Most LTL shippers are aware of the different ways to obtain LTL freight rates and service for their domestic shipments. This ranges from the antiquated method of calling or emailing a freight broker and waiting for a rate response to the more modern use of an online rating and service provider. Everyday LTL shippers are frequently contacted by a boiler-room type telemarketing entity promising the “lowest rates” and “best” service within the industry. Considering that rates are increasing while service levels from trucking companies decreases, it’s only natural that shipper’s will increasingly evaluate the use of new providers. However, most online LTL brokers are unable to set their platform apart from the competition with salient functionality that will benefit a shipper’s business.

The ExFreight LTL freight quote calculator stands above and beyond the competition. It’s powerful rating engine roars and provides direct shippers, 3PL’s, and freight forwarders best-in-breed LTL freight within a neutral service environment. This means that the platform is available through 3rd parties or direct from ExFreight, providing that the business is not currently handled by one of our esteemed partners.

For starters, it’s important to mention the obvious, which is that the LTL freight market is massive. Also, according to Logistics Management, the top 10 LTL carriers control about 75% of their total $43.6 billion market. However, that doesn’t mean that smaller online brokers cannot compete and give shippers access to multiple carriers at once along with highly competitive rates. How can this be done?

ExFreight built it’s proprietary system from the ground-up with mission-critical dependability in-mind. In addition, the user interface is built for pure functionality, sparing users bells and whistles that have little effect upon the shipping process. Shipper’s are able to enter a few salient details, augmented by ultra-functional accessorials, and have a wide array of quotes at their fingertips.

One of the most obvious benefits of the ExFreight ltl freight quote calculator is the automatically calculated density based pricing. This means that the guesswork of entering the correct NMFC class. Why does this matter? Using an NMFC system, whenever a shipper “mistakenly” chooses the wrong NMFC class, their freight invoice is inevitably higher than expected. (Note, there are plenty of old-school naysayers on this subject but the market says otherwise.) By using a density based system the shipper will only pay based upon the freight description and details provided.

More upside to the ExFreight platform: accessorial service. Shippers have an array of pickup and destination accessorials built to meet their needs. Our freight forwarding customers are able to pickup and drop at Container Freight Station’s (CFS) along with airport terminal handling stations. Third-party logistics providers and direct customers can ship to Amazon FBA facilities. Both entities can ship to limited access areas and home addresses in most cases.

Volume pricing. The ExFreight system provides volume LTL quotes and service. This eliminates the need to seek-out partial FTL rates or waste FTL space and money. It still allows the shipper to only pay for the actual amount of actual space used. Volume shipments are a great option for instant, cost-effective shipping.

In addition to offering the “Standard” transit time a shipping cost, the ExFreight LTL Freight Quote Calculator also shows the amount of CO2 emissions, limited liability, and reliability of service. The reliability of service per carrier and lane is based on rolling-data from thousands of ongoing ExFreight’s shipments. This includes the on-time delivery percentage, on-time pickup percentage, average days late to deliver, and average days late to pickup. All of this extra data and insight helps customer’s make more informed choices when choosing a carrier.

After choosing a carrier, the shipper goes through a very simple booking process that simply entails entering the correct shipper and consignee details along with special instructions, as required. Once booked, the ExFreight system will also automatically email shipment updates as they occur. LTL freight tracking can be also viewed by logging into the shipper account. This is both map based and includes notes made by our ltl freight tracking staff along with updates from the respective carrier.

As originally stated, there are plenty of options available for shippers with ltl freight needs. By utilizing a platform built for pure functionality, shipment choices, ltl freight tracking, and useful data, shippers can better compete in today’s business environment. The system of choice for intelligent shippers is ExFreight’s LTL Freight Quote Calculator.