Factors affecting your Freight Shipping Rates

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While shipping products across the globe it is very common to be perfect. With bigger shipments, even the things like shipping carriers, shipping service, and even the mode of transportation can cause serious trouble.

In this article, we will cover some important facto the shipping rates. But before that, let’s take a look at freight shipping and how exactly is it different from normal shipments.

Freight Shipping

Freight shipping comprises of transporting cargo, goods, and commodities by the means of air, land or water transport. In other words, freight can be defined as the goods shipped by truck, train, ships or planes. Freight shipping is mostly carried out using trucks, railroad cars and large ships that can carry huge containers.

How is Freight shipping different from normal shipping..?

Normally parcel shipping is associated with the products that are smaller in size and quantity. In most of the cases, the shipments are allowed to 150 lbs. But this is not the case with freight. Freight shipping involves shipments that weigh more than 150 lbs.

Apart from the weight differences, there are also other things that vary in freight shipping. These include,

  • Classification of Freight products
    Freight shipments are considered to generate a uniform pricing structure for freight shipping. There are about 18 different freight classes based on the package weight, density, and value. The freight class number lies between 50 and 500. You can get more information on freight classes in this link.
  • Modes of shipment
    There are various modes of freight shipment. They include,

    • Full Truckload
      Supports shipment weight above 15000 lbs.
    • Less than Truckload (LTL)
      Supports shipment weight ranging from 150-15000 lbs.
    • Partial Truckload
      Supports splitting the cost of a truck with other shippers, suitable for shipment weight above 5000 lbs.
    • Intermodal
      Including multiple modes of transportation for a single shipment.
    • Expedited Freight
      Faster, but costlier freight shipping mode.

Factors affecting Freight Shipping Rates

Below are some of the facto freight shipping.

  • Weight of the shipment
  • Density of the shipment
  • Distance between source and destination
  • Freight Classification
  • Shipping Mode
  • Fuel Cost
  • Tariff rates and Negotiated Rates

Now we will be discussing each factor in detail as for how each one of them affects the cost of freight shipment.

Weight of the shipment

Weight of the shipment
Weight of the shipment

Be it standard shipping or freight shipping, the weight of the shipment is among the most important facto the next shipment group. Once in the next shipment group, the weight is considered in the lowest weight category in that particular group. Hence, the weight is matched with the corresponding shipping rates of that particular group.

Moreover, there is one more reason the weight of the shipment is among the to shipping rates.

Density of the shipment

Density matters too[/caption] Before we talk about how the density of the shipment affects the shipping rates, first let's talk about how to calculate the density. After calculating the density, you can determine the <strong srcset=
freight class for your packages. This will determine the shipping rates for your shipment. Moreover, the density of the shipment also allows the carriers to break. This way it will increase the shipping rates for you.

Distance between source and destination

[caption id="attachment_63239" align="aligncenter" width="356"]Higher rates for long distance Higher rates for long distance

The distance between the source and the destination follows a very simple rule – More the distance more will be the cost of shipping. However, this is not that simple and the shipping rates may vary from place to a large extent.

In case of a single carrier, the source and destination’s distance from the nearest metro city is taken into consideration. Also, different locations may vary the capacity for shipping and may also increase the shipping rates.

Freight classification

Freight Classification
Freight Classification

As we discussed in the above sections, the freight class have a huge impact on the freight shipping rates. Freight classes comprise of two extreme points – Low freight classes and hight freight classes. Freight classes are defined on the basis of the weight of the shipment, density of the shipment, handling as well as the liability of the shipment. So based on these facto damage.

As a thumb-rule, higher the freight class higher will be the shipping rates.

Shipping Mode

Faster shipping mode results in higher shipping cost
Faster shipping mode results in higher shipping cost

As we discussed various shipping modes, these to reach the destination. Based on the urgency, shipping mode like Expedited Freight Shipping will result in a faster but costly shipping. This is because of the additional charges that are added when you select a much faster shipping service.

Fuel Cost

Fuel Cost increases the shipping rates
Fuel Cost increases the shipping rates

It is obvious to make profits.

Tariff rates or Negotiated rates

Opt for the negotiated rates for less shipping cost
Opt for the negotiated rates for less shipping cost

Working with the shipping carriers is similar in case of the parcel as well as freight shipping. The shipping cost depends on the type of shipping rates you get from the shipping carrier. Hence, based on whether you are going for the tariff rates or opting for the negotiated shipping rates, your shipping cost will vary. In such cases, the best possible option is to get.

So this was some insight about the freight shipping and some of the most important factors affecting the freight shipping rates.

Summary…

This article covers freight shipping rates. In the modern world, with E-commerce flourishing, anything and everything is available online. This has resulted in shipping tors that make up freight shipping costs. With the help of this article, you can easily get an idea of how costly or cheap your freight shipments would be.

If you have any queries regarding the content of the article, feel free to help you understand the freight and how is it different from the normal shipping.

Apart from that, you can also use the following WordPress shipping plugins on your WordPress sites, for handling freight shipments.

  • WooCommerce UPS Shipping plugin with Print Label

    • Provides real-time UPS Shipping quote based on package weight and destination address
    • Supports Domestic as well as International Shipping.
    • Supports Parcel as well as Freight Shipping.
    • Allows to Print Shipping Labels and Return Shipping Labels.
    • Supports UPS Shipment Tracking from within the store.
    • Notification Email tomers with tracking details and Shipping Labels with it.
  • WooCommerce FedEx Shipping plugin with Print Label

    • Provides real-time FedEx Shipping quote based on package weight and destination address
    • Supports Domestic as well as International Shipping.
    • Supports Parcel as well as Freight Shipping.
    • Allows to Print Shipping Labels and Return Shipping Labels.
    • Supports FedEx Shipment Tracking from within the store.
    • Notification Email tomers with tracking details and Shipping Labels with it.
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