What is less than truckload?
Also called LTL
Less than truckload freight is a shipment too small to fill a trailer, combined with other shipments and moved through a network of terminals where it is sorted between trucks.
Pricing works on weight, dimensions, freight class and distance rather than on a single rate for the trailer. Shipments are handled several times as they move between terminals.
That extra handling means longer transit and more opportunity for damage than a direct truckload move.
What it means on a dispatch desk
Less than truckload is mostly run by large carriers with terminal networks, so it is rarely work a small dispatch desk covers. It matters as vocabulary, and because a shipper asking for it is describing freight the desk probably should not be quoting on truckload terms.
Related terms
- TruckloadTruckload freight fills a whole trailer for a single customer and travels directly from origin to destination without being combined with anyone else's goods.
- LinehaulLinehaul is the base charge for moving freight from origin to destination, excluding fuel surcharge and every accessorial. It is the core of the rate.
- Dry vanA dry van is an enclosed trailer with no temperature control, used for freight that needs protection from weather and theft but not refrigeration. It is the most common trailer type on the road.
- IntermodalIntermodal freight travels in the same container across more than one mode of transport, typically rail for the long distance and trucks for the short legs at each end, without the cargo being unloaded between them.
Put less than truckload in context when researching carrier leads by state, including Texas, California and Illinois.
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