Module 1 of 7 · 8 min
What LTL actually is
How less-than-truckload freight physically moves, why it is priced so differently from a truckload, and when it is the wrong mode entirely.
By the end you will be able to
- Describe how a shipment travels through an LTL network
- Explain why LTL pricing is not simply distance × weight
- Choose between LTL, volume, truckload and parcel for a given shipment
One trailer, many customers
In truckload, one shipper fills a trailer and it drives from A to B. In less-than-truckload, your pallets share a trailer with freight from a dozen other companies, and the carrier's job is to consolidate all of it efficiently.
A typical shipment goes: a local truck collects from your shipper's dock and brings the freight back to the origin terminal. There it is unloaded, sorted with everything else heading the same direction, and reloaded onto a linehaul trailer. That trailer runs to a destination terminal, sometimes via a hub in between. At the far end it is broken down again and a local truck delivers it.
That means your freight is handled four or five times, not twice. Every one of those touches is a chance for damage, delay, and for the carrier to notice that what you told them does not match what they are holding.
Why it is priced the way it is
Because the trailer is shared, the carrier cannot charge you for the truck. They charge you for the space and difficulty your freight represents. That is the whole logic behind freight class, which the next module covers in detail.
A shipment's price is built from a base rate driven by class, weight and distance, plus a fuel surcharge that floats with diesel, plus any accessorials for work beyond a straightforward dock-to-dock move.
Two shipments of identical weight travelling the same lane can differ by hundreds of dollars, purely because one is dense and stackable and the other is light and bulky.
When LTL is the wrong answer
LTL stops making sense as freight gets bigger. Somewhere around six to eight pallets — or roughly 12 to 14 linear feet of trailer — most carriers stop treating it as standard LTL and want a volume quote, priced case by case. Past twelve pallets you are usually better off pricing a truckload.
It also stops making sense as freight gets smaller. A single carton under about 150 lb almost always ships cheaper as parcel.
And LTL is the wrong mode for anything genuinely fragile. Freight that cannot survive being handled five times and stacked under someone else's pallets belongs on a dedicated truck, whatever the rate comparison says.
| Shipment | Usual mode |
|---|---|
| Under ~150 lb, one or two cartons | Parcel |
| 1–6 pallets, ~150–10,000 lb | LTL |
| 6–12 pallets, or 12–20 linear feet | Volume LTL |
| 12+ pallets, or a full trailer | Truckload |
| Fragile, high-value, time-critical | Truckload, regardless of size |
Rough mode guide — check both ends of the range against a real quote
Worth remembering
- LTL freight is handled four or five times, not twice — every touch is a risk
- You are charged for space and difficulty, not for the truck
- Transit follows the carrier's terminal network, not the map
- Above roughly 12 linear feet, stop quoting standard LTL
Check yourself
3 questions. You will see why each answer is what it is.
1A customer ships eight pallets, 9,000 lb, on a 600-mile lane. What should you quote?
Eight pallets is roughly 16 linear feet, past the point most carriers treat as standard LTL. Price it as volume and against a truckload, then take the better number.
2Why can a 400-mile LTL shipment take longer in transit than an 800-mile one?
A lane with a direct linehaul beats one that has to route through a hub, regardless of the mileage between the two cities.
3Your customer's freight is expensive, fragile and irreplaceable, but it is only two pallets. What do you recommend?
LTL means four or five touches and being stacked under other people's freight. For genuinely fragile goods that risk outweighs the rate difference.
See it in the product
Two modules in
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