Shipping over-length products can be a daunting task when you're relying on traditional LTL carriers. The process is full of challenges that can lead to frustration, increased costs, and almost certain damage to your valuable cargo.
High Risk of Damage
The risk of damage is significantly higher when shipping over-length products, compromising the integrity of your product and the satisfaction of your end-customer.
The real problems come when they cross-dock your over-length shipments at their distribution centers. You think the premium fees are there because they are using specialized equipment to unload your valuable goods, and carefully storing them in a designated spot in the warehouse….WRONG!!! In most cases, undertrained forklift drivers are throwing a strap around your load and dragging it out of the trailer, snapping bands and tearing up the custom skid/crate your whse staff spent an hour building. Since it doesn’t fit in their racking, it gets pushed (literally!) off to the side, leaving it open to more damage as it waits to get loaded onto the next trailer. By the time your over-length shipment gets to it’s destination, it may have been cross-docked multiple times and often arrives in shambles.
Cost Implications
Over-length products attract ridiculous additional fees. These surcharges add up quickly, greatly inflating your shipping costs, directly cutting into your margins. When your product is damaged during transit, you may face additional costs for repairs or replacements, not to mention the potential loss of business and reputation due to poor quality and delayed deliveries.
The Solution To Your Problem
Our Founder, Matt Lester, has spent 30+ years manufacturing, packaging and shipping over-length products. Commodity items like hardwood lumber, 16’ bundles of handrail and 20’ bundles of LVL stringer material, along with high-value, custom wood products such as monumental Curved Staircases, massive Commercial and Residential Entry Doors, and custom-colored, Hardwood Flooring packages up to 20’ in length. He started this company with the intent to specialize in hauling the products traditional LTL carriers aren’t set up for, to eliminate the stress, damage, and outrageous fees the people in or around his network face daily in their respective industries.
When shipping over-length products with KelMat Transportation (KMT), all of these risks are minimized. We want to haul your products, and leave the handling to you. The qualified people on your staff will load these shipments onto our 40’ Flatbed trailers, collaborating with our drivers on any unique securement tips or requirements. As we never cross-dock your shipments, your customer will unload it at it’s final destination, in the exact condition it was loaded in.
Contact KMT today to discuss all of your unique shipping needs….We’ll Take it From There!