Terminal Shipping

What Is a Terminal?

A terminal is a carrier hub where trucks connect to transfer packages along different lanes and routes. They may be located at or near airports, railroad centers, seaports, and trucking hubs. Distribution centers and service centers are also considered terminals.

When most people think of a freight terminal, they think of container ports, the vast yards near bodies of water where big shipping containers are stacked and moved with container cranes. These terminals specialize in international shipping, taking items off big boats and then distributing them to other modes of transportation to continue the shipping process inland.

However, there are also local trucking terminals where trucks drop off, sort, and reload shipments to travel to nearby locations. These terminals are highly secured, fenced-off areas where goods are unloaded, sorted, temporarily stored, and loaded onto new vehicles heading for different destinations.

Terminals are used to consolidate less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments from local pickups. The goods are arranged onto trucks heading toward the consigned delivery location. Most LTL shipments will then travel to a central distribution center, where they are unloaded, scheduled, and reloaded onto a local delivery truck. Local delivery trucks run daily delivery shipments, generally in the mornings. They then collect outboard shipments in the afternoon and return to the terminal.

How Can You Ship an Item To and From a Terminal?

Some carriers allow customers to pick up or drop shipments via a shipping terminal. While some terminals don’t allow outside visitors to enter their premises (such as company terminals), carrier terminals are usually available for anyone who orders their shipment to be delivered or picked up.

Terminal shipping is a good strategy for various reasons:

• Some carriers or routes do not provide lift gates for customers without a loading dock. Those who can get a lift gate must pay extra for it, which can be a hassle for people trying to cut shipping costs.
• Limited access areas and residential areas are also charged extra for pickups and deliveries. This is because the truck driver has to go out of their way to drive and park in an inconvenient location, increasing fuel consumption.
• Traditional truck pickups are in the afternoon, while deliveries are made in the morning. However, you or a representative must be at the pickup and delivery address during the arrival/departure window, which could be delayed or canceled sporadically by the driver. You also may not be unavailable during those hours, meaning you must make special arrangements with the carrier that could cost you extra.

If customers decide they are going to deliver or pick up their freight from a terminal, they need to find the nearest terminal to them. Some customers may live too far away from the nearest terminal, which could cost more than delivering the freight to your home or business. Customers must ensure the terminal’s address is used as the receiving or departing address on their shipping label. If picking up, the contact information should say “Hold for (customer’s name)” and their phone number.

Other things customers must need to engage in terminal shipping include:

• A vehicle that can transport the shipment to or from the terminal.
• Proper identification to match customers with their freight and avoid cargo thefts.
• An appointment time for pickup or delivery. Remember that terminals operate during business hours and won’t hold your freight forever.