Furniture shipping can seem challenging whether you are a manufacturer, retailer, or just moving across the country. With its numerous operations, the shipment organization may appear time-consuming and exhausting. Let us facilitate the furniture shipping planning and help prepare your cargo for transportation.
Challenges of furniture shipping
There are a few difficulties you may face when arranging furniture shipping. First, some furniture units belong to the category of oversized items, which requires you to search for large transport capacity and ship at higher rates. Still, there’s a chance your units can be disassembled and condensed into smaller trucks.
If there’s no way of disassembling a furniture unit, you can sometimes experience a lack of shipping capacity. Finding a suitable vehicle capable of oversized shipping takes longer and costs more. However, cooperating with a professional shipping service will help you handle these bottlenecks and deliver the furniture without emptying your logistics budget.
Business owners and individuals often get confused over the packaging requirements for the furniture. To meet them, it’s vital to identify the firmest and most fragile elements and secure them with packaging materials accordingly. Also, a wide variety of protective materials can keep your furniture away from external influences.
How to ship furniture cross-country?
Besides common challenges of the logistics process, you can avoid difficulties through appropriate preparation. If moving to a new place or shipping furniture is among your nearest plans, we offer you the main steps for a beneficial supply chain experience.
Get accurate measurements
Before packing or choosing a transport service, you have to weigh and measure your furniture. If you want to ship your items through an online shipping service, they will require accurate measurements of the items. Try to be precise while getting measurements: note the item’s weight, length, height, etc. If you’ve disassembled your furniture pieces, record the data of every separate part.
The items’ weight and measurements are determinants of your transport choices. Understanding your cargo’s volume, you can decide on a suitable transport unit to deliver the furniture. Ensure that the freight information is correct, as it affects the shipping price equally. With accurate cargo data, your shipper won’t have to remeasure your items, which helps you avoid unwanted charges.
Choose proper packaging
The next step to safe furniture shipping is proper packaging. Depending on the item type, you want to ensure that your belongings arrive at their destination undamaged. If possible, disassemble the pieces before packing and pick suitable materials for every furniture part.
Since a furniture unit may include components of different natures, applying more packing materials to the breakable elements is better. Secure the fragile items with bubble wrap or cushioning fillers to prevent them from shaking and diminish vibrations. Additionally, use double boxes, rigid cardboard, and industrial tapes to help ensure the safety of your items.
If the items are highly stackable, you can condense disassembled furniture pieces into regular crates. Then, don’t forget to label your boxes and list the brief containment information on your stickers. It will speed up the shipping process and make your cargo more transparent during inspections.
For more oversized items, you might need more robust protection for your shipment, such as pallets. Ensure you safely prepare your freight shipment on the pallet to avoid damages. Palletizing is one of the best methods of fixating your freight in the truck and preventing items from falling out. Besides, it’s comfortable to locate the crates with the parts of the same furniture unit on one pallet.
Work with reliable carriers
If you don’t regularly ship enormous amounts of freight, the best opportunity for furniture shipping is less-than-truckload (LTL) delivery. Online shipping services help diminish the time and cost of shipping as you share the truck capacity with other users when you ship via LTL. If you can disassemble the furniture unit and pack the parts into several boxes, it will be much easier and cheaper to move them via LTL.
Professional carrier services will provide the required capacity and help you properly locate the items inside the trailer. Try to maintain active communication with carriers and shipping services to avoid logistics disruptions and stay updated on the shipment status. Platforms like GoShip offer shipment tracking opportunities to check the cargo’s locations directly from your smartphone.
Preparation is critical if you are looking to move the furniture cross-country successfully. Online freight services like GoShip provide you with everything needed for soft delivery: self-service online booking, real-time tracking, and price comparison. Preparing and transporting furniture pieces may be a positive experience if you’re armed with the right tools. Visit our digital platform to connect with a vast network of experienced carriers and get a free LTL quote!