Fast & Reliable LTL Freight Services in the GCC

Less than a Truckload to Ship? Give it the Elite Treatment

If you need to ship any type of commercial goods within the GCC, in quantities from a few cartons to a few pallets, Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight is often the most economical solution you can choose.

However, LTL shipping can be rather complex, and there are schedules and order cut-off times to adhere to. Therefore it’s crucial to find a GCC logistics provider that you can trust, with a regional trucking network that offers the flexibility you need.

At Elite, we specialize in transporting LTL freight throughout the GCC—using our in-house fleet of trucks, extensively trained driver workforce, and state-of-the-art consolidation/deconsolidation facilities.

What is LTL Logistics?

Less than Truckload (LTL) freight refers to the transportation of goods shipments that are not large enough to entirely fill a truck. LTL involves consolidating several discrete shipments, usually arranged on pallets, into a full truckload.

When you take advantage of an LTL freight service, you pay only for the space your goods occupy in the truck, making it a suitable transportation mode for shipments of just a few kilos all the way up to multiple-pallet consignments.

The Key Stages in LTL Shipping

Your goods are transported from their origination point to a consolidation facility. Typically you can choose to have the LTL carrier collect them from your location, or make your own arrangements to send them to the consolidator.

Your goods may spend some time in storage while the consolidator gathers enough shipments to create a full truckload.

Your goods, along with those of other shippers, are consolidated into a truckload, loaded onto a vehicle, and transported to a deconsolidation facility. This facility will typically be the one closest to the final destination of your goods.

Your goods are unloaded and separated from the other shipments. They are then trans-shipped onto a local vehicle and delivered to the consignee. In some circumstances, deconsolidation may not be necessary, as the logistics provider may perform a multi-drop service, carrying all the shipments directly to the consignees. If preferred, the consignee can arrange to collect the shipment from the deconsolidation point.

Although LTL shipping can take somewhat longer than FTL due to the extra logistics activities involved, our experts use sophisticated shipment management technology to determine the fastest way to get your goods from consignor to consignee.

When to Use LTL Freight in the GCC

It’s not always easy to know when LTL is a better option than FTL, and given some of the challenges of road freight shipping the GCC, you might even be considering air freight instead.

In case you’re undecided about using LTL as one of your supply chain solutions, here are a few of the circumstances under which LTL can make most sense:

When your shipment will comprise fewer than six or seven pallets, or the equivalent in loose loaded goods: Above this volume it becomes less clear whether LTL or FTL is best, because it depends on how carriers calculate volumetric weight breaks. There will always be a point at which it becomes more economical to pay the flat fate for FTL carriage.

When you wish to prioritize economy over speed: Air freight is the fastest option for shipping commercial goods around the GCC, but much more costly than LTL, and often subject to capacity constraints. If your business can live with a few more days of transit time than air freight offers, LTL will be your most cost-effective solution.

When your shipment doesn’t need to travel in isolation: LTL requires that your goods share truck space with those of other shippers. For that reason, there might be times when security, time-sensitivity, and contamination risk make FTL a more desirable solution, even if your shipment is not a full truckload.

For example, a customs inspection revealing issues with one shipper’s consignment in an LTL shipment can result in the authorities holding the entire truckload at the border. However, if there are no reasons why this remote possibility, or any other truck-sharing issue should prevent you from choosing LTL, it remains the best option to minimize transportation costs for smaller consignments.

More Reasons to Ship with Elite

General guidelines aside, you’ll need to assess every goods consignment on its merits when deciding upon FTL vs. LTL vs. air freight. There are also carrier-specific factors that can mitigate—or intensify—the challenges of each transportation mode. For instance:

At Elite, we know which inland ports allow offloading, so in the event that customs hold another shipper’s consignment in your truck, we can still offload your goods and get them moving onward right away.

With many years of experience in LTL shipping in the Gulf region, our use of an in-house fleet and driver workforce, and well-established regional trucking network, we’re also able to overcome many of the geography-specific challenges of GCC road freight.

Our experts can advise you objectively as to which mode of transport will best suit your shipping needs, and why.

Documents Required for LTL Freight in the GCC

All cross-border shipments should be accompanied by a set of documents that customs officials will inspect. Although the required documentation varies from country to country and depends on the types of goods being shipped, in general it will comprise the following:

A Country-of-Origin certificate
A conformity certificate
A delivery advice

An invoice showing the value of the goods
Permissions and approvals
A packing list

At Elite, our extensive experience as a GCC logistics provider, shipping all types of goods around the Gulf region, always works to your advantage, since we’ll help you identify and complete all documentation correctly, as required for the type of goods you are shipping and the specific borders they will transit.

Elite in the LTL Landscape

Elite is among the best-in-class LTL trucking providers in the GCC—and here’s why:

We’re All Over the GCC

We have an on-the-ground presence in the countries listed below. This means that your LTL freight will be handled by teams who know the geography and unique challenges of road transportation in each Gulf state:

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

Bahrain

Oman

Offices will open soon:

Kuwait

KSA

Control, Customization, and Speed

We own our trucks, and our drivers are employed by us, giving you total control and flexibility over your freight transport solution.

We will customize and tailor a solution for the needs of your company, so you can trust us as your full-service LTL carrier.

We’ll palletize your LTL cargo for you.

We have digitized and automated our warehouses. This has significantly improved the speed and efficiency of the picking and packing processes, while also reducing the risk of human error.

Shipment Management and Tracking Technology

Our online customer portal significantly eases the processes of getting freight quotes, booking a shipment, making payments, managing your documentation, and tracking your shipments.

Do you have an ERP platform? If so, our standard APIs connect you directly for real-time data exchange with our IT systems.

If you prefer to have control of system integration, we can create customized interfaces to work with EDI and FTP data transfer protocols or which can work with your company’s APIs.

We are always ready to support you with advice and guidance on solutions and technology for LTL shipping.

Customs Clearance in the GCC: Many Options for Cross-Border LTL

We are experts when it comes to customs clearance at the GCC’s internal borders and will take care of this onerous and complex process for you.

We have customs clearance licenses in the UAE and Oman, and engage customs clearance specialists in the other GCC states, so we can offer you many options to get your consignment through customs, as speedily and efficiently as possible.

Our GCC Trade Lanes for LTL Freight

Elite Co. offers LTL delivery services along the following cross-border trade lanes:

UAE to Oman
UAE to Kuwait
UAE to Saudi Arabia
UAE to Bahrain
UAE to Oman

Saudi Arabia to UAE
Bahrain to UAE
Oman to UAE
Qatar to UAE
Kuwait to UAE

As a full-service logistics provider, we offer several other trucking solutions besides LTL, including FTL freight and last-mile delivery.

Should your shipping needs extend beyond transportation for your goods, we offer expertise in the following areas:

You can find a summary of all our GCC freight and logistics services on our main services page, along with details of our other supply chain solutions and services.