If you’re not familiar with the term consolidation shipping, you’re not alone. Many customers and business owners do not know what it means when they see it on their freight bills or in quotes from shipping companies, and they certainly don’t know what to do about it! If you’re wondering what this process entails, how it can benefit your business, and how to make sure that your company knows how to deal with consolidation shipping, continue reading.
Why use consolidation shipping
Benefits of consolidation shipping
How does consolidation shipping save money?
Disadvantages of consolidation shipping
What is consolidation in the warehouse?
What does consolidation of goods mean?
What is consolidation in supply chain?
What is transportation consolidation?
Why select us?
Why use consolidation shipping
Simply put, consolidation shipping is when you combine multiple shipments into one full container. While on an international scale, consolidating shipments can dramatically reduce costs, it can also help domestic companies cut back on shipping fees.
Just like there are pros and cons to consolidation shipping, there are things you should know before moving forward with a consolidation shipment. For example, here are some important facts about LTL shipping to keep in mind: ƒ Consolidated shipments require their own load order number (LON) so they’re not bundled with other load orders or consolidated under another shipper’s load order number (LON). The LON will only be used once so you must remember it—you cannot change your LON later down the line. ƒ Most non-complex customs documentation will be completed by us once your freight reaches our facility. All that’s left for you to do at that point is organize your documents into binders prior to delivery.
How does consolidation shipping save money?
Consolidation shipping saves money by combining multiple shipments from various shippers into one full container. Consolidated shipments can take one of three forms:
- In-house consolidation
- door-to-door consolidation and
- source consolidation.
In all cases, a consolidator receives separate orders from multiple shippers and then packs them into a single shipment. A carrier picks up that container and delivers it to its destination. This offers significant cost savings for small businesses that need to send packages or merchandise overseas, but don’t have enough items to fill an entire 20-foot or 40-foot cargo box. Using consolidation shipping can also help companies save on packaging costs because they only need to use one larger box instead of several smaller ones. That reduces material waste as well as storage space used in between shipments. In addition, consolidators make it easy to find reliable service providers who specialize in ocean freight international shipping services, air freight international shipping services and more.
These service providers frequently offer a range of options at a reasonable price point, making their services even more attractive to small businesses with limited resources. Of course, nothing is perfect – consolidation has some downsides as well. First off, there’s still going to be added travel time involved between pick-up and delivery – although that time is shorter than if each order had been shipped separately from start to finish. Also, there are potential drawbacks when it comes to paying taxes and duties due upon entry.
What does consolidation of goods mean?
When shipping products overseas, it’s important to understand which export services you need and how to select them. A consolidation is a shipping option that combines multiple shipments into one container, which can be beneficial for businesses that aren’t sure of their estimated volume of product exports. Here we’ll discuss consolidation and when to use it.
This is a popular option for companies who have been moving small quantities from various locations across the globe, but now want to consolidate those shipments into larger volumes. If they have been sending smaller containers from different locations around Asia or Europe on a regular basis, business owners will probably save money with consolidation because they will receive freight discounts based on quantity. The consolidation method also allows shippers to save time by combining all these shipments into one trip across water or land without the worry of delays due to weather-related events or unforeseen circumstances during transit.
What is transportation consolidation?
Transportation consolidation is a shipping technique that involves grouping several less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments into one full truckload shipment. This is often done to save costs, and it’s usually handled by third-party logistics (3PL) providers such as freight brokers. Consolidation shippers can get better pricing on multiple shipments because they get a higher volume discount, and 3PLs can offer consolidated freight services to shippers at lower prices because of reduced paperwork and administrative costs. Both transportation consolidation companies and their customers win when dealing with LTL shipments due to these cost savings.
Why pay for each shipment separately when you can pay just once for all of them together? But if you’re wondering what is transportation consolidation, exactly, it helps to look at how things have changed over time. Before 1971, the LTL service was referred to as split loads. That meant lift was separate from transport. Today, split loads are still offered under either term depending on where they’re originating or ending; however, most people now use the term transportation consolidation when discussing groupings of shipments or exports requiring many trucks. How do I know if I need consolidation services?: A variety of factors determine whether your freight will qualify for consolidation shipping services. The distance traveled is one major factor; longer distances require more resources—more vehicles and more drivers—to haul cargo safely between two points in one trip instead of two or more trips totaling those same resources.
What is consolidation in the warehouse?
Consolidation in a warehouse is when several small loads from multiple shippers are all bundled together and placed on one full-sized truck or container. The smaller shipments will be consolidated and shipped together to save on shipping costs for both you and your suppliers. Each carrier can have different minimum thresholds, but usually, an LTL shipment must weigh over 2,000 pounds, while a full truckload requires that each load weigh at least 16,000 pounds. If these requirements aren’t met by all of your loads, they’ll each need to go out separately; however, there’s often space for non-qualifying items (like pallets) to ride along with eligible loads. This is what makes consolidation advantageous: You’ll get lower shipping rates due to increased capacity on trucks/containers, reducing the overall cost per item shipped, which saves money overall.
What is consolidation in the supply chain?
Consolidated shipping, also called multimodal freight shipping, is a service that combines shipments from multiple shippers into one container for shipment to its final destination. This can be useful in several situations: When you want to use a specific carrier but don’t have enough freight to make using them worth it; when your goods are traveling to an area where there aren’t any major carriers; and when you want more control over your delivery timing and handling. Whatever your reason for consolidating, knowing how and when to go about it will help ensure success in bringing all of your packages together. To see if consolidation makes sense for your particular situation, read on!
Have you ever wondered whether it’s better to consolidate or distribute separate shipments when moving products across the country or across borders? And does consolidation actually save money? Read on to find out what customers have said after having used both services.
Benefits of consolidation shipping
The primary benefit of consolidation shipping is, of course, cost. By consolidating multiple shipments into one large shipment you can save money on transportation costs. You might be surprised how much it costs to ship small items individually. If you are transporting items across state lines it is important to note that most trucking companies will not let you break up a trailer if they are hauling over 10,000 pounds of cargo. Because each shipment in your container or trailer needs to go to its own final destination, you need your company’s trucks and drivers to complete delivery. As such, there is usually an additional fee for any empty space left in your containers when full which makes it, even more, cost-effective for businesses that need multiple deliveries in different locations. This last point leads us directly into our next benefit of consolidation shipping: Consistent freight service. Large businesses may have contracts with certain carriers which guarantee consistent delivery times and service.
Disadvantages of consolidation shipping
Due to volume, shipping may take slightly longer than normal. This means you will have to wait a little bit before your product is delivered. In some cases, large items that are heavy or bulky may not be able to be consolidated. As a rule of thumb, LTL shippers do not accept pallets for consolidation. In order to use LTL services for consolidation shipping, all shipments must be load-able in a 53’ trailer. The service provider requires payment in full for all shipments prior to delivering them into one container in order to make sure they can deliver everything on time and in good condition. There is an extra charge when using consolidation services because it usually involves consolidating multiple shipments into one larger shipment.
The amount charged depends on how many trucks from different carriers need to join together into one shipment and how far away from each other their deliveries are going to be made. This special mode of transport is perfect for customers who require quicker delivery times but also want to keep down their final shipping costs. If you need products quickly but don’t want to break your budget, you should consider consolidating shipments. Working with a reliable third-party freight forwarder like us will help ensure that you get what you want at prices that fit your budget! As always with Consolidated Shipping Line , we encourage our customers to reach out if they have any questions about Consolidation Shipping; we’re happy to help! * We strive for accurate information on Freightos blogs based on customer experience and review as well as publicly available data. We encourage our customers with first-hand experience to comment below so we can update our blogs appropriately. Have feedback about anything else? Contact us here.
Why select us?
We are leaders in consolidation shipments. We consolidate shipments of all shapes and sizes into one full container, utilizing local warehouses that are closer to your destination. This allows us to offer more competitive pricing than larger consolidators who utilize ocean freight shipping methods. We also offer ground, air, and intermodal services on top of our outstanding ocean freight experience. With so many options at your disposal, you can rest assured that we will find a solution to fit your specific needs.