Definition
LTL, or less than truckload, is freight shipping for loads too big for parcel and too small to fill a trailer. Several shippers' freight shares one truck, and each pays for the space and weight it uses. A typical LTL shipment is one to six pallets and commonly weighs between 150 and 15,000 pounds.
- Shipper Apays for space and weight
- Shipper Cpays for space and weight
- Shipper Bpays for space and weight
Why it matters
LTL is how most palletized freight under a trailer-load moves in the United States, and it is priced differently from every other mode. The rate depends on freight class, weight, the origin and destination ZIP codes, and any extra services. Get one of those wrong on the quote and the carrier corrects it on the invoice, weeks after the customer agreed a price.
How an LTL shipment moves
An LTL carrier runs a hub-and-spoke network. A local driver picks up the pallets and brings them to an origin terminal, where they are unloaded and reloaded onto a linehaul trailer with other freight heading the same way. The shipment may pass through one or more breakbulk terminals before a local driver delivers it. Each handling adds time and a little risk, which is why LTL transit is quoted in business days and why packaging matters more than it does on a dedicated truck.
What goes into an LTL rate
Four inputs drive the price: the freight class (from 50 to 500), the weight, the lane, and the accessorials such as liftgate or residential delivery. Carriers publish base rates and then discount them by customer, so two shippers moving identical pallets on the same lane can pay different amounts. A broker or agency sees many carriers' prices for the same shipment at once, and the spread between the cheapest and the most expensive is often wide.
Where LTL quoting eats time
A customer writes "3 pallets, Thursday pickup" and someone has to turn that into dimensions, a class, a rate request, a comparison and a reply. On a manual desk we measured, the first LTL quote went out a median 12 minutes after the request. The same step run by an agent took about 12 seconds, because every part of it is a lookup or a calculation once the email has been read.
An LTL quote request lands in the inbox and someone reads it, classes it, pulls rates and writes the reply. TIO's LTL quote agent does that in seconds and books the load when the customer says yes.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between LTL and FTL?
LTL shares a trailer among several shippers and is priced by freight class and weight. FTL, or full truckload, gives one shipper the whole trailer and is priced by the lane, usually per mile. LTL freight is handled at terminals along the way; FTL freight normally stays on the same truck from pickup to delivery.
How many pallets is LTL?
Most LTL shipments are one to six pallets. Past roughly six pallets, or once the freight takes more than about 12 linear feet of trailer, carriers start applying volume or linear-foot rules and a partial truckload quote is often cheaper.
How is LTL freight priced?
By freight class, weight, distance and accessorials. The carrier's base rate per hundred pounds falls as weight rises and rises with the class, then a customer-specific discount is applied and any extra services are added.