These special rates are cheap for a reason as you don’t get something without giving something back. In most cases with carriers, the shipper is accepting a much smaller amount of carrier liability to ship at a reduced cost. The carrier will also at times consolidate freight with another partial load or two so your freight may be delayed a day or two. These factors are important to keep in mind when considering a rate.
To help prepare yourself when shipping a partial/volume load is to first consider additional insurance. Nearly fifty percent of all partials need additional insurance. Nearly all carriers (regional and national) have a $1 per pound liability tariff. That can be big loss for you or your customer if not properly insured. Another way to help prepare yourself is to make sure you allow enough time for a carrier to deliver your freight. One must always be aware that if freight isn’t being moved under our guaranteed rate than the ETA for delivery is only an estimate and 1-3 days (rare cases more) can be added to a delivery date.
Last thing you should keep in mind, especially if you’re not the shipper but the consignee is to make sure our BOL is used. If our BOL is not used with the specific rate quote number than the rate you were given can be defaulted to a different more expensive rate. Not many but some are not allowing us fix the mistake and carriers are slowing moving to this kind of business. We will always provide you with our BOL with the proper rate quote number on it. We will even do our business to contact the shipper and make sure they have a copy but ultimately it is your responsibility and in your best interest to ensure the shipper uses the correct BOL with the rate quote number on it.
