What is truckload?
Also called FTL, full truckload
Truckload freight fills a whole trailer for a single customer and travels directly from origin to destination without being combined with anyone else's goods.
The trailer is dedicated to one shipment, so there is no sorting, no transfer between terminals and no handling in between. That makes it faster and lower risk for the freight.
It is priced per load for the whole trailer rather than per unit of weight or space.
What it means on a dispatch desk
Truckload is the simplest thing a dispatch desk can run and the assumption behind most rate maths. It is worth being explicit about, because cost-per-mile reasoning that is sound for truckload does not transfer to less than truckload or drayage, and desks that apply it anyway reach confident conclusions about work they are measuring wrongly.
Related terms
- Less than truckloadLess 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.
- 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.
- Cost per mileCost per mile is a carrier's total operating cost divided by total miles driven, including empty ones. It is the number that decides whether a given rate is profitable.
- 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.
- HotshotHotshot trucking moves smaller, time-sensitive loads using a heavy-duty pickup pulling a gooseneck or flatbed trailer, rather than a semi truck. It suits urgent freight too small to justify a full trailer.
Put truckload in context when researching carrier leads by state, including Texas, California and Illinois.
Carrier sales software for dispatch teams
Keep the conversation and its next step together
Use clear freight language in your carrier conversations. KeepCarrier gives dispatch sales teams assigned queues, recorded outcomes and scheduled follow-ups in one workspace.
Explore carrier targeting, the team workspace, our truck dispatch software and the dispatch board.
2 working-agent seats. No credit card required. Calling-provider charges are separate.