If you’re considering less-than-truckload shipping (LTL shipping), you are probably looking for a more cost-effective and flexible way to transport your freight. Good news: LTL can do that and more. Here’s how it works.
If you don’t require a full 48- or 52-foot trailer, LTL shipping might be a good option. Typically, LTL freight weighs between 150-10,000 pounds and is palletized.
You might be considering LTL because you can’t find truckload (TL) capacity for your shipments. If you're able to break up and palletize your freight for LTL, you can ship it in the smaller, more available spaces on LTL trailers.
When you ship freight LTL, it's transported on the same trailer as other shippers' freight. This allows each shipper to pay for only their portion of the trailer, rather than for the entire trailer, as is the case with full-truckload shipping (FTL).
LTL operates on a hub-and-spoke model — spokes being the lanes of travel that connect the hubs, or points of distribution. Carriers pick up your freight and take it to the local origin hub. At the origin hub, the carrier loads your freight onto another truck with other shippers’ freight heading in the same direction. This process repeats itself until your shipment reaches its destination hub. Then, the carrier sends your shipment out for final delivery.
In contrast, FTL moves the freight of one shipper per trailer, from origin to destination. But FTL presents inefficiencies for smaller amounts of freight. If you are using FTL for shipments that don't require the full trailer, you’ll probably be over-paying — not to mention, upping the risk of your freight shifting in the unused capacity and getting damaged.