LTL Pillar of Profitability: Save Time with End-to-End Automation

“Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.”
 Peter Drucker

In the fast-paced world of LTL shipping, time is everything—often more important than money. Quick and efficient freight shipments lead to happy customers. It can also mean beating the competition. Yet, many freight brokers struggle with time-consuming manual processes, delayed shipments due to errors, and missed delivery windows. In an industry where every minute counts, finding ways to save time isn’t a convenience—it’s a necessity.

This article explores digital solutions to streamline your LTL shipping operations. The right TMS will enable you to save the most important resource: time. Saved time leads to reduced costs, enhanced customer satisfaction, and (best of all!) increased profitability. First, let’s examine how and why effective time management is an essential pillar to maximizing your bottom line. 

Impact of Time on LTL Shipping

LTL shipments often take longer to arrive than FTL shipments due to additional stops and transfers. Effective time management is critical in LTL shipping, as it influences costs, customer expectations, and a shipper’s competitive edge in a crowded marketplace.

Controlling Costs

Time is money, especially in shipping. Research shows that transit time is valued from $25 to $200 per hour, depending on the type of freight. Variability in LTL shipping creates barriers to controlling costs. Ineffective processes, errors in quoting, delayed pickups, and late deliveries all lead to extra charges. These include rebilling fees, detention fees, missed consolidation opportunities, and extra fuel costs. When you manage your time better, you minimize these extra expenses and make better use of your resources. The faster and more efficiently you move freight, the more profitable you’ll be.

Exceeding Customer Expectations

Customers demand speed and reliability. Effective time management is essential for meeting their expectations. Late deliveries can damage your reputation and lead to lost business. LTL shipping often involves multiple stops and handling, which increases the risk of delays. Improving time management ensures shipments arrive when expected, boosting customer trust and loyalty. Meeting or exceeding expectations sets you apart from competitors and strengthens your relationships with clients. When customers trust you’ll always be on time, they’ll do more business with you. 

Competing in a Crowded Market

In a crowded LTL shipping market, efficiency is a key differentiator. The ability to move freight quickly while maintaining low costs gives you a competitive advantage. Effective time management enables you to optimize routes, streamline processes, and outpace competitors. Building a reputation for speed and reliability can attract more business and position your company as a market leader.

Managing time well in LTL shipping is more than just smooth operations. It’s also about controlling costs, delivering excellent customer experiences, and standing out in a crowded market.

Shippers Won’t Wait for You

Many LTL shippers are more interested in booking their loads than finding the lowest price. So, they accept the first rate to arrive in their inbox. After booking their loads, they want instant access to real-time tracking updates. They also expect accurate billing. What does all this mean to you? It means digitizing your process from beginning to end is critical to success.

The Industry Average for LTL Automation

The industry average for successful LTL automation is 70% throughout the typical life cycle of a load, meaning that 30% of the workload is done manually. 

Let’s say your company processes 100 LTL shipments per day. Each shipment takes about 1 hour to complete, from quoting to invoicing (100 hours of work per day). With the industry average of 70% automation, 70 hours’ worth of tasks are handled through automation. Your team doesn’t have to touch these tasks manually; the technology keeps everything running smoothly.

However, the remaining 30% of your team’s time—30 hours daily—is spent on manual tasks. This is most likely data entry, auditing paperwork, or tracking shipments. This manual workload wastes valuable time that would be better used to drive revenue and growth. Manual work also slows down operations. Customers wait longer for quotes and paperwork. Your team waits for updates and tracking. Remember, time is of the essence in LTL. In addition, manual work increases the risk of errors and reduces margins.

While 70% automation is excellent, the remaining 30% of your team’s time spent on manual tasks can be costly and inefficient. But there’s a better solution. 

Tai’s LTL Automation Solution

With Tai TMS, your automation is closer to 91%. In the example above, you’d only need your team to do about 9 hours of manual work each day. You could allocate the 21 saved hours to improve customer service, book more shipments, or enhance carrier relationships. It would make your company more efficient, customer-centric, competitive, and profitable. 

Tai’s TMS is the gold standard in LTL automation. Here’s how Tai does it.

Proactive Connectivity

One of the most frustrating drawbacks of automation is dealing with connectivity issues. You can’t save time and money without reliable automation, which hinges on the quality of your TMS integrations. Many TMS providers claim to support API integrations across the load lifecycle. Only Tai consistently delivers on that. Our in-house team manages every connection, so we handle any outages or issues directly—you’ll never wait for third-party IT support. 

Tai also backs up every API connection with multiple EDI connections. If one fails, the other keeps your operations running seamlessly, saving time and preventing disruption. Most clients aren’t aware when an API goes down. Tai monitors and updates connections to keep your team productive and focused.

Tariff Wizard

When you need to reduce labor costs and boost margins, you must have real-time access to accurate LTL rates. LTL tariffs can be complex and unique. Carriers use various pricing models based on weight, freight class, and location. Without quick access to this information, your team can spend hours manually comparing rates and rules. This manual work also causes errors, leading to higher costs or lost loads. 

Tai’s Tariff Wizard simplifies and automates the process. It gives your team instant access to real-time LTL rates and rules from all your carriers, displaying them side by side in an easy-to-use dashboard. With a direct API connection, your rates are always accurate and up-to-date, eliminating the need for manual rate checks.

AI-Driven Email Management

Overflowing inboxes slow down operations and eat into your profitability. When your team has to open every email, read the contents, research load rates and information, and manually respond to customers with quotes and questions, they’re wasting valuable time—and possibly missing out on orders. 

Tai’s AI email tool streamlines this process. It extracts info from emails to automate shipment creation, tracking updates, and paperwork organization, all without manual work. Every task is recorded in the load activity log, keeping your team and customers informed.

Self-Service Ordering Capabilities

The best brokers know they must meet their LTL clients where they are. A user-friendly customer portal is key. Tai offers the self-service capabilities many shippers prefer. It seamlessly integrates with EDI connections to the shipper’s inventory systems. Improving this DIY function will convince more shippers to use the portal and save your team time and effort processing orders.

Electronically Dispatch to Common Carriers

Tai’s carrier integrations eliminate the need for your team to call in or manually recreate shipments on the carrier’s website. Tai saves time and streamlines the dispatch process. For example, Tai automatically sends every Bill of Lading (BOL) number to the carrier. This automates regular updates directly from the carrier to the customer, prioritizing communication and transparency during shipping.

Enhanced Time Management Leads to Profitability 

As an LTL freight broker, you live and breathe Peter Drucker’s truth: time is the scarcest resource. With Tai, you can transform your operations into a highly effective LTL engine. You’ll reduce manual tasks and enable your team to focus on revenue-building activities. Advanced tools like the Tariff Wizard and AI email processing boost your efficiency, cut costs, and improve customer experiences. Tai positions you as a leader in a competitive market. 

Embrace near-total LTL automation to elevate your operations and propel your business forward—your profitability depends on it. Tai will show you the way. Schedule a demo today. 

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