Trucking Industry Foresees Modest Improvement

Despite up-and-down numbers over the last quarter, U.S. freight volumes are slowly improving. Tonnage is still down over last year but the gap is narrowing as 2009 comes to a close. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) believes the trucking industry is on the road to recovery.
The ATA advance seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index decreased 0.3% in September, after increasing 2.1% in both July and August. ATA argues that the recovery will be moderate and choppy and that the industry shouldn’t be alarmed with the “miniscule” drop in September.
Business researchers appear to generally concur with the ATA’s analysis and cautioned the industry “not to get too excited” over the monthly numbers through the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. They project a second quarter 2010 recovery due to dropping inventory levels.
The trend towards industry recovery is not yet translating into higher freight rates though. Businesses are still in belt-tightening mode and are continuing to operate a reduced inventory levels, even as consumers are beginning to buy again. The lack of freight demand has created excess capacity, which has resulted in carriers dropping freight pricing to compete for the little business out there.
While the drop in freight rates has been damaging to the freight industry, this competition has been a boon for Freightquote’s customers – those companies which are still shipping. As rates drop, Freightquote’s online freight management system helps shippers find the best shipping solution available – from the best rate to the best delivery options – all from reputable carriers. As the economy recovers and rates inevitably rise again, Freightquote is the best place for shippers to stay on top of the rate changes. Whatever the increase, Freightquote’s shippers are assured of the lowest prices as a result of its experience, relationships and technology. These factors – and the efficiency of Freightquote’s system – will assist its shippers in weathering the economic storm.

How To Get A Good LTL Quote

Getting a Good LTL Quote

Many shippers have come to Freightquote having previously negotiated their own less-than-truckload (LTL) rates – and some have even negotiated very good rates. It is not unusual, however, for Freightquote to immediately be able to offer additional savings off of those well-negotiated freight rates.

LTL contracts though are fairly complicated. There are actually several variables involved in producing an accurate LTL rate. These include the discount, the base rate, weight, classification, minimum freight charges, length of haul, service points, fuel surcharge, and other additional/accessorial services.

When quoting a load – when accurately quoting a load – these variables must all be considered. Freightquote’s online quoting system takes each pertinent variable into account before presenting quotes from multiple carriers. The system then allows the shipper to compare these quotes including rates and delivery times and assess the strengths of each carrier.

Over the last decade, Freightquote has continually re-evaluated, tweaked and updated its technology to ensure that its shippers receive the best and most accurate quotes. Because of Freightquote’s years of experience and enormous volume of freight shipped, it knows exactly how to best navigate every carrier’s tariff and other variables to provide the best possible quote.

Most often, because of the experience, the relationships and Freightquote’s shipping volume, this LTL quote will beat the rates the shipper could negotiate on its own.

The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009 – “The Highway Bill”

An interesting coalition of organizations representing shippers, transportation providers and government agencies is calling for the creation of a cohesive national freight strategy as part of the six-year Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009, also known as the “Highway Bill”.

The Highway Bill is currently up for debate in Congress .

If one is to believe the authors of the bill, it is intended to “transform Federal surface transportation to a performance-based framework to reduce fatalities and injuries on our Nation’s highways, address the mobility and access needs of people and goods, improve the condition, performance, and connectivity of the United States intermodal surface transportation system, provide transportation choices for commuters and travelers, promote environmental sustainability, public health, and the livability of communities, support robust investment in surface transportation, and for other purposes.”

The bill opens with that grandiose statement of purpose but critics are concerned that it doesn’t adequately address freight transportation. The Freight Stakeholders Coalition believes that substantial investment in the freight transportation system must be given a high priority by the U.S. legislature.

The Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee almost unanimously approved an 18-month extension of federal highway programs from October of this year through March 2011, giving Congress a bit of breathing room to revise the existing bill. The coalition though believes that the delay indicates that freight issues are being pushed to the bottom of the President’s priorities.

Janet Kavinoky from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce noted that “[f]reight is an issue that should be at the top of the nation’s priority list – but it is not. No matter the differences among industries as to what needs the most funding, we all recognize 18 months is too long to wait to pass a reauthorization bill. What do we need more time for? There’s enough information out there about what we need to do to fill this room 10 times over.”

“The only thing we need time for is to make transportation and freight policy a priority,” she said. “The health care debate has sucked all the oxygen out of the room. But there must be time for us to work on more than one issue critical to our future.”

Currently, the bill addresses the creation of an inclusive freight plan covering roads, rails and ports. However, funding appears to cover only the expansion of highway capacity for freight – ignoring rail freight.

Freightquote.com books an enormous volume of both rail and road freight (as well as intermodal shipments). Freightquote is hopeful that Congress recognizes the importance of freight transportation – both roadway and railway – to this country’s economic recovery and addresses both bill language and funding to the creation of a completely inclusive freight plan as part of the Highway Bill.

Freightquote.com Gives Easy LTL (Less-than-Truckload) Shipping for Frequent Shippers

In the not-so-distant past, companies had employees – freight managers, dock supervisors, shipping clerks and others – whose job it was to sit at a desk and call several different freight carriers for quotes for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments.

The employee would spend hours providing information about the shipment’s size, weight, volume, material, origin and destination to each carrier. Then a comparison would be made between the resulting quotes before the employee then called back to book the shipment with the carrier that best fit the bill. Bills of lading and other necessary shipping documents were most likely typed out manually or on a dot matrix printer-form.

About ten years ago, the internet and Freightquote.com changed all of that. Starting with standard LTL services, Freightquote introduced manufacturers, wholesalers and other shippers to an instantaneous quote system with streamlined scheduling and shipping procedures available at the click of a mouse.

Other companies have jumped on the internet quote bandwagon since those days but Freightquote has secured its foothold as the industry leader. The company has partnered with over 50 top national and regional carriers, making it ever more likely that its customers will receive the most competitive quotes for shipments headed anywhere in the U.S., Mexico or Canada.

Although the company has expanded its services substantially since those early days, LTL services are still Freightquote’s bread and butter. LTL is exactly what it sounds like – shipments that take up less than entire trailer. A shipper needs a few pallets moved from Kansas City to Albany but doesn’t own its own fleet or need a dedicated trailer. Instead, the shipper seeks out an LTL carrier to make the trip.

Although the company has expanded its services substantially since those early days, LTL services are still Freightquote’s bread and butter. LTL is exactly what it sounds like – shipments that take up less than entire trailer. A shipper needs a few pallets moved from Kansas City to Albany but doesn’t own its own fleet or need a dedicated trailer. Instead, the shipper seeks out an LTL carrier to make the trip.

Freightquote books LTL shipments between 100 pounds and 15,000 pounds with normal service times between two and seven business days, depending on the distance. That being said, next-day and expedited LTL delivery is available in many circumstances too.

If a company or even an individual has an odd-shaped item to ship or needs to get an item delivered to a location that’s somewhat off-the-beaten-path, chances are good that one of the large number of carriers with which Freightquote works can make it happen.

Freightquote, like other freight brokers, is a third-party logistics manager. It doesn’t own the trucks or set the basic tariffs but it helps both the carriers and the shippers manage their transportation activities. Hours on the phone requesting quotes for shippers, hours on the road signing up customers for carriers and hours in rate negotiations for been narrowed down to a matter of minutes via web-based tools like those pioneered by Freightquote.

The efficiencies of Freightquote.com’s system, when used well, can free up substantial time and money for its customers. It’s certainly no wonder that millions of loads have been handled through Freightquote over the past 10 years.