FTL vs LTL

A full truck load is exclusive use of a vehicle. It collects, it drives, it delivers, and in the normal case the cargo is handled twice: once on, once off. Nothing else is loaded beside it, so nothing else affects its timing.

A part load is space inside a vehicle whose remaining space somebody else is paying for. That is what makes it cheaper for a given consignment, and it is also the source of every difference between the two products. Shared space means shared routing, shared timing, and a consolidation network that has to bring the parts together and separate them again.

Size is the usual trigger for the question but it does not settle it. A consignment that would fill a third of a trailer may still belong on a dedicated vehicle if it cannot be handled repeatedly, and a consignment that nearly fills one rarely belongs in shared space.

Road freight is sold against two limits, and cargo runs into one of them first. The first is floor space. Loading metres describe the length of trailer floor a consignment occupies across the full usable width — a unit that captures the real constraint far better than volume does, because a trailer is loaded on a floor and not in a cube.

The second is weight, and the binding number is not the trailer's capacity. It is what the vehicle combination may legally carry on the roads it will use, which is set by the road authority and by the vehicle, and varies between countries and vehicle types. A load that a trailer could physically hold may still be illegal to move.

Two properties of the packing drive the loading metre figure more than shippers expect. Stackability is the first: a pallet that cannot be stacked on occupies the space above it whether or not anything is put there, so it is priced as though it were taller than it is. Overhang is the second: cargo that projects past its pallet footprint cannot be loaded tight against the next unit, and the space it wastes belongs to the consignment that caused it.

• State whether pallets are stackable, and if so what may be placed on top
• State the packed footprint, including any overhang past the pallet edge
• Give gross weight including pallets and packaging, not the weight of the goods alone
• Flag any single package that needs mechanical handling or has defined lifting points

A full load is loaded once and unloaded once. A part load is collected, brought into a consolidation point, sorted, loaded onto a line-haul vehicle, often handled again at a second point, and finally loaded for delivery. Each of those is a touch, and touches are where damage, mis-sorting and delay come from.

The consequence is a packaging standard, not just a price. Packing that is perfectly adequate for a direct delivery — a single wrap, labels on one face, cartons stacked to the pallet edge — is not adequate for network handling. Part-load cargo needs edge protection, secure banding, labels readable from more than one side, and a pallet that can be lifted from any direction without the load shifting.

It also changes what happens when something is wrong. On a dedicated vehicle a shortage is usually traceable to two events. In a network, cargo that was separated from its documentation, or a label that peeled off during sorting, produces a search rather than an answer.

A dedicated vehicle's timing is a function of the route, driving-hours rules and access windows at each end. It leaves when it is loaded and it goes where you send it, so the plan is largely yours to change.

Part-load timing is a function of the network: when the collection cut-off falls, when the departure runs, and how many sorting points the consignment passes through. That makes it more predictable than shippers assume when the plan is followed, and less recoverable when it is not. Missing a collection cut-off does not delay a part load by an hour, it moves it to the next departure.

Neither should be quoted as a guaranteed time. Elapsed time on any road movement depends on the route, the vehicle, the loading and delivery windows, the border formalities that apply and the conditions on the day, and it is confirmed for the specific movement rather than read from a table.

Part-load pricing rises with the space and weight consumed. Full-load pricing is largely a function of the journey and is close to indifferent to how full the vehicle is. So as a consignment grows, the two lines converge and then cross.

The crossover is not a fixed size. It moves with the lane, with the direction — flows are rarely balanced, and capacity is cheaper where a carrier is trying to avoid running empty — with the season, and with how much sorting the network has to do for the consignment. A rule of thumb calibrated on one corridor is wrong on another.

The practical habit is simple: on anything in the middle of the range, ask for both and compare the landed total rather than assuming the shared option wins. That takes one extra line in a request and it regularly changes the answer.

Some cargo should not go through a consolidation network at any price. Goods that cannot be restacked, high-value consignments where every extra handover is exposure, unpacked or awkwardly shaped items, and anything whose packaging is not built for repeated handling all argue for a dedicated vehicle.

So does a hard deadline with no float, because a network absorbs disruption by moving cargo to the next departure. And some cargo cannot be grouped at all: temperature requirements, regulated or hazardous goods and certain commodity restrictions limit what may travel beside what. Whether a specific commodity can be carried in shared space is confirmed before booking, since acceptance varies by carrier, by route and by regulation.