The Benefits of Expedited Shipping for Time-Sensitive Shipments

adam • April 4, 2023

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The Benefits of Expedited Shipping for Time-Sensitive Shipments

The shipping industry has been quite dynamic over the past few years. Not only have shippers had to deal with greater demand, but they have also had to adjust to consumers who want their products delivered faster in a transportation market that is jam-packed with competitors. Shippers use all their options to keep up with their rivals and remain competitive. One of those options is expedited freight shipping.

While the greatest benefit to offering expedited shipping services is that quick delivery ensures their freight arrives on time and satisfies customers, expedited shipping has other benefits. Entourage Freight Solutions, a third-party logistics company, is dedicated to extending its traceability and instant access to capacity through expedited freight shipping services.

In this blog, we will cover what expedited freight shipping is, the factors that influenced the rise of expedited shipping, and three reasons why shippers are going with expedited shipping services for time-sensitive shipments.

What is Expedited Freight Shipping?

Expedited freight shipping is a shipping service faster than standard shipping at an additional cost. It allows customers to receive goods in a shorter amount of time than the standard delivery time. In addition to offering expedited shipping to help decrease the time between purchasing and receiving any type of item, many companies also use this shipping form to send perishable or time-sensitive goods.

Time-sensitive goods are items with a short shelf life — like produce, plants, flowers, prescription drugs, or medical supplies — or materials that are needed in a timely fashion — such as important documents for transactions, items for a quickly approaching event, or replacement parts for a manufacturer’s equipment. Delivery for expedited freight shipping usually takes between one and three days.

Why Expedited Shipping Services?

Much of the world has become accustomed to having things delivered faster in these last few years. Even with products that are not time-sensitive, consumers crave them to be delivered as soon as possible. This has forced the hand of shippers, who are turning to expedited shipping services more often these days. Let’s look at three reasons why shippers must use expedited delivery.

Customers Demand Faster Speeds

There has always been a focus on getting the product to the customer when they want it. But those timeframes of “wanting it” have changed recently. Companies have learned that being slow to deliver goods will cost them sales. A study analyzing e-commerce sites bears that out, with longer wait times leading to more abandoned carts. In the study, 7% of sites’ carts were abandoned when the estimated delivery time was three days or less from when the order was placed. That percentage continued to rise for each increase in estimated delivery time, reaching nearly 40% being abandoned when the estimated delivery time hit eight days. Same-day, next-day, and two-day delivery have become the expected wait times for many of today’s consumers.

Maintain Lean Inventory Levels

One of the areas where businesses are looking to limit costs is warehousing. Expedited shipping can help businesses limit the number of products it stores within their facilities and maintain the agility needed to operate without excess product. This lean inventory management eliminates waste when handling materials and managing labor and time. Having the product in the right place to be shipped quickly reduces the chances of supply chain delays.

E-commerce Operations Demand Flexible Logistics

While consumers are starting to return to brick-and-mortar stores in the last year, e-commerce remains a significant player in retail sales. “After the coronavirus pandemic pushed consumers to shop more online, e-commerce sales have continued to grow in recent years,” Tatiana Walk-Morris wrote on the Retail Dive website. “A March 2021 Adobe report found that the shoppers spent $844 billion since March 2020.” That same article said that e-commerce sales totaled $1.09 trillion last year and reached their “highest quarter ever” at $332.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to Comscore’s State of Digital Commerce report. Whether or not those e-commerce sales are time-sensitive, many are transported via expedited shipping. That means more pressure is put on shippers to be flexible in turning shipments around quickly.

Three Reasons Shippers Choose Expedited Shipping Services for Time-Sensitive Shipments

Regarding time-sensitive shipments, expedited shipping is often the necessary way to go. Shippers know these products can’t languish around in warehouses, so they seek out the services of a 3PL that deals with expedited shipping to help them efficiently and quickly get the job done. Let’s look at three reasons expedited shipping services can be a game-saver.

Capacity On-Demand for Faster Shipments

When needing to ship things quickly, one of the concerns for shippers is finding a partner with reliable capacity. With on-demand delivery, the window from when an order is placed to when that order is sent out needs to be as short as possible. So having a 3PL partner is crucial to finding a qualified transporter for your shipment and one that suits your capacity and can satisfy the quick turnover of on-demand requests. With the emergence of e-commerce, the customer’s expectations have changed to “how fast can I get the product?” and “where and when can it be delivered?” That means shippers need to be versatile. A 3PL can help locate the type of truck that will work for your particular shipment, whether it’s a drop trailer, full truckload, LTL, or another type.

Expert Transportation for High-Stakes Shipments

When dealing with a time-sensitive product, you usually need expedited shipping. But you don’t want just any expedited carrier; you want one with considerable experience and extensive knowledge. That’s where the right 3PL can come in handy. The 3PL will have a staff trained in refrigerated perishable transportation and access to various drivers with proven performance records. They can find the carrier that best suits your situation and cargo needs. Food and beverages, plants, flowers, animals, pharmaceuticals, and other temperature-sensitive loads can be efficiently managed and protected with specialized handling services. Quality 3PLs, like Entourage Freight Solutions, also offer constant visibility through real-time-enabled GPS tracking and logging among their services.

As New Markets Grow, Expedited Shipping Remains Tried and True

Likely, expedited shipping will always be a part of the supply chain world. Someone will always need their product shipped extremely fast, whether because it is time-sensitive or just because they want it as soon as possible. As new markets emerge at the intersection of e-commerce and reefer logistics, shippers are looking for reliable means of quickly transporting goods to increasingly impatient customers.

One of those new markets is meal kit services. A meal kit service is when a business sends pre-portioned and sometimes partially-prepared food ingredients to customers at their chosen destination. Usually a subscription service, it allows someone to make fresh, homemade meals without the bother of planning and having to go out and buy the ingredients.

The meal kits market was valued at $8.74 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach nearly $20 billion by 2029 with a compound annual growth rate of 12.01% over the forecast period, according to a Global Prepared Meal Delivery Industry Market Analysis on the BrandEssence website. It is a delivery that involves food, making it a perfect customer for expedited delivery.

Turn to EFS to Put You on the Right Track for Expedited Shipping

These days expedited shipping is the hot item or the fashionable choice in the supply chain world. But it is an essential part of shipping time-sensitive products. With it, many food and beverage industry shipments would make it to their destination on time and possibly become spoiled or unusable. With such great demand from customers for faster delivery, an emphasis on companies having lean inventory levels, and the need to remain flexible in logistics operations, there is a lot expected of shippers that use expedited delivery. When those expectations seem overwhelming, shippers can turn to a 3PL provider to help them.

Entourage Freight Solutions, a one-stop 3PL provider specializing in food service, can assist you in finding the carriers that suit your requirements. The rise in food service subscriptions, meal kits, and same-day delivery for goods has led EFS to emphasize traceability and instant access to capacity through expedited shipment services. With an expert staff and up-to-date resources, EFS can help you all the way from tracking down a carrier to building up customer satisfaction among retailers, their end-users, and other stakeholders. To move into the fast lane of expedited shipping services, it’s time to join EFS by visiting our website.

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Tariffs, Trade Policy, and the Great Freight Fallout

By Nick Terry • April 28, 2025

In 2025, trade policy is no longer something that the freight industry can leave on the back burner. Trade policy today is shaping strategy at every level. From tariff escalations and retaliatory duties to sweeping regulatory changes and targeted maritime fees, supply chain leaders are navigating a freight market in which unpredictability is the only constant. Sourcing decisions are shifting, pricing dynamics are unstable, and long-standing operational models are being rewritten in real time. This edition brings together key stories highlighting the growing pressure across logistics channels. Each development points to an industry moving fast, and often reactively, to keep pace with volatile policy decisions. Tariffs Stall US Freight Recovery as Shippers Pause Orders The recent move by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to impose entrance fees on Chinese-built ships calling U.S. ports has only added to the confusion and uncertainty gripping global supply chains and freight operations. Shippers are pausing plans and slashing orders, with truckload volumes, containerized imports, and manufacturing output all showing signs of contraction. Ocean freight spot rates have collapsed: Asia-U.S. West Coast rates have fallen 61% since January to $2,050 per FEU, while East Coast rates have dropped 53.7% to $3,100 per FEU . Blank sailings are rising, with vessels leaving Asia half-empty. Amazon and Five Below are among the major retailers reducing orders from Asia. Container imports jumped 15.3% in 2024, but forecasts now predict a 20-27% decline through the summer. Exporters, particularly agriculture and forestry suppliers, are also squeezed, facing 125% retaliatory tariffs from China. Truckload and intermodal rates remain stagnant, while U.S. factory output fell sharply in March. US Apparel Importers Brace for Long-Term Volume Declines According to Trade Partnership Worldwide, a 124.1% tariff on Chinese clothing and footwear is expected to reduce U.S. apparel imports by 1.6% annually . China still accounts for 41.7% of apparel shipments, leaving limited flexibility for diversion. The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) is warning of price hikes and mounting infrastructure stress as sourcing pivots toward Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. A looming May 2 deadline for de minimis exemptions could further complicate flows and delay deliveries. Even with a temporary 90-day pause in reciprocal tariffs, the policy uncertainty already affects long-term planning. AAFA CEO Steve Lamar calls the shifting policies “chaotic,” and warned that high tariff pressure will hit both importers and U.S. manufacturers reliant on Chinese components. Port and rail capacity limitations at larger gateways are adding to concerns. Retailers now face rising costs, shrinking margins, and operational delays — all while consumer demand continues to shift rapidly. Freight Pricing Gains Lose Momentum According to the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index, Q1 truckload rates rose 5.9% above the 2018 baseline, but are expected to decline slightly in Q2. Shippers are responding to tariff threats with aggressive front-loading and shorter-haul routes, driving per-shipment costs to three-year lows. LTL carriers remain focused on profitable lanes and high-quality freight rather than chasing volume. The index forecasts a 0.7% year-over-year increase in LTL rate per pound for Q2 , despite sustained demand softness and macro uncertainty. A key driver behind the softening spot market conditions is a shift to shorter hauls and regionalized distribution, pushing per-shipment costs to their lowest point in more than three years. This trend reflects how retailers and manufacturers are repositioning inventory in response to tariff volatility, as NRF’s Jonathan Gold and DAT analyst Dean Croke noted. Meanwhile, the LTL sector is seeing a 4% rise in fuel surcharges, offsetting lower weights and shorter hauls. With the freight market still under pressure after 26 months of contraction, optimism remains subdued as we enter the midyear period. US Truckload Freight Spot Rates Continue to Fluctuate National benchmark rates have experienced a decline across all categories. As of April 18, dry van decreased by 4 cents to $1.62, reefer by 2 cents to $1.88 , and flatbed by 3 cents to $2.16. This marked the first overall decrease since late January, signaling potential shifts in market dynamics. These changes can be attributed to factors such as tariff uncertainties and tighter capacity, especially affecting the flatbed market. Flatbed rates rely heavily on manufacturing activity in the country, which has been particularly hard-hit by the ongoing trade war with China, and to some extent, with the rest of the world. US Finalizes Tiered Fee Plan Targeting Chinese Ships The U.S. is moving forward with a revised plan to levy voyage-based fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-built ships calling at American ports. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced the measure as part of a broader Trump administration effort to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding and logistics while reigniting domestic ship construction and port infrastructure investment. Starting in six months, Chinese operators will be charged $50 per net ton, with an annual increase of $30 for three years . Non-Chinese carriers using Chinese-built vessels will face lower rates, beginning at $18 per ton or $120 per container, with annual increases. The USTR capped fee applications at five voyages per vessel annually, scaling back its original, more punitive per-port-call proposal after intense industry pushback. The fees are tied to findings from a USTR investigation, which concluded that China’s shipbuilding dominance — producing 29% of global fleet capacity and 70% of all container ships on order — stemmed from unfair trade practices. Exemptions apply to ships arriving empty, those in the Great Lakes or U.S. territories, and some bulk exports. LNG vessel transport restrictions will phase in over 22 years to support U.S. production. China’s largest container carrier, Cosco Shipping Lines, has sharply criticized the USTR’s plan. In a strongly worded statement, Cosco labeled the move as “discriminatory,” and warned it would disrupt global industrial and supply chain stability. Cosco denied allegations from that USTR investigation that claimed China manipulated its shipping and shipbuilding sectors to gain an unfair advantage. The carrier said it upholds “integrity, transparency, and compliance” in global competition and remains committed to ensuring the resilience of international trade. Walmart Investing $6B in Mexico, Central America Store Expansion Walmart of Mexico and Central America will invest $6 billion to open new stores across the region , reinforcing its long-term commitment to growth in Latin America. The expansion will include Bodega Aurrera, Walmart Supercenters, Sam’s Club, and Walmart Express formats, building on a robust network of 3,200 stores across all 32 Mexican states. This latest move echoes Walmart’s earlier $1.3 billion investment in 2016 for regional distribution and operational upgrades. The retailer entered the Mexican market in 1991 with a Sam’s Club in Mexico City. In a statement, Walmart said the new expansion reflects confidence in the region’s economic potential and consumer demand. Globally, Walmart continues to invest aggressively in infrastructure and store development. The company has pledged about $4.5 billion for its Canadian operations and $1.3 billion in Chile to build 70 new stores and a distribution center. In the U.S., Walmart is executing a five-year plan to build or convert more than 150 stores while modernizing 650 existing locations under its “Store of the Future” initiative. Experience Seamless Shipping with Entourage Freight Solutions Entourage Freight Solutions believes in total transparency in the shipping process. That is why we invest in tech solutions that track every shipment extensively, monitor every driver, and extract every bit of efficiency without sacrificing quality. Our state-of-the-art platform utilizes cloud-based GPS tracking to keep you informed, reroutes shipments on the fly to avoid delays, and even responds to real-time market changes to ensure you receive your shipment on time and as soon as possible. Our Services Full Truck Load (FTL): When you need a truck all to yourself. Less-Than-Truckload (LTL): Efficient solutions for multi-stop shipments or combining smaller loads to save on costs. Refrigerated Trucking: Keeping your temperature-sensitive products fresh and safe. Cross-Docking: Strategically located facilities in Shelby, Ohio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Romulus, Michigan, for streamlined consolidation, storage, and distribution. Ready to experience a new level of service and control in your freight shipping? Request a quote today to see how Entourage Freight Solutions can help with your freight movement and other supply chain needs.