Definition
FTL, or full truckload, is freight shipping where one shipper's freight takes the whole trailer. The truck goes from the pickup to the delivery without stopping at terminals to mix in other freight. The standard equipment is a 53-foot dry van, which holds 26 standard pallets on the floor.
- 01Truck found and pricedrate set for that lane
- 02Pickup53-ft dry van, one shipper
- 03Direct to deliveryno terminal stops
Why it matters
A truckload has no published rate. The price is whatever a carrier will accept for that lane on that day, so every quote starts with someone finding a truck and getting a cost. That makes truckload quoting slower than LTL and far more dependent on who you call, and it is why a truckload rate that took an hour yesterday can take five hours today.
When freight should move FTL
The usual triggers are size, speed and handling. Once a shipment passes roughly 10 to 12 pallets or the weight approaches a trailer's payload, a dedicated truck is often cheaper than LTL. Freight that is fragile, high value or on a tight delivery window also goes truckload, because it is loaded once and unloaded once. Equipment matters too: dry van, refrigerated and flatbed trailers are priced as separate markets.
How a truckload rate is built
A carrier prices the lane, not the freight. Miles, the day of the week, how easy it is to find a load out of the destination, and current capacity in the origin market all move the number. A broker adds a margin to the carrier's cost to reach the customer's price. Spot rates change daily; contract rates hold for a period in exchange for committed volume.
Where the time goes on a truckload quote
On a manual desk we measured, the first truckload rate arrived a median 78 minutes after the request and a quarter of requests waited more than 5 hours, with a clarifying email on nearly every one. Run by an agent, the median fell to 26 minutes. Most of what remains is the wait for a truck quote to come back; the reading, the request and the reply take the agent a couple of minutes.
A truckload request arrives by email and someone builds the quote, chases a truck cost and writes the rate back. TIO's FTL quote agent runs that loop on its own and sends the rate in the customer's thread.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
How many pallets fit in a full truckload?
A 53-foot dry van holds 26 standard 48 by 40 inch pallets loaded straight on the floor, or more if they are turned or double-stacked. Weight usually runs out first: legal payload for a standard van is around 44,000 to 45,000 pounds.
Is FTL cheaper than LTL?
Per pallet, yes, once there is enough freight. For one or two pallets LTL is almost always cheaper. The crossover is commonly somewhere around 8 to 12 pallets, and it moves with the lane and the market.
What is the difference between FTL and TL?
None. FTL, TL and truckload all mean the same service. Partial truckload is different: the shipper pays for part of a trailer and the truck may carry other freight.