What is Freight Shipping: Looking at the Most Popular Transportation Types

What is Freight Shipping: Looking at the Most Popular Transportation Types

What is Considered Freight Shipping: Defining Transportation

Freight shipping is a transportation process. Cargo can be transported via air, ocean, or land. Freight is loaded in special containers or pallets and carried by different transportation modes. If your shipment is larger than 30 cubic inches or its weight is more than 150 pounds, it is a freight.

Benefits of freight shipping include:

• Variety of carriers. You can choose a transportation company that can fully satisfy your needs.
• Saving on shipping costs. More carriers – a wider market where you can find lower rates.
• On-time delivery. Time-sensitive freight is not a problem as many carriers offer tight delivery times. Regardless of your time frame, you can find a carrier that meets your needs.

What is the Difference Between Freight and Shipping

Before looking at the differences between freight and shipping, we should look closer at these definitions.

• What is freight? It is any products or goods that are being transported. The transportation process is commercial and implemented by sea, air, or any other transport. Freight can have class, depending on its type, size, and weight.
• Shipping. It is the process of transportation. Shipping can imply commercial and non-commercial transportation of different freights, not just bulk ones.

The difference between freight and shipping is not significant as they both are connected. Each term has its own challenges, pros and cons, so they are not permutable. Both shipping and freight mean goods transportation; however, freight always means larger quantities and volumes. Also, freight has commercial goals, while shipping can be used for personal purposes.

The Most Common Cargo Transportation Methods

The transportation industry has created many ways of freight shipping that allow businesses to build sufficient supply chains. The most popular and mainly-used methods are:

• FTL: Full truckload (full container load) is a direct shipment that belongs to one shipper and goes from the pickup dock to the destination point.
• LTL: Less than truckload is small shipments (1-6 pallets) that fill the whole truck/trailer/container and belong to different shippers.
• Intermodal: Intermodal transportation is a combination of different types of transport. The most common combo is road and rail transport.

Expedited: Expedited is used for time-sensitive loads that can be transported via truck or plane. It is one of the most expensive, yet fastest methods of transportation.