FTL is industry shorthand for full truckload, or a truckload–most often a dry van or reefer–with a dedicated shipment from a single shipper to a single location. You may also see it referred to as just TL, or truckload. The alternative is LTL, or less than truckload, which is a truckload with multiple shipments from multiple shippers bound for multiple locations.

While there is no hard-and-fast rule, you typically want to look to FTL shipments if you are shipping ten or more pallets or more than 15,000 lbs. That said, there are plenty of shipments that could go either way. In those cases, the decision split between FTL and LTL comes down to four factors: speed, security, performance, and cost.

When is FTL shipping a fit?

Full truckloads are the best pick for time-sensitive shipments, so much so that it is often the default choice in a time crunch. With FTL shipping, your shipment is only traveling from Point A to Point B on the most efficient route. With LTL shipping, your shipment might travel to Points C, D and E to drop off other shipments before finally arriving at Point B.

If security is an important factor, FTL shipping is a better fit than LTL shipping. With that Point A to Point B path, only people directly associated with your shipment will touch your shipment. With LTL freight, your shipment could be taken on and off the truck multiple times, and sometimes be moved between different trucks. With FTL shipping, fewer stops with fewer people means fewer hands on your shipment, resulting in less risk for damaged or missing items.

With fewer stops and fewer risks, there are also fewer opportunities for delays to be introduced on FTL shipments. By removing some risk for unexpected delays, your on-time pickup (OTP) and on-time delivery (OTD) performance will naturally improve.

Finally, the bigger the shipment (by size or weight), the more cost-effective FTL carriers become. All other things being equal, an FTL shipment will be less expensive than the same shipment split into smaller LTL shipments. In short, if you have enough freight to constitute a full or near-full truckload shipment, it’s likely more cost effective to ship FTL.

When is FTL shipping not a fit?

On smaller loads with fewer than 10 pallets or less than 15,000 lbs of freight, you may find that LTL is the more cost-effective option. 

If your shipment is within the size and weight range that could go either FTL or LTL, you should evaluate the shipment based on time sensitivity and your carriers’ capacity.

For example, if you’re fortunate enough to have buffer time for your shipment, you don’t suffer one of the larger drawbacks of LTL shipments.

How Convoy can help you ship FTL

With one of the largest networks of high-quality carriers in the nation and a unique approach to partnering with shippers, Convoy can fulfill your FTL freight needs while also providing you with unmatched visibility into your supply chain operations. Learn more about Convoy’s freight services, and how we can help you move freight more efficiently.

The post The Basics of FTL shipping appeared first on Convoy.

In Convoy’s mid-year market outlook for 2020, we share our latest analysis on freight rates and supply chain trends, covering the following questions:

• How will reopening impact truckload demand in the near future?
• Have we reached rock bottom on freight rates?
• What will freight rates look like on the 6-12 month horizon?

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View our economic commentary disclaimer here.

You can read the a transcript of the conversation below: 

Ari Bixhorn: It has been just about two months since President Trump declared the national state of emergency. Some states are starting to open back up now. So what are we seeing in terms of recovery? Where do you see truckload demand going over the next couple of months?

Aaron Terrazas: The worst is clearly behind us. That’s the good news. We are starting to see truckload demand rebound in our network from the late April lows. If you look at overall truck demand through Convoy’s network, it’s about 5% to 10% below where it was in late February, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. There are of course, divergences across the different industries that we service. You could look at a sector like consumer packaged goods where demand has stayed steady and is slightly above where it was in late February, food and beverage is slightly below, the industrial sector still anywhere from 15% to 20% below where it was at the end of February. So a wide divergence in outcomes, but in general the trend is on the rebound.

Looking beyond the immediate horizon of this week and the next couple of weeks, there is a little bit less uncertainty than there was last time we spoke about, two or three weeks ago. You think about the shape of the economic recovery ahead, there is an emerging consensus that, at the very least, this is not going to be a V-shaped recovery. If you think about that alphabet soup of recoveries that we talked about in March, the V, the L, the W, all those different options. The consensus is that it’s not going to be a V-shaped recovery. Most of the consensus is focusing on an L or a swoosh shaped recovery. That means a gradual rebound in economic activity over the summer and fall. Still, enormous uncertainty about whether or not there will be a second round of infections, and a second round of stay-at-home orders in the fall and winter. But in general, I think people are focusing on that gradual rebound.

That said, there are really two big headwinds on the horizon when you think about how quickly and how strong the rebound is going to be. First and foremost, think about factory capacity. That’s going to be permanently slower for a while. Manufacturing capacity, factory output was about 75% for most of the past decade. If Chinese factory output is any guide, then capacity is probably going to take anywhere from a 5% to 15% hit structurally until there’s a vaccine.

Equally importantly on the horizon, it’s become increasingly obvious that a lot of the jobs lost in March and April are not coming back. And so that’s going to mean an income hit for a lot of households. Some rough estimation suggests that about a percentage point increase in the unemployment rate over the year translates into about 4% to 7% decrease in consumer spending. Think about the surge of unemployment we’ve seen, that’s about a 30% decline in consumer spending that we can expect. Some of that will be offset by the increase in unemployment insurance, but not all of it. And that permanent income shock is going to be there lasting for some period ahead.

Ari: Aaron, in the truck market, we’ve seen a lot of news coverage about rates. The fact that they’re low, there’s increasingly a sense in the industry that they can’t get much lower. So the question is, have we reached the lower limit for rates?

Aaron: You’re right. We are starting to hear that: That this is the absolute lower bound for the trucking industry. I think a lot of carriers out there are struggling with how low they’ve got, and that’s very real. I think a lot of this conclusion is also drawn from the fact that when you compare average rates per mile right now, it’s roughly on par with what the industry average costs per mile are. I’m reluctant to draw definitive conclusions there, just because those averages can be so misleading. Anyone who works with carriers knows that there is such a wide range in costs that they do carry. You think about the diverging insurance, or vehicle financing costs. Some of them have newer vehicles, some of them have older vehicles. If you think about larger fleets, often larger fleets can afford to idle one or more of their vehicles while running the others in order to just collect revenue, even while those other vehicles are sitting idle.

So I think comparing those averages is dangerous, because there are so many divergent experiences across these different carriers that have very different carrying costs, varies on empty miles that they run, on diesel prices, which we know are very low now. So I agree that rates are low and it’s pretty hard to imagine getting lower, but basing it off of that idea that costs are on par with rates is a little dangerous.

Ari: What about the question that is on everyone’s mind, and that is what’s going to happen to rates on the longer term horizon, maybe 6-12 months out?

Aaron: Yeah. I mean, that is I think the question that we most commonly get from shippers. Everyone wants to know: What is the rate outlook? Likely so they can think about costs on the 12 month horizon. I think you hear very diverging narratives here. On the one extreme you hear doomsayers say that because of this persistent gap between what consumers are spending, what factories are going to be turning out, you’re going to see that consistent gap between supply and demand. And that’s going to give rates very little scope for moving upward. On the other extreme you hear narratives around the elimination of supply from carrier bankruptcies, and how that could jolt prices upward as early as later this year.

Some of this is, of course, wishful thinking. A lot of it depends on what side of the market you sit on, and how you view these trends, and how you hope they’re going to play out. Beneath those headline numbers, there will probably be a difference between contract and spot rates. For spot rates we just talked about how it feels like they’re maybe toward the bottom of the range, and they probably do have some room to move higher, particularly going into the summer. But beyond that, there are so many uncertainties about what will happen. They could flatten out or dip again.

For contract rates, it’s easier to imagine a bigger move upward, just because so many of the contract rates that are being reset right now were initially set mid last year when rates were low and on a downward trajectory. The workhorse forecasting models that are typically used for that kind of prediction typically tend to miss turning points. So I can imagine contract rates surging a little bit more than spot rates on the 12 months horizon.

The post Freight Market Outlook: Three Questions on COVID-19 Reopening and Recovery appeared first on Convoy.

Blake Winterton, Senior Manager of Commercial Services at Goodyear, joins Convoy for our latest video covering how COVID-19 is impacting the freight industry. Winterton is responsible for Goodyear’s FleetHQ Service Center, a program that helps minimize downtime for truckers when unexpected roadside issues arise. Convoy teamed up with Goodyear to provide FleetHQ roadside assistance in addition to online tire discounts for carriers in our nationwide network.

In our interview with Blake Winterton, we cover:

• How demand for commercial truck tires remains high, in spite of shocks caused by COVID-19
• Goodyear’s implementation of zero-contact service to ensure the safety of truck drivers and its own employees
• Convoy’s partnership with Goodyear to to provide tire discounts and roadside assistance to carriers

Learn more about Goodyear’s benefits for carriers who haul with Convoy. 

You can read the a transcript of the our interview with Goodyear below: 

Ari Bixhorn:

So Blake, we’ve seen supply undergo a lot of change in a very short period of time due to the COVID-19 crisis. Given that Goodyear is central to the freight industry I’m curious to hear what you’ve been seeing and what sort of impact you’ve seen.

Blake Winterton (Goodyear):

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the commercial tire industry. But despite that kind of demand shock in the commercial tire business and the trucking industry, we’re seeing still a lot of demand for the commercial tires. And a lot of that demand is being driven by those essential services. When you think of grocery haulers, medical supplies, transporting emergency crews, those types of business are continuing to thrive. We were also seeing the downside of that in other businesses, like those tied to automotive.

So the demand has shifted and we’ll continue to monitor it but with the added demand on these services that are needed, these goods and services and trying to get freight to the grocery stores, to those first responders, to the medical supplies to the hospitals. It’s putting a lot of demand on the fleets to keep their vehicles up and running and the drivers to keep their vehicles up and running. So we are seeing an increased attention to tire health and air pressure which is a good thing because that keeps tires running down the road.

Ari Bixhorn:

Blake I know one of the things that you’ve been having to deal with is the idea of a zero contact as you’re working with carriers. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Blake Winterton:

Yeah as you think about seven weeks ago when this all started at least from Goodyear’s perspective since I’ve been working from home we weren’t even thinking about zero contact. And quickly we as a team and the team of our Goodyear commercial tire and service center has done a great job of servicing the fleets out there in the marketplace. They got around the horn, quickly implemented this zero contact service. And what that means is how do we keep our employees safe and how do we keep the truck drivers safe? We need them to stay safe and healthy and keep the freight moving that’s keeping our country moving.

So that zero contact service involves little things like making sure the drivers stays in the vehicle when that service is being performed. Taking payment by phone, making sure everything that we touch on a daily basis is sanitized and cleaned following all those guidelines from the center of disease control and prevention and really that social distance protocol that’s out there, maintaining that. So we’ve implemented that across all of our stores. Many of our independent dealers are implementing those processes as well and the team really did a great job of reacting quickly to something that wasn’t even on the radar a few weeks ago.

Ari Bixhorn:

In early April your team at Goodyear started working with Convoy to launch the nationwide roadside assistance program and this is for carriers who will haul on our digital freight network. Can you tell the viewers a little bit more about the program?

Blake Winterton:

Yeah this one’s close to my heart. I have responsibility for our Fleet HQ service center. So we’re excited to partner with Convoy and provide a service, not just through this COVID pandemic but as things get back to normal. To continue to provide service to all the hardworking truckers around the country. So partnering with Convoy we were able to come up with a 24/7 365 roadside service breakdown program. Goodyear has been operating this for years as Fleet HQ. So partnered up with Convoy we’ve created a dedicated phone line for drivers to call if you have a tire issue on the side of the road.

So you have a tire issue you call that dedicated line, it brings in our Fleet HQ, we have Convoy’s program loaded and ready to go. We take your information, find where you’re at on the side of the road, find the closest dealer that servicing point that can get out to you in a short period of time. And keep you updated through that process from when we dispatch them. We can send you text messages along the way so you know when that dealer is on their way to you. And really that whole process is streamlined and at no cost to the convoy carriers.

Ari Bixhorn:

Tell me a little bit more about the tire pricing. I know there’s this concept of controlled pricing.

Blake Winterton:

Yeah. So we have a pricing program that we publish to the Convoy carriers, also it’s published to our dealers. So that driver, if he’s on the side of the road he can get that pricing and know exactly what he’s going to pay for a tire. There’s no negotiating back and forth on the phone. You think about the old method without a fleet HQ in play that driver if he’s broken down, have to go on his phone. Google nearest service provider, call that service provider say, “Hey, here’s where I’m at. How much are you charging for service? What tires do you have in stock? How much are those tires?”

And it’s an ongoing negotiation. So now with all these pricing and program in place the driver knows what he’s going to pay, he knows how much that. He’s going to get national account service rates, so the same benefits that the large trucking companies receive from Goodyear. He will get those service rates and a locked in tire price. So he’ll have a great idea and know exactly what he’s going to spend. And all is communicated between the driver fleet HQ and the servicing dealer that we get and dispatch to try to get you up and running in two hours or less.

Ari Bixhorn:

Blake, I know that our carriers don’t always want to buy tires when they’re out on the road and Goodyear is offering a program that makes things easier when they’re at home as well. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Blake Winterton:

Yeah. It’s a bad day when they have to buy tires over the road for the carrier and the bulk of their purchases happen on a daily basis, right? When they see they’re in need of tires they can schedule that service and buy those tires as needed instead of a emergency situation. So Goodyear is happy to partner with Convoy in one of our newest launches really in an e-commerce type platform. So we’ve partnered with Convoy to publish this for their carriers and it’s the same way you would buy something online at home when you’re ordering whatever it is, from whatever e-commerce retailer you would order something from.

So we have goodyeartrucktires.com website on one end, but actually through Convoy you can go to Convoy’s carrier benefits website and there’s a link right there that says purchase tires. Easily click on that link, it takes you to an external platform where a driver can follow those steps of how they would buy anything online and buy tires for their vehicle. There’s a simple tire selector, so whether it’s they are looking for by size or vocation, easily finding the product that fits their vehicle. It takes them to find their location, they can find the closest dealer that can install those tires for them.

Set up that service time and they know exactly what they’re going to pay and what that service is going to cost and pay before they get the service done. Show up that day, all they got to do is bring in the receipt and say, “Hey, I have this service and I’m ready to get my tires installed.” And our dealer will take care of that for them easily. So they know what they’re paying, it gives them access to premium Goodyear brand, mid tier Goodyear brand and even our Kelly truck tires line of tires for them. So it’s a great new program that we’re excited to have in place. So you’re not always buying tires in an emergency situation.

Ari Bixhorn:

So we just recently launched the program. How has it been going so far?

Blake Winterton:

Yeah. So it is a fairly new program like you said, we just launched it. We’ve had a couple of success stories where drivers had an issue and we were able to pair them with a dealer and get them back up and running. I’m really excited to see it grow and those success stories that we’ve seen already. A couple of drivers to take advantage of it and get the tires and get off the side of the road, that’s the name of the game is to keep the freight moving. So I’m excited for it to grow and for drivers to continue to participate and use the service that we partnered with Convoy to deliver.

Ari Bixhorn:

I know we had one carrier that left us direct feedback on the program. He said and I quote, “The representative was extremely helpful and directed me to the closest Goodyear supplier so that I could get back on the road at ASAP. Thank you Convoy.” So it is great to hear that kind of feedback.

Blake Winterton:

Yeah, we love to hear that.

Ari Bixhorn:

Awesome. Well Blake, I want to thank you for joining us today and I want to thank all of your colleagues at Goodyear for supporting our nation’s drivers. I really enjoyed our chat today.

Blake Winterton:

Yeah I appreciate it Ari. Thanks for having me.

The post Goodyear Interview: Helping Truckers During COVID-19 appeared first on Convoy.

In the latest of our COVID-19 video series, we’re joined by Josh Rickards, a 15-year trucking veteran and owner-operator of Rickards Transportation Services. After the recent plunge in demand, Josh and his team of drivers are struggling to find loads. He says, “We’re at a point where finding a load is like pulling teeth. What I love most about driving is being affected: I’m unable to drive.”

In our interview with Josh, we cover:

• The recent peaks and valleys of freight market demand 
• Unpredictable driver experiences at distribution centers and facilities across the country
• How driver feedback can help shippers improve the carrier experience in their facilities

Webinar Invitation: Join Convoy for a panel discussion on COVID-19 and the freight industry, hosted by Logistics Management. The free webinar airs on April 16th, and is available on demand to all registrants. RSVP today.

Subscribe to Freight Economics Updates to get the latest developments delivered directly to your inbox.

You can read the a transcript of the conversation below: 

Ari Bixhorn (Convoy): Josh, you’ve been driving now for just about 15 years. I wanted to start off just by getting a sense of what you love most about driving and how that’s been affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Josh Rickards (Rickards Transportation Services): Well, what I love most is completely being affected by the crisis. At first, when the crisis started to hit the United States, when it hit the West coast primarily, we saw a huge spike in volumes, a lot of panic buying as things started shutting down in the West coast, the West coast was heading towards a lockdown and it was apparent that it was going to start reaching other parts of the country. And so we started seeing a lot of panic buying in California, Oregon, and Washington. So I saw a lot of loads going out to Oregon, a lot of loads going out to California. 

Josh Rickards: I thought in my head I’m like, well, a huge demand for us now means no demand for us later. And as the shutdown started to increase and go around the country, now we’re at a point where finding a load is pulling teeth. So what I love most about driving is being affected. I’m unable to drive. There’s just virtually no loads. So that’s what’s being affected the most. I really want to hit the road right now, I really do.

Ari Bixhorn: One of the things I’ve also been hearing a lot about is how things have been changing in facilities. So what have you seen there? I mean, it’s interesting because on one hand, I feel like over the last month or so, Americans have realized just what a critical role drivers play, not only in the economy, but in all of our wellbeing. And at the same time, as I understand it, some of what you’re seeing in facilities is making it harder for you and other folks out there. So tell us a little bit about what you’ve been seeing in facilities and maybe if there were any surprises that you’ve had. What sort of surprises have you seen?

Josh Rickards: Definitely a lot of surprises, especially when you go to distribution centers, food distribution centers. I went to a facility out in Michigan where they were checking temperatures. This was a food distribution center. So they have a lot of inbound freight, more than normal, because of everything going on and they’re checking temperatures. So when I got off the interstate, that’s where the line started from getting off the interstate. And the facility was about two miles up the road. Two hours just to slowly get into the facility because they wanted to check temperatures.

They wanted to limit any human contact. I understand why. But it does make things more difficult in productivity. You’re pulling for a facility and you’re waiting longer because of this process.

Ari Bixhorn: Josh, for our audience members who are manufacturers and shippers watching this video, any thoughts on what you would like them to know from the driver’s perspective?

Josh Rickards: I think right now, I’d say to shippers and manufacturers who are watching is, there’s a lot of difficulties that drivers and carriers are dealing with as well. I think the main thing is consistency. We’re always thinking about the best way for there to be more productivity and things to be efficient, right? And I know Convoy uses this model where you leave reviews. And when I leave a review on a shipper/receiver, I’m focused more on the productivity aspect of things, right? I understand that sometimes you go to a facility and you might be there four hours one day, another day you might go there, it could be two hours. And I understand that they have their own concerns and their own issues that they’re dealing with as well as we are, right? So it’s a lot to ask for shippers and manufacturers, but I think my big word is consistency.

Ari Bixhorn: As you mentioned, I think that consistency starts out with the shippers having visibility into what the drivers are experiencing. So the more feedback, the more ratings you provide, the greater visibility they’ll have into the different facilities and where they need to make improvements or adjustments based on that.

Josh Rickards: And that’s something that, when with Convoy, when I’m using the tool, that’s what I’m looking at, pointing out. I’m pointing out the fact that well, hey, we have this here, well we don’t have this there. So…

Ari Bixhorn: Yeah. Well, Josh, I wanted to thank you for your time today. I know that I speak for everyone here at Convoy when I say that I’ve got a ton of respect for what you do. I was at the grocery store this weekend and I was, again, reminded that I wouldn’t be able to provide for my own family if it weren’t for the work that you and every driver out there is doing every day and I’m incredibly grateful for that. So I wanted to thank you again and I hope you stay safe and stay well out there.

Josh Rickards: Yes sir. And thanks for having me on the show.

The post An Owner-Operator’s Experience of the COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Convoy.