What are part truckload services?
Part or Partial truckload service (PTL) is loading the truck partly. In this case, many different shipments are kept together in a truck and transported to various shipment locations or logistic centers.
The shipping allows your freight to stay on one truck for the duration of transit. The quantity of the shipment is bigger than the less than truckload or LTL shipment. Also, the shipment cannot occupy the full space of the truck. In other words, its capacity is much lower than Full truckload (FTL) shipment.
It is nothing but the freight mode for large shipments; that might not require the use of full loaded truckload. This mode falls in between the LTL and FTL. The truckload does not require a freight class for securing the rate and also requires less handling and enables faster transit times.
- Low-density freight: If your freight is light but it is taking lots of space, then partial load truck is the better option to go for as compared to LTL.
2. Fragile freight: Part load truck is a good option if one is concerned with the damage of freight. If the handling is less, the odds of cargo being damaged during the transit also decreases.
Fewer costs: With part truck loading; one pays for space and a weight capacity that one uses.
Advantages of opting Partial truckload
This mode of the truckload is the best option for shoppers looking for a cost-effective shipping solution as it falls in between FTL and LTL:
Partial load truck shipping enables your freight to stay on one truck for the duration of the transit. When one truck is involved; the freight is loaded and unloaded one time, which means minimum handling and swift transit times as compared to LTL.
No freight class is required for partial truckload mode. This helps to do away with extra charges related to freight re-classification in case you happen to get it wrong.
When the freight is handled less; the chances for damage are minimized. The partial truckload is best for the shipments that are prone to damage during loading and unloading.
PTL is the best and ideal service option for organizations, companies, and individuals, who have more cargo; but not enough for the full truckload. It is the best service option for shipping valuable goods. Also, it is the best option for shipping goods to multiple customers; who have shipment requirements to the same city and to be transmitted on the same very day.
Part truckload services are availed by companies like food and beverage, oil & gas, automotive, heavy engineering equipment, construction, fertilizers, chemicals, and alike.
Challenges for part truckload services
Every business or service faces some sort of challenge or the other while transpiring its daily work process. Part truckload services also certain challenges like full truckload and less than truckload:
Logistics management is all about providing the right product in the right quantity to the right place and correct time. It should, therefore, be able to provide good customer service. Customers of today need full transparency and find out about the tracking of their delivery at any point in time.
Their expectations have increased and their willingness to pay for the fast shipping service has reduced. This has become the major challenge for part truckload services transporters.
This is another major challenge that the logistics firms have to take into account. Fuel prices are always on the higher side and are rising often. One of the biggest concerns contributing to transportation cost concern is fuel prices. Higher prices of fuel escalate transportation costs. This increases the cost of transportation for PLT service.
The market scenario is ever-changing and to stay efficient and effective as possible, periodic assessment and redesigns of the PLT service are necessary. Such adjustments are put in place in sync to the changes in the market, the launch of the new product, global sourcing, availability of the credit, etc. PLT service managers must identify and quantify these risks for controlling and moderating them.
Logistics owners for part truck load face important compliance rules and regulations imposed upon them by local, state, and central government authorities. Certain environmental issues like anti-idling and other emission reduction regulations by the authorities have always posed challenges for the PTL service providers.
Communication is the vital bridge that connects both various sections of the organization to one common core. At times PTL faces a lack of communication within the departments. This results in increased time lag within the systems and thus affects the smooth running of the logistic process.
PTL service provider often faces various issues when it comes to managing their manpower. Not only do they have issues of handling their drivers but they also have to face challenges of handling in-house office staff. Matters regarding the pay, leave, overtime, etc have always posed challenges to the service providers of the part truckload.
This is another major challenge faced by the part truck load transporter. Roads are not in good condition and this creates hindrance in the transportation of goods. At times the driver finds it difficult to get service providing shops like repairing shops, rest places, etc. and this creates lots of issues for the drivers and which in turn affects the working ability of the driver. The infrastructure issues also affect the on-time delivery of the goods to the end-users.
The majority of truckers and transporters are not aware of certain vital aspects of logistics. There are many vital areas; where the transporters have to be educated. Most of them also are unaware of calculating transportation costs and still follow the theory of working at operating costs a bit lower than their nearby competitor. This all minimizes the profits of the transporters and causes huge loss to the PTL service providers.
Solutions for part truckload services
The very first step in a seamless work process is proper and strategic planning. Planning encompasses various factors. It involves proper procuring of the goods, storing them, and then timely delivering them to the exact location. PTL management services should be able to chalk out the flow chart for the proper planning of the process.
It is the age of automation and technology and state of the art software play a major role in boosting the efficiency of the logistics process. The customized, automated, and user-friendly software helps in proper movement and management of the entire PTL process. The part truckload transport software helps to give the details in a single click from any remote platform. The considerable amount of time of the PTL manager is saved because of the removal of manual interference.
Part truckload service provider has presidium of an assiduous team of personnel – warehouse manager, driver, delivery guy, in-house administrative department and everyone should be perfect in the field of their work. Regular training and workshops should be conducted to educate the employees with new development and changes in the part-load truck logistics arena.
This helps in boosting their efficiency and also increasing the satisfaction of the clients. The PTL manager should also have authoritative contacts in the industry as it helps in tapping good business opportunities.
Effective management of Part truckload is possible with proper warehouse management. Operations of the warehouse are dependent on the kind of goods. Like perishable goods like dairy products require refrigeration facilities and food grains should be stored in a moisture-free environment.
The PTL service provider should be able to have a well developed and spacious warehouse so that there is minimum wastage of the goods. The services provider should employ well trained and experienced warehouse manager so that operations of the warehouse are carried out efficiently.
Part truckload manager should integrate measurement, analysis, and feedback. When new strategies are incorporated into the system, one needs to measure the output. This is vital as it intimates the success or failure strategy. The PTL manager should deploy tool and software; that easily determines and classified the information in tune with the requirements. The planning of PTL is heavily dependent on the measured information.
The process of transportation should be analyzed to minimize the expenses of the PTL service. The transport line also should be revamped for the swift delivery of the products. The PTL service provider should determine the best delivery route and should as far as possible opt for the shortest yet the safest route. This enables us to save both time and money.
This is another major challenge faced by the part truck load transporter. Roads are not in good condition and this creates hindrance in the transportation of goods. At times the driver finds it difficult to get service providing shops like repairing shops, rest places, etc. and this creates lots of issues for the drivers and which in turn affects the working ability of the driver. The infrastructure issues also affect the on-time delivery of the goods to the end-users.
The majority of truckers and transporters are not aware of certain vital aspects of logistics. There are many vital areas; where the transporters have to be educated. Most of them also are unaware of calculating transportation costs and still follow the theory of working at operating costs a bit lower than their nearby competitor. This all minimizes the profits of the transporters and causes huge loss to the PTL service providers.
Editorial Staff at Bharat Software Solutions is a team of transport management system development.