Transit Time plays a role in two matters. The first and most obvious is in defining how long it will take to get from one location to another. The second role it plays is in how it affects price in relation to deviating from standard transit time.
Truckload - Van / Climate Control / Legal Flatbed
Standard Transit Times vary from service provider to service provider. At ALS, while we offer many different services each one has a standard transit time.
For Truckload service, as is the case with most other service providers, ALS provides transit times that tend to be dictated by the distance a shipment must travel. Using the rule of 600 miles that can be traveled in a 10-hour window of time, as set forth by the governing state and federal authorities, standard transit times would look like this:
- 400 to 600 miles would be next day service
- 601 to 1200 miles would be 2-day service
- 1201 to 1800 miles would be 3-day service
- 1801 to 2400 miles would be 4-day service
If you have a shipment covering 1-399 miles the shipment could be delivered same-day or next day depending on various factors such as operational hours of origin and destination.
If you require transit times to be sped up this usually
requires that a team, or co-driver be placed in the truck so a second
driver is allowed to keep the transportation unit moving while the other
driver takes the mandated off-duty rest required by law. In such cases
you can usually add $200 to $500 to the price of your truckload transportation
costs depending on the overall distance the shipment must travel.
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We offer standard transit times for LTL shipping needs. Though they do vary based on the type of equipment you request. To learn more about selecting the right equipment click here. In general, we offer a standard transit time based on your standard LTL pricing format that would look like this:
- 50 to 400 miles would be next-day
- 401 to 600 miles would be 2-day
- 601 to 900 miles would be 2 to 3-day
- 901 to 1200 miles would be 3 day
- 1201 to 1500 miles would be 3 to 4-day
- 1501 to 1800 miles would be 4-day
- 1800 to 2500 miles would be 4 to 5-day
If you have a shipment traveling 1 to 100 miles, same-day service can be provided in some circumstances. (back to top)
Factors that affect price are deviations from this
schedule. If you want your shipment delivered faster than these schedules
it can increase your price in some cases.
Less-Than-Truckload - Climate Control
While we do provide LTL service and pricing for your climate control needs it is difficult to provide a standard schedule due to the specialized nature of this type of shipment. It is however, much easier to accommodate climate control LTL shipments that require "protect from freeze" than it is climate control shipments that require being kept frozen. This is because more general commodities that do not require being climate controlled at all are certainly not at any risk of damage resulting from being maintained in a "protect from freeze" environment as opposed to being frozen.
If your LTL shipment requires climate control service
we are happy to provide it but generally recommend contacting us contact
us. (back to top)
Less-Than-Truckload - Legal Flatbed
If you request LTL service for flatbed shipments we are happy to provide it. In fact, we often do while most service providers will charge you as a truckload. There are plenty of LTL shipments out there to be commingled. It is very likely that you'll be able to acquire LTL pricing and quality service based on the how you define your needs.
For Example
If you have a shipment that may require 25 - 50% of the deck space and you can live with 1-2 day transit time for a distance traveled of, say, 300 miles, it's the difference in paying a truckload rate of $600 or $400 for LTL service. It really requires examining the cost/service tradeoff and what blend best fits your needs.
As well, we provide LTL pricing for shipments traveling 500 miles and 2500 miles. It really is up to you to examine and decide what cost/service tradeoff best fits you needs.
It's too difficult to provide a straightforward LTL schedule for such service because of the uniqueness of this type of service. We recommend you contact us. Besides, we like hearing from you. (back to top)
Specialized and Over-Dimensional
There are rules and laws that govern the transport of items that are categorized as over-dimensional. To list a few that tend to affect most shipments on the road today, they are single, indivisible shipping units that are:
- In excess of 50 feet in length
- In excess of 102 inches (8 feet, 6 inches) in width
- In excess of 144 inches (12 feet) in height.
For the purpose of transit time we are only going to discuss how these factors play a role in transit time. To learn more about over-dimensional shipping and the rules and equipment for providing these services please see the discussion in "selecting the right equipment - flatbed and specialized".
The general rules around transit are, if you are requiring the transportation of over-dimensional shipments, the following rules are applied by governing state and federal authorities:
- You may not travel after or before daylight hours
- You may not travel on weekends or holidays
The reasoning behind this is a matter of public safety on the roads. During many holidays highway public safety personnel tapered back. Hey, they want the day off just like you and me. During dark hours it's just plain dangerous to have these 10-foot wide or wider shipments traveling down the roads when visibility is already inhibited by a lack of daylight. So, for public safety these rules are applied to these shipments. You will have to adjust your transit time schedule accordingly. You may learn about how this may effect your shipment when scheduling this service by contacting us.