’re not bogged down with so many deliveries.

Although shipping full truckloads is optimal, your freight may not come together in such a neat fashion. While it’s less expensive to ship a truckload, it’s easy to get burned if there are any last minute changes in production, pushing you over the truckload volume and forcing you to pay for a second truck.

At Trademark we offer a wide breadth of transportation services to address shipping challenges like these. We offer complete and fully integrated refrigerated LTL shipping services that save time, increase efficiencies and eliminate problems managing LTL traffic.

LTL (Less than Truckload)

When you have small, less than truckload shipments being shipped to or from multiple locations spread throughout a region or throughout the country, LTL provides some of the greatest flexibility. We use multiple trucks to pick up at different locations then bring the freight together for cross docking at our refrigerated facilities. There, the freight is assembled into specific loads going out on multiple trucks for delivery to different parts of the country. LTL is an affordable alternative to truckload. Although the timing takes a bit longer with LTL, we do offer same-week service to many areas in the Midwest region.

Pool Consolidation

If you need to move freight from multiple shippers to a single receiver, Pool Consolidation may be a perfect solution. With this option, we use several trucks to pick up at your various shipping locations and bring the freight together at our Minneapolis or Chicago cross docking facilities. At cross dock, we consolidate all of your freight together and position it on a single truck for delivery, or position it for pickup by your truck. This solution allows you to ship from several locations at once without putting the burden of multiple deliveries on your receiver.

Pool Distribution

The reverse of Pool Consolidation is Pool Distribution. This option is suitable if you are moving freight to multiple destinations from a single shipping location. In this case, we use a single truck to pick up your orders and bring them to our cross docking facilities. At cross dock, we distribute your freight onto multiple trucks that each deliver at one of your various receivers. Pool Distribution can be a great way to cut costs, especially if your receivers are widely scattered.

Truckload and Multiple Stop Truckload

If you do have the volume, truckloads are often considered the optimum way to go. Multiple stop truckloads are when we pick up a truckload of freight at your location and deliver it to several receivers in one trip with one truck. This can be an affordable solution, but only if the right factors come together. Orders, receivers, distances and miles must align properly. Therefore, a good multiple stop truckload should have limited range, maximized capacity throughout the shipment (smaller shipments on the earlier deliveries, large shipments later), and have little circuity.

Trademark’s Benefits

You need a refrigerated trucking company that can solve the entire shipping puzzle by fitting the pieces together with a unique answer. At Trademark our wide range of options and services save you time and money by:

• Handling all sizes LTL and types of products – dry, frozen and fresh shipping including products that need temperature protection from heat or cold
• Capitalizing on many trucks to quickly assemble LTL shipments
• Consolidating multiple LTL shipments together into single loads
• Adapting to volume of orders and last minute changes in order production
• Offering truly discounted partial loads
• Holding products for delivery or shipment at our warehouse, or loading to ride for direct delivery
• Offering refrigerated warehouse and cross docking services to give you even more LTL transportation options

Contact us today to learn more.
800-646-2550