Shippers Beware! Some Potential Pitfalls of Dimensional LTL Pricing

We recently met with ABF to get a solid understanding of the changes they’re making to their rules tariff. Potentially, it could have a big impact on companies that have a lot of minimum charge shipments, as we explained in last week’s message.

ABF isn’t unique. Based on conversations we have had with other LTL carriers, shippers should be prepared for some significant changes as more carriers incorporate dimensional and density based pricing in their LTL rate structure. 

How can you be prepared? Here are some questions to ask:

1. Does your company have the data elements you need to accurately determine your freight costs? Do you actually know the size of the pallet you’re giving to the carriers? And do you put the dimensions of those shipments on your Bills of Lading?
   
   
2. Are the weights of the shipments on your Bills of Lading accurate? When a large LTL carrier tells us that as many as 33% of the shipments tendered into their network have incorrect weights, you can expect the carriers to put more attention on this issue going forward. 

There are other important questions to ask, but for now we have some advice: Don’t go it alone! We have some tools that can help. Our benchmark analysis is a great way to measure your costs against the market, and we provide this as a complimentary service.

Our Rapid Assessment helps evaluate all aspects of your logistics program, and chart a path from your current state to your ideal state.

We provide all of this information because we’re on your team, we’re here to help, and we’re passionate about seeing you be successful.