Dry Van, Refrigerated or Flatbed Shipping in Houston, TX: What Shipping Method Is Best for You?

No matter what line of business you’re in, you know that there can be a fine line between making a profit and taking a loss. Even small decisions about your day-to-day operations can make a huge difference in how successful and profitable you are. One of the more important decisions you need to make is choosing a shipping method.

Having a successful shipping plan in place is essential to your business’ long-term success, but understanding the options that are available can seem overwhelming at first. To help make your decision a little easier, we decided to provide a quick overview of three methods of shipping: dry van, refrigerated and flatbed shipping in Houston, TX.

Dry van shipping

Dry van shipping is the most common form of shipping. Dry van trailers are simply an enclosed box on wheels and are able to handle most types of freight. The enclosed trailer protects shipments from theft, bad weather and possible damage. A standard dry van trailer can haul up to 45,000 pounds of cargo or 26 standard pallets, so they can manage most shipments with ease. Dry van shipping also allows the driver to “drop and hook,” which basically means he can drop off one load and immediately hook up a new load without having to wait for the first trailer to be unloaded. Overall, dry van shipping is the most versatile and affordable shipping option—but it can’t handle everything.

Refrigerated shipping

Refrigerated shipping is used for hauling items that require temperature-controlled transportation, such as fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy products and other foods. Dry goods that require a temperature-controlled environment can also be shipped using the refrigerated shipping method. Using refrigerated shipping ensures that your products will be safe and damage-free upon arrival at their destination. The two main issues or concerns with refrigerated shipping, however, are that, if the truck should break down, the goods can be easily compromised and these loads typically take longer to load and/or unload as well.

Flatbed shipping

Last, but certainly not least, we have flatbed shipping. Flatbed shipping is reserved for items that either don’t require dry van shipping or don’t fit within a standard truck trailer. Flatbed shipping allows more flexibility when it comes to size and shape dimensions, which makes it ideal for oversized and bulky loads. Another benefit of flatbed shipping is the fact that the trailer can be loaded from any direction, not just the rear, which makes using a crane to load the trailer a breeze. The only drawbacks to this method are that the freight can sometimes be difficult to secure and, should bad weather hit, the cargo is susceptible to the elements.

Now that you have a little working knowledge of these three shipping methods, you can choose which option best meets the needs of your business. However, if you find yourself in need of flatbed shipping in Houston, TX, be sure to call on Pro Delivery LLC, your local shipping experts. We’ve been serving area businesses for nearly two decades and look forward to assisting you soon!

Categorised in: Flatbed Shipping

This post was written by Writer