LTL vs FTL, what is the difference and which one do I need?

LTL is less-than-truckload. Your freight shares trailer space with other shippers, and it passes through terminals where it is unloaded, sorted and reloaded on its way to you.

FTL is full truckload. One truck carries your freight only, loaded at origin and unloaded at destination with nothing in between.

The difference that matters

Not size. Handling.

An LTL shipment is typically touched several times between your dock and the receiver's. Each of those is a place where a pallet can be restacked, a carton crushed, a shipment delayed or a piece separated from the rest of the load. LTL carriers are good at this and most freight arrives fine — but the risk is structurally higher than truckload, and it is the reason LTL costs less.

FTL is loaded once and unloaded once. That is what you are paying for.

When LTL makes sense

• A few pallets of durable, well-packaged freight
• The delivery date has some flexibility
• Cost matters more than transit predictability
• The freight is a normal shape and stacks properly

When LTL is the wrong call

• Fragile, awkward or poorly packaged freight
• High-value freight where a claim would hurt
• A firm delivery date
• Freight that cannot be stacked, since you pay for the space above it anyway
• Anything that would need rebuilding if a pallet is broken down

When FTL makes sense

• Enough freight to fill or nearly fill a trailer
• The freight should not be handled between the ends
• The date is firm
• Temperature control, securement or a specific trailer is required
• Several LTL shipments to the same place, where one truck is often cheaper

Where the switch usually happens

There is no fixed rule, and any broker who gives you one is simplifying. As a rough guide, freight starts leaving LTL territory somewhere around six pallets or several thousand pounds — but density, stackability, fragility and the lane all move that line.

The honest version: past a handful of pallets, ask for both. The comparison takes minutes and the answer is different on different lanes.

What affects your LTL price specifically

LTL is rated on freight class, which is driven substantially by density, and on weight and lane. That is why a light, bulky pallet can cost more than a heavy compact one going the same distance.

Work out your density with the freight density calculator, then send it to me and I will confirm the class rather than have you estimate it — classification also depends on the commodity and its handling and liability characteristics, not density alone.

What to send for either