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To understand what line haul transportation is, it is important to know what line haul implies. Line haul transportation is defined as the movement of freight to transport heavy loads between what’s considered long distances, on the road, rail lines, or waterways. Altogether, this transfer of goods and services is integral to the economy. As a branch of shipping logistics, line haul transportation helps businesses with the logistics of moving goods between two points within a pre-defined timeframe.
Overall, line haul transportation is considered a more efficient method of hauling large volumes of goods across long distances. Oftentimes, line haul trucking is confused with long haul transporting but with the long haul transportation, the truckers end up spending days, weeks, or even months driving to and from their destination. On the other hand, line haul tracking reduces this fatigue. It helps the carrier essentially reduce the costs of long trips in the form of fuel costs, food costs, or hotel costs for the long haul driver.
Line haul transportation will impact the shipping process in your business in a variety of ways. These include:
Your line haul carrier determines the duration of each delivery. This is directly tied to their efficiency and tracking. You want to partner with a carrier that ensures your delivery takes less time and that the entity notifies your customer on the estimated time of arrival.
The carrier you partner with for your business impacts the cost of transportation of your freight. Since the carrier tracks the cost of the freight through their track analytics, you should be able to correctly determine the cost of moving your goods without compromising on the profit that your business gets.
Your line haul carrier impacts the movement of your freight because they essentially control the methods of transportation. When you go with a line haul carrier with a significant fleet of cargo, you end up with a partner that’s able to ship across different channels, including water, air, or road. Besides, said carrier then ends up being able to control the shipping costs, times and thus helping your business get one over your competitors.
As a business, you want to work with a line haul carrier that has a substantial number of depots. This translates to your business having depots where your finished products or raw material can stay as they await transport to your customer.
Typically, carriers will charge a premium for shipping services. Said carrier determines the charges forwarded to you based on the distance between the pickup and delivery locations and the weight of what’s being transported. This charge should cover all these costs but will often exclude the costs of loading, unloading, or transfer. In the event that you require these extra services, you will typically have to pay a bit more.
Having highlighted what is line haul transportation and the different elements of your business that it touches on, it is important we also highlight how your business would benefit from line haul transportation.
In most instances, a line haul carrier will end up delivering freight faster than traditional freight models. As part of their operations, the carrier will track the logistics of each of the deliveries, which should optimize the entire freight shipping process. The consequence will be better timeliness and better quality for each of your deliveries.
In the event that you work with a freight carrier that tracks the average speed of each delivery, you essentially get a partner that is able to identify which roads or areas are likely to slow down the delivery and suggest alternative routes that will see your delivery get to the customer within the time and budget that works best for you.
When your business invests in line haul transportation, the movement of your freight ends up being more efficient, less costly, and more punctual. The outcome will be better relationships with your customers as your supply chain is essentially more effective.
With this relationship, the freight carrier is likely to charge less for each delivery and will likely guarantee better quality of each delivery. The customer ends up appreciating the fewer costs and prompt delivery and, as such, will likely engage your business in the future.
With line haul carriers, your business is able to track the analytics for freight transportation. These provide valuable insights into the shipping process that should make it possible to reduce the cost of transportation. As a business, you can then pass these savings onto your customer in the form of reduced cost of delivery.
Line haul transportation connects your entire supply chain through analytics. Those analytics allow for better communication between your business and the carrier and any other parties involved in the shipping process. The better communication and accuracy translate to your business reducing any errors within the supply chain. The consequence is greater value throughout your transportation process. Overall, the greater level of communication results in a much stronger supply chain and reduced costs for everyone.
When you rely on a freight carrier, you ought to look for means of optimizing the line haul transportation in order to save on costs and reduce the overhead. What’s more, optimizing the logistics of the line haul means that you maximize the business’s shipping capabilities. Some of the tips you should consider include:
You want to maintain detailed records for each of the deliveries. These records should include the weight, delivery time, assigned driver, destination, and the customer. Overall, these records should help you maximize your business’s shipping capabilities.
Consider identifying the optimal delivery route either on land, air, or sea. This translates to your freight reaching its destination on time.
You want to consider investing in a digital tracking software that will help with tracking all the important analytics for each delivery. This software will be essential while trying to optimize your business’s entire freight transportation.
A Broker Focused TMS Software such as the Tai TMS gives you an all-in-one domestic freight management system for all your full truckload and LTM shipments. It offers your business software with unmatched speed and scalability that implants automation into every phase of your hauling. What’s more, your business can leverage the direct integration, load boards, and capacity tools, all of which make transportation and delivery a breeze. Request a demo today and have your business achieve shipment optimization.
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