pallet shipping

Pallet Prices Remain Sky High. Here’s What It Means For You

/0 Comments/in , /by

For decades, pallets were commonplace and inexpensive. They were so easy to come by that people even made tutorials on how to repurpose them, making them into DIY furniture. Unfortunately, the days of turning old pallets into bookshelves and garden art are on pause. Earlier in 2021, the prices of lumber soared, and the prices of every single wooden pallet rose along with them. But why? 

Like countless other problems, the lumber shortage began with COVID

To start, the lockdown in early 2020 had all of us stuck at home. While some of us spontaneously learned to bake bread, thousands of others decided it would be the perfect time to start that DIY home improvement project they’d been putting off. The demand for lumber increased, but there was a problem: The sawmills weren’t even open.  Read more

reputable shipping company

Shopping Around: Is it Worth It

/0 Comments/in /by

Before you read any further, we’ll give you an honest answer: No. Of course, that’s exactly what you’d expect a trucking company to say. Who would encourage customers to shop elsewhere? That being said, even if you’re trying to choose a trucking company in a different area (or even chose one of our competitors!), our recommendation stands. Choose a reputable shipping company and stick with it.

Why not shop around for a lower quote, you ask? Let’s get into it.

If you spend some time on Google, the odds are good that you’ll find someone who will ship your goods for less than BYX will. Most likely, those offering lower prices are owner operators. As you probably guessed by the name, owner operators buy a truck and haul loads themselves. They often work with freight brokers who coordinate with customers and take a cut of the profit.

We already covered why freight brokers are unnecessary and a huge waste of money here, but there’s more to it than that. Even the best owner operator has significant limitations in comparison to a reputable shipping company like BYX. Read more

accessorial

What Customers Need to Know About Accessorial Fees

/0 Comments/in /by

Was your last freight bill more than you expected it to be? These added charges are called accessorials. If you don’t know what an accessorial covers, it can come as an unpleasant surprise. As frustrating as that may be, there’s almost certainly a good reason why the invoice exceeded the original estimate. 

Why Freight Shipping Costs Aren’t Cut and Dry

Wouldn’t it be nice if freight charges were as straightforward as shopping at Target? In retail stores, the price advertised on the tag is always exact, aside from sales tax. That’s because there are no surprises for the item’s manufacturer. By the time you toss it in your cart, there’s nothing that could possibly add to the company’s expenses. 

The world of freight shipping is more like plumbing or similar trade industries. We give estimates, but factors beyond our control contribute to the final bill. These accessorials are necessary to help us recover the costs of overweight shipments, inaccessible delivery locations, and similar factors that add to the expense of a given shipment.

Due to the nature of the shipping process, we typically apply fees after shipments are completed. This is because many accessorial causes occur during the shipping process itself. For this reason, the final bill may look different than our first estimate.

 

Our previous blog post went over a few of the elements that contribute to shipping costs. Let’s go over accessorial charges in more detail to help you better understand why they occur and how to avoid them. 

Read more

Top 5 Benefits of Using a Warehouse Management System

/0 Comments/in /by

Businesses are always on the lookout for ways to operate more efficiently. Any business offering physical products to its customers runs into a dilemma. How and where does one store them after they’re manufactured? Depending on the product, the amount of space required can be daunting, so the warehouse management system was born.

Warehousing allows companies to safely store surplus inventory as long as needed with ease. At the same time, companies reduce their overall operating expenses. So how does it work? Let’s get to the good stuff.  Read more

BYX warehouse

Big News: A Bigger, Better BYX is Coming Soon

/0 Comments/in /by

Spring has sprung, flowers are growing and so are we! 

When BYX was founded in 1978, the company was run out of the back of a single pickup truck. By the time we took on Hewlett Packard as a client in the 80s, we had outgrown pickups and added tractors and bobtails to our fleet. Each decade of business welcomed new trucks, new technology and new clients. 

After 43 years of business, we’re thrilled to announce that our company is growing even more. This summer, BYX is expanding into a new class-A building to help us serve even more amazing business owners throughout Southern California.  Read more

freight brokers

5 Reasons Businesses Should Ditch Freight Brokers

/0 Comments/in , /by

If you’ve tried to arrange a large shipment, you’ve probably run into ads for freight brokers. A freight broker is a person or company that acts as the middleman between shippers and carriers. They find the carrier, arrange the shipment and track the load hauled. But is all that really necessary? The answer is a resounding no. 

If you’re thinking about using a freight broker (or you already use one), there are several reasons why you should reconsider. 

1. Freight Brokers Are Misleading

Customers looking for trucking services often get the impression that freight brokers are required. That’s exactly what brokers want people to think. 

We were reminded of this when we recently quoted a move for a company . They were comparing prices, and after receiving our quote, they immediately reached out and asked who the carrier would be and if we would be using multiple carriers. This was a huge, multi-billion dollar company, and they had no idea it was possible to work directly with carriers. If it hadn’t been for an overlap in communication, they never would have never found out. 

Needless to say, we got the business. We’re confident they’ll never return to using brokers. Because of our amazing customer service, but also because of the next item on this list.  Read more

truck driver vaccine

Truck Drivers Need Vaccines. Here’s Where They Stand

/0 Comments/in /by

When Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson rolled out the first COVID-19 vaccines in December, most of us breathed a sigh of relief. We knew that vaccines would be offered in stages, and we expected senior citizens, high-risk individuals, and essential workers to be given first priority. (As they should!) What we didn’t expect was that truck drivers would come almost last. 

The CDC has broken vaccine recommendations into three phases. Phase 1A includes health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Phase 1B includes people over 75 and frontline essential workers. The last phase, Phase 1C includes people between 65-75, people under 65 with elevated risk, and other essential workers. For now, truck drivers are considered other essential workers, falling into the last phase of early vaccine rollouts.  Read more

Black truck driver standing next to truck. Diversity in the trucking industry is still a work in progress

Diversity in the Trucking Industry: The Facts

/0 Comments/in /by

Equality in the workplace has been an issue for as long as equality has been an issue. In other words, forever. The years since Martin Luther King gave his famous speech and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus have trickled by, but race is just as important a topic today as it was at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. 60 years ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Black truck driver. Today, diversity in the trucking industry looks a lot different. It’s far from perfect, but we’ve come along way. Read more

Trucking and the Environment: How We’re Helping

/0 Comments/in /by

If recent events have made one thing clear, it’s that the trucking industry isn’t disappearing anytime soon. About 70% of our consumer goods are shipped via truck, and the impact of trucking on our daily lives is astoundingly beneficial. The impact of trucking on the environment is another story.

Trucking produces a substantial quantity of greenhouse gasses

As of 2016, medium and heavy-duty trucks contribute to about 24% of the greenhouse gasses emitted in the transportation sector. Compared to passenger vehicles at 42%, that’s not bad at all. Still, with around 15.5 million commercial vehicles on the road, the environmental impact has been substantial. Read more

Truck driver getting in his truck

Being a Truck Driver: What It’s Really Like

/0 Comments/in /by

Being a truck driver is awesome. No joke. Truck drivers are essential workers. They help keep this country running in every way. They deliver products that other businesses wouldn’t be able to function without. Truck drivers are a little like screws; most of the time, we don’t notice they’re there. But if they weren’t, everything would fall to pieces. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work behind the scenes, now’s your chance. 

To start, most truck drivers love what they do. 

There are a lot of pluses to being a truck driver. Every day is different, which keeps work from getting boring. Traveling and meeting new people is part of the job! Truck driving often comes with good benefits, but the biggest one is knowing that people rely on you on a daily basis. Knowing your work matters makes your job so much more rewarding.  Read more