The Best Way to Ship Fragile Items

Shipping fragile items by truckload requires careful consideration. There are different options you can choose from, but it’s essential you pick the right method and provider. We’ll draw on our experience to compare the options available when shipping fragile items. 

Key Takeaways:

• Fragile shipments are best shipped with a 3PL provider vs a single carrier to avoid risks like freight damage and supply chain delays.
• Shippers should consider crating or palletizing fragile freight to best secure the shipment for loading, transport, and unloading.
• Small fragile shipments are best consolidated on less-than-truckloads (LTL) while high-volume fragile shipments should be transported on full truckload (FTL).

We’ll help you decide which shipping method is right for your fragile items.

The Dangers of Shipping Fragile Items

Whether you’re shipping small or individual fragile items or moving a large amount, working with a 3PL logistics partner removes the odds of common shipping errors. These errors include mishandling that can lead to broken goods and a delay in your supply chain. 

We’ve listed in a chart below how shipping fragile items with a 3PL vs a single carrier can lead to a smoother shipment.

Here’s a thorough breakdown of what we’re looking at when considering the risks of shipping fragile freight with single carriers or a logistics company:

• Single carriers may have limited shipping services due to a smaller staff and resources. A network of carriers has a variety of services from each provider, from white glove delivery to handling fragile cargo and expedited shipping.
• Single carriers may not be open to negotiating rates, but a 3PL’s diversified network allows them to find the carrier with the right rate for you.
• Single carriers are the source of error when accidents happen and disrupt your transport. 3PL’s can easily pivot to another carrier to handle your haul and keep your supply chain running.

At USA Truckload, we’re proud to partner with our trusted and trained network of over 22,000 carriers nationwide for easy fragile freight shipping.

To Crate or To Palletize

Fragile items have to be packed carefully if they’re going to survive transit. Fortunately, you have two options to choose from.

Crates and pallets are both great to transport fragile freight, but our chart below provides insight on which would work best for your shipment.

While crates and pallets can offer protection for ship fragile freight, palletizing requires extra packaging, like cardboard boxes, shrink wrap, and other packing materials to safely ship, which adds on to the price of your shipment.

Let’s further break down the cost differences between crated and palletized freight.

The Cost of Palletizing vs Crating

Carriers factor the weight of your fragile freight in your overall shipping costs. The weight of your packing material is also included. Here’s how to choose between palletizing or crating to save on your shipment.

Palletizing

Pallets are inexpensive, especially wood material pallets. Use pallets to ship fragile freight that’s not awkwardly-shaped and doesn’t require being stacked to ship. Palletized freight is also easier to lift with equipment like pallet jacks and forklifts, making for simpler loading and unloading.

Crating

Crated freight is pricier because of the heavy duty wood and weight of crates. They can also be tougher to load and unload without proper equipment, like forklifts. However, oddly-shaped or bulky fragile freight is better protected by a crate’s sturdy walls.

Shipping Fragile Items Safely with LTL and FTL

LTL shipments share space with other loads inside a trailer, while FTL shipments fill the entirety of a trailer and belong to one shipper. 

Both methods are great for transporting fragile freight. However, FTL is the safest way to ship large, fragile items. It also eliminates the risk of heavier items shifting during transport and damaging yours.

We here at USA Truckload are able to safely transport fragile freight in both crates or pallets. We work with vetted carriers across the country to handle your cargo with care no matter if it’s a small LTL load or large FTL load.

Related: What is the Difference Between FTL and LTL Freight Shipping?

Special Freight Services Handled by USA Truckload Shipping

The best way to ship fragile items is to rely on a professional logistics partner. We’re happy to handle your sensitive freight to ship anywhere in the US, anytime.

Get in touch with our freight experts at (866)-353-7178 or submit your Request for Proposal to get shipping today.