At Freight Motion, we have customers who discuss various transportation issues they had in the past. We would like to share one here to raise awareness of underlying issues, market trends, and possible solutions.
In our last post, we talked about why pickups are missed. In today’s post, we will focus on what causes delays while freight is in transit.
Freight Congestion
The most common reason for a transit delay is freight congestion. In another past post we discussed how LTL freight moves through terminals. Sometimes those terminals get congested with too much freight. Also, there are times when they do not have enough drivers to move out all of the needed loads. Drivers are people to, and occasionally call in sick or have family emergencies.
The next common would be weather related delays. Safety is important for the drivers as well as your freight.
Truck Maintence
Another is associated with many LTL companies partnering with other LTL companies. Have you ever wondered why a company called Southeastern can offer shipping services from Florida to Oregon? It is because they partner with LTL carriers in the Central US and West Coast. Southeastern may predict a transit time of six days from Florida to Oregon, but they do not know, nor control, their partner carrier’s limitations.
Mistakes happen and yet another reason for a delayed transit is freight being mis-routed. On occasion, someone will make an error and load the freight on an incorrect trailer. It is frustrating, but remember, nobody is perfect.
Some other common reasons are traffic-related and mechanical issues. Despite routine maintenance, sometimes, trucks breakdown.
There are just a few reasons for a delayed transit. Can you think of anymore?
