Pushed to provide ever-faster LTL service in recent years, carriers have responded with a variety of service enhancements, cutting transit times on many lanes, offering expedited programs and guaranteeing deliveries, to mention some of the better-known options.

Slower, lower-priced LTL service was largely ignored—that is, until Con-Way Transportation Services launched its new Con-Way "Deferred" service.

Recognizing that there will always be customers who put freight cost ahead of transit time, Con-Way Transportation Service, parent of Con-Way Central Express, Con-Way Southern Express, Con-Way Western Express and Con-Way Canada Express, came up with a plan that would offer a low-cost alternative to moving LTL shipments cross country. Under the arrangement, all four companies would work together by combining Con-Way's own truck service at origin and destination with lower-cost railroad intermodal service for the long haul.

This service, now operational after a year of planning, offers customers 20 percent off their negotiated, discounted LTL rates. These savings are clearly printed on Con-Way's freight bills for easy identification. And customers save even more because fuel surcharges are applied to the resultant freight charges after the 20-percent reduction is figured in.

Con-Way Deferred service applies only on transcontinental LTL shipments—that is, shipments moving between points in California, Oregon and Washington (and now Reno, Nev.; Yuma Ariz.; Lewiston, Idaho; and Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) and points in 37 Eastern and Midwestern states (as far west as the western borders of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas) and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

As for transit times, Con-Way says that although its Deferred service transit times are two or three days longer than the carrier's standard over-the-road LTL service, they are somewhat comparable to over-the-road transit times offered by a number of the major transcontinental LTL carriers.

To use this new service, shippers need only mark their bill of lading "Con-Way Deferred" or ask their Con-Way driver sales representative for a "D" sticker to place on the bill of lading. And to make it even easier for shippers to obtain information about the service, Con-Way has modified two features on its Web site as follows:

• Rate Quotes. If a shipment origin/destination entry is in a qualified lane, price calculations for both regular LTL and Deferred services will be displayed.
• Electronic Bill of Lading (eBOL). Shippers now have the option of designating which (if any) of their shipments will move via Deferred service online, subject to valid lane verification.

If you have LTL transcontinental freight that doesn't require quite the speed of standard LTL service, you might want to check out Con-Way's Deferred service. It's a quick and easy way to pick up an extra 20-percent savings.