NTG (FreightPros) Review: Services, Pricing & Alternatives
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
Nolan Transportation Group or NTG (formerly FreightPros) is a full-service freight brokerage firm that provides access to its database of recommended carriers with discounted rates.
Its multimodal services include less-than-truckload (LTL) freight shipping and strategic full truckload shipping, as well as refrigerated, expedited, drayage, and intermodal solutions. NTG’s pricing is customized, and it’s recommended for small to enterprise-level businesses.
What We Like
- Provides a range of discounted quotes for multiple freight-shipping carriers
- Helpful and responsive account managers
- Informative, cloud-based transportation management system (TMS)
- Access to a large multimodal carrier network
What's Missing
- No third-party order fulfillment services
- Reported overcharges
- Difficult dispute process
- Concerning user reviews
Deciding Factors
- Freight Services: LTL, strategic full truckload, final mile, dry van, flatbed, refrigerated, and drayage shipping, plus power-only and drop trailer capacity.
- Warehousing: 5,000+ warehouses, vetted providers, short- and long-term storage, on-site drop trailer solutions, container transloading, cross-docking, palletizing, and labeling services.
Standout features:
- Competitive pricing with discounted rates
- Easy and fast quotes
- Best-in-class customer support from 13 US office locations
- Vast carrier network of 80,000+ providers
- No minimum shipment frequency
- Advanced proprietary digital logistics platform and transportation management system app
- Easy-to-use online payment portal
- Educational online resources
In the News:
FreightPros is Now Powered by Nolan Transportation Group — NTG acquired FreightPros in 2019, but FreightPros didn’t rebrand as NTG until 2022.
When To Use NTG
NTG’s brokerage services save shippers a good amount of time and money—making it an excellent choice for small businesses. It has options that appeal to both owners on a tight budget and busy entrepreneurs needing to save time.
NTG is the highest-ranking freight services provider in our 3PL Buyer’s Guide and the No. 1 choice in our guide to the best freight brokers for small businesses. Its platform can accommodate startups, young businesses, and new freight shippers (especially in regard to client support and service options), securing the company’s role as our top recommendation.
In particular, we recommend NTG for:
- Varying freight needs: NTG offers a wide range of freight services, including a specialty LTL brokerage to help defray shipping costs when a business’s merchandise is unable to fill an entire truckload. Unlike many other brokers, NTG also specializes in Strategic FTL (or full truck load) freight.
- Developing young businesses: The company’s consultative approach is designed to optimize freight shipping for each client by recommending ways to improve your processes or reduce your ship spend. This can help startups and small businesses scale efficiently.
- Manufacturers and B2B sellers: NTG can help to distribute your goods in bulk using truck freight shipping, intermodal rail shipping, and other custom freight solutions.
- Food, medical products, and other perishables: Temperature-controlled shipping is available through NTG to ensure cold chain compliance for goods that require it.
- Shippers on a budget: NTG leverages volume discounts and well-established relationships with its partner carriers to get you lower rates than you could achieve on your own. Plus, the company has a “No Hidden Costs” policy which promises that clients pay only actual freight charges.
When To Use an Alternative
- Ecommerce order fulfillment: NTG is a point-to-point freight shipping third-party logistics (3PL) company that deals with freight movement and warehousing—not managed distribution for fulfilling online orders. Merchants wanting to outsource order fulfillment and shipping for individual online orders can look to ShipBob.
- Well-established businesses: If your operation is developed to the point of having its own shipping department, NTG’s services likely won’t be needed. Businesses at this level benefit from fostering their own relationships with partnered carriers.
- Parcel shipping: As a freight 3PL company, NTG does not offer general parcel shipping. Order fulfillment companies (such as FedEx Fulfillment) specialize in B2C and general parcel shipping, offering deep discounts and convenient services for package delivery.
Top Alternatives At-a-Glance
Best for: Standard small business and crowdfunding fulfillment needs | Best for: Order fulfillment and special handling of high-maintenance products | Best for: Full-service ecommerce marketplace management |
Monthly minimum: None | Monthly minimum: ≈200 orders | Monthly minimum: 1,000 orders |
Looking for something different? Check out our rankings of the best freight brokers for small businesses and our guide to the best order fulfillment companies.
NTG Overview
The role of a freight broker is to act as an intermediary between shippers and carriers. Experienced brokers like NTG negotiate and arrange deals for their clients by leveraging well-established relationships with a wide network of carriers.
NTG offers the following services and features:
- Shipping: NTG brokers LTL freight shipping, as well as full truckload, intermodal, expedited, and temperature-controlled freight.
- Warehousing: Short- and long-term storage is available for all load types with NTG’s network of 5,000+ warehouses across North America.
- Discounts: Clients get access to significant savings from the company’s database of qualified and vetted freight carriers thanks to volume discounts and negotiated partnerships.
- Customer service: The company’s “service-first” approach grants each client access to its dedicated sales, solutions, account management, and billing teams. They strive to understand the ins and outs of each customer to provide tailored solutions. Support is available by phone or email from Mon–Thurs, 7 a.m.–6 p.m. Central time, and Fri, 7 a.m–5 p.m. Central time.
- Startup-friendliness and scalability: Whether you have one shipment or 10 dozen shipments in its system, NTG delivers account management-level service at every step. The company also works with any client, regardless of shipment frequency.
- Expert resources: NTG’s service experts are continually creating and updating a host of informative demos available to clients with the goal of helping them ship smarter. They also make themselves available by phone or email to answer any freight-related questions.
- Management systems: NTG’s advanced TMS aggregates all of your logistics information, including pickups, quotes, and tracking.
- Proprietary Digital Logistics Platform: The company offers a web and mobile app called Beon that matches shippers and carriers through intelligent machine learning algorithms.
- Reporting: Online analysis tools allow NTG’s clients to view their shipping data and create customized reports.
How NTG Compares to Other 3PL Companies
NTG | NTG | Redhawk Global | |
---|---|---|---|
General Pricing | Competitive | Lowest | Competitive |
Billing Options | Credit Card or Net 15 with approved credit | Credit Card | Credit Card or Net 15 with approved credit |
Account Setup | Automatically created when you ship | Created for quotes | Created for quotes |
Website Ease of Use | Medium - lots of features | Easy - simple for shipping beginners | Medium - lots of glossaries and FAQ sections |
Number of Carriers | 80,000 national and regional carriers | 788,000 major, independent and specialty providers | 70+ national and regional carriers |
Freight and Service Types | LTL, FTL, rail, and various specialty freight | LTL, FTL, specialty freight and small transport | LTL, FTL, rail, and various specialty freight |
Online Resource Rating | Excellent | Excellent | Good |
Online Resources Available | Blog, e-books, videos, demos, and state guides | How-to videos, blog, and mobile app | FAQ, state regulations, and shipping guides |
Customer Support | Phone, email, and online form | Phone and online form | Phone and online form |
Support Hours | Mon–Thurs 7 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Central time | Mon–Thurs 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Fri 7 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.–4p.m. Central time | Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern time |
Quoted Price in Test | $399 | $322 | $361 |
NTG Pricing
NTG (formerly FreightPros) pricing varies based on origin, destination, weight of the shipment, and freight class. Most rates for similar providers are also customized. However, estimated freight fees range from $6.55 to $21.98 per pound.
NTG’s fees are built into your freight rates. You select the freight carrier and shipping rate, and that’s what you pay—with no added service fees or upcharges for its service. Plus, opening an NTG account is completely free.
Additional services, such as freight spend analysis, are available and generally free for regular clients as well.
Freight prices are commodity-based and fluctuate daily, factoring in variables like the carrier’s open truck capacity, fuel prices, shipping lanes, and weather.
To learn more about how freight 3PL and broker fees work, visit our freight brokers buyers guide.
NTG Key Features
NTG’s features are designed to make freight shipping run smoothly—from choosing a freight carrier and getting the most cost-effective pricing to coordinating shipping operations.
Here is a deeper look at NTG’s most important features:
Consultative Solutions Approach
The NTG team is encouraged to look for ways to help customers move their freight in the most efficient way possible.
Staff is trained to identify potential improvements and offer suggestions to refine processes or reduce shipping costs for their clients.
Digital Logistics Platform
NTG and its sister company, Transportation Insight, recently launched a mobile and web app called Beon, which is designed to connect shippers and carriers.
Similar to uShip, the platform provides on-demand access to load capacity from a wide network of providers. But unlike uShip, Beon uses machine learning algorithms to match each sender’s needs with compatible carriers and offers the same high-level customer service of NTG.
Cloud-based Transportation Management System (TMS)
NTG’s advanced TMS provides information about freight pickups, shipment tracking, GPS truck tracking, easy freight quotes, and more.
Cloud-based Freight Hub
The company’s freight hub serves as a central repository for freight information, load history, freight quotes, bill payment, and more. Its online-based system gives insight into previous, pending, and future loads, and gives users the ability to access information at any time and place.
Insurance
NTG only works with truckload operators that offer a minimum of $100,000 in insurance coverage. This coverage is included in the freight rate.
If a client needs additional coverage, third-party insurance is also available as an additional cost separate from the carrier’s freight quote. A $500 deductible typically applies.
NTG strongly recommends using third-party insurance if shipping valuable or fragile material. Payouts are faster with third-party insurance than with carrier freight insurance.
NTG Ease of Use
- Support: FreightPros’ platform focuses largely on customer support, taking a proactive approach from the start of each business relationship.
- We reached out to multiple freight brokers—including FreightPros, UShip, and Redhawk Logistics—as businesses requesting quotes. FreightPros was the most responsive and attentive company, reaching out quickly to ask pertinent questions and recommend cost-effective shipping solutions.
- Each client is assigned a dedicated account manager, who is available by phone and email. The role of FreightPros’ support staff is to answer shipping queries, aid in the booking process, and act as a resource to help customers make well-informed decisions.
- Full-service Solutions: FreightPros offers the option to outsource booking, tracking, and managing your freight loads to its staff. This feature allows you to be as hands-on or hands-off as you want.
- Accuracy: Since FreightPros is a broker that connects shippers with freight carriers, the company’s accuracy and error rate play a small part in how your shipments are handled. It’s up to the timeliness and precision of the carrier company to ensure your shipments arrive in the right destination at the right time.
- To mitigate possible delays, you can purchase a guarantee on your shipment through the carrier company. FreightPros can set you up with carriers whose guarantees meet your specifications in regards to timelines and reimbursement.
- Vendor Management: FreightPros offers inbound vendor management solutions to help clients manage their inbound freight processes such as shipment tracking, bills settling, and more.
- Transparency and Tracking: Customers can easily track their shipments with FreightPros’ web-based system. It provides updated information, such as freight quotations shipment and GPS truck tracking data, and more.
What NTG Users Think
The majority of NTG reviews you’ll find online were left by company employees, and they reflect NTG’s working environment rather than its services. That being said, the available user ratings contain many 1-star reviews.
Shippers report that NTG frequently cancels shipments multiple days after quoting and accepting the load. Other reviews mention inaccurate shipment info and a general lack of organization. The company responded to the majority of negative reviews by offering to correct the problems.
Positive reviews for NTG cite excellent customer service from carrier reps as well as diligent processes.
- Google Business Listing: 2.5-star rating from 170+ reviews
- BBB 1-star rating from 5+ reviews
- Users LikeUsers Don’t LikeResponsive and effective client supportHidden fees and overchargesEase of useShipment classification errorsFast and consistent shippingDifficult dispute processCompetitive pricesShipment cancellations
FreightPros, historically, has a much healthier online reputation, including a 4.3-star rating on Trustpilot from 240+ reviews.
NTG’s acquisition of FreightPros kept the original staff and infrastructure intact, so it’s hopeful that this recent change will lead to an improved NTG customer experience.
Bottom Line
Freight shipping is a complex task that involves many moving parts. Large organizations often have the advantage of a dedicated, in-house shipping department to manage it—but small and midsize businesses can accomplish similar efficiency by outsourcing to a broker like NTG.
NTG offers competitive pricing with deeply discounted rates, plus industry-leading client support, making it our top recommendation in the freight brokerage arena.
For other 3PL services (like warehousing and fulfillment), WarehousingAndFulfillment.com can compare your specific needs to 500+ pre-screened companies to find the best fit for your business. Plus, the service is completely free to use.
Visit WarehousingAndFulfillment.com