Common Carriers vs. Line Haul Shippers

Machine Transport arranges for the shipping of machine tools across North America with our network of professional line haul shippers. These motor carriers differ from common carriers like UPS®, USPS® and FedEx® in a variety of ways. To help understand the difference, we’ll explain a few of the differences between line haul freight shipping and common carriers.

Common Carriers

Common carriers like the postal service and other package delivery services ship smaller items than line haul shippers, and may ship very short distances. As they generally use box trailers, cargo is measured by volume. Careful measuring is needed, and all items must be crated prior to shipping. The weight limit for common carriers is about 5,000 pounds. Lastly, since common carriers ship locally as well as nationally and internationally, there is a network of trucks, warehouses and shipping centers that all work together. This means your crated cargo may be loaded, unloaded and reloaded several times between pickup and delivery.

Line Haul Shipper

Line haul motor carriers are characterized by long distances and heavy or oversized freight. Line Haul shippers often use open trailers for oversized equipment. This is because they may be too tall or wide for a box trailer, or that rigging equipment is needed to move the machine tool off the trailer. These shippers rarely carry freight weighing less than a couple tons. Importantly, line haul shippers only load your cargo once at pickup and unload once at delivery. This not only expedites shipping time but also reduces the chance of your machine tool being damaged during loading or unloading.

Machine Tool Transportation

At Machine Transport, we’ve been arranging for the shipping of machine tools for over 35 years. We have relationships with many line haul shippers, LTL carriers and full truckload haulers that have displayed exceptional service and professionalism. Trust us to handle the arrangements for shipping your machine tool and you’ll be very glad you did.

Machine Transport, Inc. is not a motor carrier or freight forwarder. We are a bonded freight broker licensed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Machine Tool Transportation in North America

Serving the manufacturing industry in the U.S., Canada and Mexico