🚛 LTL Freight Booking Playbook

Cost-first freight dispatch

Book the most economical LTL option while honoring transit promises. Use the matrix, flow, and guardrails below to make the call in under a minute.

Price TargetChoose cheapest by default

Premium Cap≤ 10% cost increase

Transit GainUp to 2 days faster

Core Guardrails

Default to the lowest landed cost.
Upgrade only when a faster option is ≤ 10% more expensive and saves ≤ 2 days in transit.
Pickup timing is secondary—cost wins first unless the quicker option meets the guardrail above.

Quick Comparison Matrix

Carrier	Cost	Transit	Delta vs. Low	Decision	Rationale
R+L Carriers	$500	5 days	Baseline	✅ Book	Lowest landed cost
SAIA	$540	3 days	+8%	✅ Book	Meets guardrails (≤10% more, 2 days faster)
XPO	$625	2 days	+25%	❌ Skip	Fails cost guardrail
SEFL	$490	6 days	-2%	❌ Skip	Too slow despite minor savings

Decision Flow

1. Collect quotes + transit time from R+L, SAIA, SEFL, XPO, ABF.
2. Sort by total landed cost. Flag the lowest-cost option.
3. Look for any faster carrier ≤10% more expensive and ≤2 days quicker.
4. Book the qualified faster option, otherwise stay with the cheapest.

Heads up

Escalate to Logistics if:

🚨 All carriers miss customer-required delivery window.
📝 Special handling or accessorials change the cost stack.
⚖️ The lowest-cost carrier has service failures in the last 30 days.

Calculator & Tools

Interactive cost calculator is in development.

Track #freight-calculator in Slack for launch. Planned features include parcel vs. LTL break-even analysis, transit SLA prompts, and surcharge guidance.