Freight Shipping Explained

Let’s build a scenario:  

You’ve just ordered 200 cases of the 8-ounce Smooth Sided Economy Mayo Jars. At $4.92 per case, that’s a great deal! However, that’s going to be very expensive to ship with FedEx, and let’s face it, conventional parcel shipping just won’t be practical here. This is where freight shipping comes in handy! 

But what is freight shipping? 

Freight shipping is a method of shipping for particularly large or heavy goods. While parcel shipping uses smaller trucks (think your standard UPS truck), freight uses much larger trucks (like the ones no one wants to get stuck behind on the interstate). There are even different kinds of freight shipping trucks, such as semi trailers, flatbeds, dry vans, and reefers (also known as refrigerated trucks). 

But wait! You’ve just noticed that it takes 368 cases to make a full pallet! The good news is that you can still use freight shipping for your order. This is known as a “partial pallet”.  

There are different types of pallets?

As you may have guessed, a partial pallet order is simply an order that doesn’t max out the pallet’s capacity. A full pallet does max out a pallet’s capacity. You can have as many pallets as you want, but once a truck is full to maximum capacity, this is known as a “Full Truck Load” (or FTL). If you have a large business (or are an incredibly ambitious home canner) stocking up and shipping a full truck load can save you a lot of money in shipping costs over time. For the average small- to medium-sized business, a full truck load likely isn’t necessary. When your freight shipment requires less than a full truck load, it’s called “Less-Than Truckload” (or LTL). 

Is that it? 

Almost! I have one more option to tell you about: Build-a-Pallet! Back to our hypothetical scenario, let’s say your business sells a multitude of products: BBQ sauces, hot sauce, pepper jellies, etc. Let’s also say you want to stock different sizes of every product you offer. To order a full pallet of each kind of container would be overkill (that’s a LOT of storage space!). It would be wasteful and cost too much to ship multiple partial pallets. This is where Build-a-Pallet can be tremendously useful.  

On the product page of each container we offer, you’ll see a table containing product information. Here we’ve included a visual from your hypothetical order: 

This table includes information such as measurements for the product as well as shipping information. As you’ll see, one of these rows says, “Cases per Layer”. This information can help you build a custom pallet. You can order a layer of 8-ounce Smooth Sided Economy Mayo Jars for your pepper jelly (23 cases), a layer of 12-ounce Stout Bottles for your BBQ sauces (17 cases), a layer of 5-ounce Woozy Bottles for your hot sauce (40 cases), and so on and so forth. Of course, if you need help building a custom pallet, you can contact us for assistance. 

How to order freight quantities 

Here at Saia Wholesale Containers, we like to try our best to make things simple for our customers. Since it can be difficult to know if you’re really getting the best freight shipping rates using an automated system, we have a team of professionals prepared to tackle that task for you! All you need to do is fill out a Shipping Quote Request Form with your order of 40 cases or more. We’ll compare shipping costs between multiple companies to ensure you get the best rates available every time! 

Now that you know your options, it’ll be easier than ever to get your order started with Saia Wholesale Containers. (And don’t forget to order your lids!)