Freight consolidators

Do they hold the key to reducing your transportation costs? Perhaps. This shipping strategy isn’t the right answer for every business. But if you consistently ship partial loads, freight consolidators could be the smart path to protecting your profit margins.

What is freight consolidation?

This process involves transporting smaller shipments from multiple shippers, all bound for the same destination, on a single truck. These individual shipments may range from a few cases to several pallets.

Several Kentucky distilleries might ship cases of their Bourbons to a single spirits distributor, for example. Or local auto parts vendors may combine brake pad and rotor orders onto a single truck to deliver them to an automotive manufacturing plant.

Two palettes waiting to be consolidated onto a trailer

Why consolidate shipments?

The benefits of freight consolidation more than justify the complexity involved for some.

Cut freight costs

Transportation costs factor significantly into your price per unit. By consolidating your freight, you fill a truck and share the transportation cost with other shippers. Meaning, you can get closer to paying full truckload rates—creating cost savings that help protect your margins.

Minimize potential damage and loss

Transporting multiple small shipments to a variety of destinations involves added stops. And as both handling and time-at-rest increase, so does risk. By shipping a full truckload to a single destination, you reduce incidents of breakage, spoilage, and cargo theft. That means fewer cargo claims and more happy customers.

Reduce carbon footprint

Shipping partial truckload freight is more fuel-intensive than full truckload. By using freight consolidators, you reduce fuel consumption and make progress toward your carbon reduction goals. (This is an important public-facing metric for those who factor sustainability into their purchasing decisions.)

Optimize supply chain

Moving consolidated freight is a far more streamlined process than transporting traditional single or LTL shipments. This often translates to more optimized routes and higher on-time delivery rates. It can also enable improvements in your inventory management.

What is a freight consolidator?

Freight consolidators are third-party logistics providers that manage the entire process of loading and delivering small shipments from multiple shippers on a single truck, from start to finish.

This involves:

  • Vetting carriers and negotiating freight rates
  • Confirming supplier shipments are ready and arranging local pickup appointments
  • Crossdocking loads, confirming shipments match provided POs, and consolidating the correct freight onto a single truck
  • Managing multiple shipment requirements, including temperature control and specialized packaging
  • Managing the linehaul carrier
  • Arranging deliveries with the receiver
Warehouse worker moving freight to the loading dock
A freight consolidator stands with hands-on-hips, looking at a strapped load before closing the trailer door

Are freight consolidators right for your business?

Small to mid-sized suppliers, manufacturers, and ecommerce businesses often realize the most benefit from freight consolidation when they:

  • Consistently ship partial loads of up to 3 pallets
  • Move high-value, perishable, or fragile freight
  • Require time-sensitive delivery schedules

We see this strategy employed quite a bit by industries, like:

  • Wine and spirits
  • Sporting goods
  • Non-hazardous raw materials
  • Manufacturing
  • Automotive

How do you find an experienced freight consolidator?

The freight consolidation process itself will look similar from 3PL to 3PL. So, what separates your potential partners and helps ensure your success?

  • Experience
  • Technology
  • Carrier network

When vetting prospective freight consolidators, be sure to ask:

  • How many years of experience they have in freight consol
  • How they vet their carriers (ask to see their SOP)
  • How they facilitate transparency and streamlined communication
  • If they offer a customer portal with live freight tracking
  • How much carrier and crossdocking capacity they have in your lanes

This process is inherently complex with lots of opportunities for missteps. And when an error happens, that can translate to missing product, delivery errors, and unhappy customers.

That’s why freight consolidation is considered a specialty service. Not many offer it, and fewer do it well.

In short, finding the right partner is critical to realizing your potential supply chain management benefits. So, vet prospective freight consolidators carefully.

Want to know more?

We got our start in the beer, wine, and spirits freight consolidation space. We knew that if we could manage the complexity of consolidating fragile, high-value freight, everything else would come easy. It has.

So, connect with us. We’re happy to answer your questions.