Whether you are buying a used furniture or planning to move your furniture to a new home, you will be looking around for the cheapest mode of transportation to ship the furniture to you. You can opt to hire a professional moving company that offers white glove service. The service includes packaging your furniture, take it up or down stairs, and much more, providing extra care to your furniture. Another option is via less-than-load (LTL) freight shipping.
What is Less-Than-Load Shipping?
Less-than-load freight (LTL) shipping typically involves the shipping of large items (or multiple smaller items) that will not take up the entire space of a vehicle. It is often cheaper than other freight services as it does not require an entire journey to be made to ship just your items, instead they are added to a vehicle already making a journey. It is simply not practical to hire moving van and movers for just a couch or a cabinet.
The most common form of furniture shipping in LTL is the shipping of single pieces. Nobody wants to hire a full moving company to ship one couch or teak wood bookcase. You can save time and money by packaging your furniture, securing it to a standard pallet, and having the LTL carrier come pick it up from your driveway.
Advantages of Using LTL Shipping
The main advantage to using LTL freight shipping to ship your furniture is it may be transported for a fraction of the cost of hiring an entire truck and trailer for an exclusive shipment. Since the carrier is already moving multiple freight shipments from multiple customers, the freight carrier pools all the shipments onto a single freight truck. Therefore, each customer pays a fraction of the cost of utilizing the truck or trailer.
LTL shipping also reduces harmful CO2 emissions by reducing the number of otherwise wasteful trips.
How to Ship Furniture Via LTL?
First, you need to package the furniture. Correct packaging of a shipment will help prevent damage during transit. Depending on the fragility of the item, you can wrap it in blankets, bubble wrap or other secure materials, place it in a box or crate, and if possible, secure the box to a pallet. The pallet makes it easier for the carrier to maneuver it from one terminal to another.
If the furniture can easily be disassembled, do it. Furniture legs can be wrapped individually, labeled, and kept along with the rest of the piece. It’s important to keep all screws, fasteners, and small pieces together in a sealed plastic bag. It’s best if you tape the bag directly to the piece to avoid misplacement.
Keep in mind that LTL is not the best way for certain types of furniture. If your furniture is particularly fragile or expensive, you should hire a professional furniture shipping service. LTL is suited for moving furniture pieces that are sturdier.
To find out more about LTL freight shipping for your furniture to safe cost as well as to support sustainable shipping option for a greener environment, you can browse shipping service sites like Shiply, an online shipment marketplace that connects shipping companies and customers. They empower shipping companies to maximize spare vehicle space, all while providing users with the best possible price for their shipment.
