How To Get Started Shipping Freight

Survey: You will want to take a survey of where your customers are and/or where you will be primarily shipping. It is also extremely helpful to know the service demands of your customers. This will help determine your needs from a carrier. i.e. Will you be shipping entirely within the state, cross-country, regionally, internationally?
Classify Freight: Determine exactly what items you will be shipping. This sounds simple but should not be underestimated. LTL carriers base their rates on the amount of space taken up by freight on a truck. Since the rates are usually issued without seeing an individual shipment, guidelines have been established in the NMFC by the NMFTA to help classify different commodities. Unless you will be shipping only a limited number of items, do yourself a favor and purchase the NMFC guidelines. They can be complicated and quite specific. I have seem shippers use a incorrect classification for years without incident only to have a correction made by a carrier on the classification doubling the rates, seemingly out of the blue. The customer is always right??? Not so in this industry. The established classifications are done by an independent source, NMFC and should be followed closely.
Training: Be sure your dock staff knows how to wrap your freight to prevent damage. LTL carriers WILL stack freight on top of yours and/or take apart the skid to individual boxes can be loaded independently to maximize the amout of freight carried in a trailer. Make sure they know how to properly fill out a Bill of Lading (provided by carrier usually).
Packaging: Mark each box (if applicable) with the consignee name and address, and preferably with the tracking (PRO) number assigned to the freight. Make sure the label can be seen from all sides. This helps eliminate loss. If easily damaged/fragile, make sure there are obvious notations stating this on the freight. Adding extra wooden support on sides and top of your skid may seem like overkill but will reward you with better appearing product to the consignee, less loss & damage and fewer refusals. A point to remember: if your product is damaged in transit, a carrier may determine that there was inadequate protection for the product and refuse or limit the claim. In addition, different products/classifications offer different liabilities for the carrier. Often, a claim is limited by the class and weight of a shipment. Be sure you know how much will be paid per pound for your freight if lost or damaged. This will vary slightly depending on the carrier. In many cases, the consignee will direct you to use a particular carrier and their pricing if they are paying the freight charges(freight collect). You will still need to do all of the above to provide safe transit. Frequently a shipper that is not paying freight charges will neglect proper paperwork. This can be harmful to your customer when the freight is not billed properly by the carrier.
Negotiating Rates: Call several carriers that may offer service to the area where the majority of your freight will go. Make appointments with their representatives to discuss service and rates. If you prefer to use a union carrier, it is wise to also establish a relationship with a non-union company also in case of strike. Additionally union carriers often have poor service on intra-state servce. Currently, most carrier's basic rates are not standardized. Thus, you will want to obtain rate software from each carrier to help determine whether they are competetive with each other. The representative will likely offer you a discount off their basic rates that is somewhat determined by how much business you can offer and type of freight. Because their rates go up slightly each year, it is not uncommon to see discounts in excess of 50%. A point for negotiating rates: it is not uncommon for a carrier to have a cap which a representative can arbitrarily offer. You may need to prove you have better rates elsewhere or make a strong business commitment for the very agressive pricing, sometimes in excess of 70%. Keep in mind of the desirability factor of your freight. If it is not fragile or very costly, can handle freight stacked on top of it and is easily moved with a fork lift you may be able to negotiate very desireable rates. However, LTL carriers operate on a very thin margin, high claims will result in them turning away your business, especially if your rates are heavily discouted. Be sure to ask about the carrier's back-haul. These are lanes (routes) that their trucks are running consistently partial or empty. They may be willing to offer excellent lane-specific or full truck-load rates for that business.
Call for a pick up.