What is “ugly freight”?

Managing ugly freight efficiently doesn’t have to be hard

FreightExchange was designed with machinery, equipment, fragile and dangerous goods traders in mind. That’s why thousands of customers every day choose FreightExchange to help scale operations, reduce costs by 25% and ship 5x faster.

What is ugly freight?

“Ugly freight” is an industry term used to describe goods that are difficult to transport due to their size, shape, weight or because it requires specialised handling and equipment to move.

Examples of commodities and shipments that are typically difficult to ship include:

1. Over-sized or heavy goods such as machinery, building materials
2. Fragile items such as glass and furniture
3. Hazardous or dangerous goods such as paint and chemicals
4. Perishables and cold-chain, including food, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies
5. Time-sensitive shipments such as exhibition installations, parts required for urgent maintenance
6. Goods shipping to remote or hard-to-reach locations such as mine sites or construction sites

Traders need to go the extra mile

Traders shipping ugly freight efficiently need to go the extra mile.

Comparing quotes from multiple carriers: Get quotes from multiple carriers and compare rates to find the most cost-effective option.

Custom packaging: Proper packaging can reduce the amount of space your shipment takes up, and reduce the risk of items being damaged in transit.

Using pallets: Shipping on pallets can make it easier and cheaper to load and unload your shipment.

Shipping pallets (LTL) instead of full trucks (FTL): Less Than Truckload (LTL) or pallet shipping is usually far cheaper than using a Full Truck Load (FTL) as it allows carriers to consolidate loads and save costs.

Great planning: By planning ahead, businesses have time to consolidate loads and use off-peak services to significantly reduce costs.

Traders need to go the extra mile

Automate everything: Automating carrier quoting, carrier selection, consignment tracking, document creation and customer communications reduces the costs of managing freight by reducing manual tasks and double handling.