How to Ship LTL Freight: A Guide for Shippers & Business Owners

Nearly three-quarters of freight in the United States is moved via truck, according to the American Trucking Associations.  

If you’re one of the many shippers moving freight over the road, you’ve probably considered less-than-truckload (LTL) service to move your freight. To help you make it easy and cost-effective, we’ll show you everything you need to know about LTL freight shipping. 

What Is LTL Freight?

Let’s set the foundation first by defining LTL freight.  

Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight offers shippers the opportunity to move smaller shipments that will “share” space with others headed for similar destinations. 

Rather than having to rent the entire trailer (as in FTL or full-truckload freight), shippers can use LTL freight service to move anywhere from 1-6 pallets of goods.  

Freight Tip from the Experts: LTL service is available for more than six pallets. However, when your shipment reaches that size, it’s a good idea to evaluate your transportation plan to see if FTL service might make more sense.

What Are the Pros and Cons of LTL Freight?

When you’re deciding how to move your freight, it’s important to understand both the upsides and downsides of choosing LTL freight service. (That’s especially true when you’re choosing between FTL and LTL.)

By knowing the advantages and disadvantages of less-than-truckload service, you’ll be better equipped to make an informed decision. You’ll also set more accurate expectations for the cost and timeline of your LTL freight.

Pros of LTL Freight

• Cost: Cheaper than hiring an entire trailer to move your shipment (FTL service).

• Flexibility: If your freight needs fluctuate, LTL gives you greater flexibility, rather than having to commit to filling a trailer.

• Sustainability: Since LTL freight essentially “carpools” with other freight, it’s a more environmentally friendly solution than using FTL service to move freight.

Cons of LTL Freight

• Cost: FTL offers economies of scale, so LTL may end up costing you more per unit shipped.

• Timeline: LTL timelines can be longer and slightly unpredictable, since the truck carrying your shipment will have to make multiple stops.

• Handling: LTL shipments can be subject to more handling, which means they can be more susceptible to damage.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these cons so you can understand some of the challenges within LTL freight shipping—and how to mitigate them.

Understanding & Overcoming Key Challenges in LTL Freight Shipping

Whether you’re new to LTL freight or an experienced shipper, you may encounter some challenges when utilizing this freight service. We’ll lay them out for you below, along with ideas from our freight experts on how to approach them effectively.

The Complexity of the LTL Quoting Process

In contrast to FTL, pricing an LTL shipment can feel complex.

Even though carriers establish their own rates, the pricing for your shipment will ultimately reflect the shipment’s freight class. An item’s freight class reflects its “transportability”—in other words, how easy or difficult it is for a carrier to move it.

Transportability boils down to four elements:

1. Density: How dense is the shipment? In other words, what’s its weight as compared to its volume?

1. Stowability: What is the size and shape of the shipment?

1. Ease of Handling: What kind of care is needed to move the shipment?

1. Liability: How valuable is the shipment, and how vulnerable is it to perishability, theft, or damage?

These factors offer carriers a standardized way to evaluate (and price!) less-than-truckload (LTL) freight shipments. If you’re new to LTL shipping, it can be tricky to pick the right freight class. However, if you know your shipment’s National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) code, you can match that code with a freight class. (A freight broker can also assist, which is a key benefit to partnering with a broker on LTL freight shipments.)

In addition to the shipment’s freight class, your final LTL quote will also depend on elements such as special services or handling, fuel surcharges, origin and destination, time of the year, weight, and the absolute minimum charge (AMC).

In other words, there are a number of factors involved, and it’s important to understand them when you start the quoting process.

Freight Tip from the Experts: This is where working with a freight broker can pay off. You’ll give all the specs of your load to one person, and they, in turn, can go out and get you several quotes, making the process less labor-intensive. (More on freight brokers in a moment!)

Longer, More Unreliable Transit Times for LTL Shipments

When your ship goods using FTL service, your stop is the only stop. As a result, the timeline for arrival is more predictable—and much shorter.

However, when you’re shipping LTL, your stop is just one of many along the way. The driver will make multiple stops for drop-offs and pick-ups along the way, which introduces some variability into the equation. Additionally, it also means LTL service takes longer than FTL.

Freight Tip from the Experts: If you want to take advantage of the cost savings of LTL shipping, you’ll need to plan ahead as much as possible—and pad the timeline so you’re not stuck waiting for freight that’s still on the road.

If you need to make a specific delivery window with a fulfillment partner, FTL may be a better choice for your shipment.

Greater Potential for Damage with LTL Freight

When it comes to moving freight, our rule of thumb is this: The less it gets handled, the better.

Every time your freight gets handled, that’s another chance for damage. That’s why some shippers choose FTL service. An FTL shipment gets moved into the trailer once, and then it gets moved out again at its final destination.

Where an LTL shipment is concerned, your items will share space with other shipments. Other shippers’ freight will get loaded and unloaded around it. Your freight may need to be shifted in the middle of the route to make room for other shipments.

All of this handling can increase the possibility for damage, one of the big downsides for LTL freight.

Freight Tip from the Experts: Your best bet for protecting your freight will be to palletize it—and do it right:

• Palletized goods can be loaded and unloaded with a forklift, reducing manual handling.

• Pack and wrap your pallets carefully, following our best practices for palletized goods.

Ultimately, a strong focus on packaging is your best protection against damage. And if you absolutely, positively can’t risk damage, you might consider FTL service.

One of the other ways to overcome some of the challenges of shipping LTL freight is to work with a freight broker. The right partner can offer you a number of advantages. We’ll cover that next.

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The Advantages of Partnering with a Freight Broker for Your LTL Freight Shipments

Working with a freight broker can offer you greater flexibility, better pricing, and more ease when moving LTL freight.  

More specifically, when you find the right freight broker, you’ll enjoy: 

Access to their Network of Existing Relationships

Freight brokers spend a significant amount of time forming relationships with different carriers. They get to know each carrier well, saving you from having to vet and evaluate each one you might want to work with. Instead, you’ll get immediate access to a complete network of trusted, reliable partners.

The Ease of Multiple Quotes from a Single Point of Contact

Rather than calling around from carrier to carrier to find someone with the capacity for your load—and then repeating the specs for your load each time—you can make a single call to a freight broker. That broker will reach out to their trusted partners, find carriers with capacity, and come back to you with quotes. You’ll save a ton of time and get a good lay of the land in terms of the right price for your shipment.

Greater Flexibility Than Going Direct

If your freight needs fluctuate, a freight broker can offer you greater flexibility than working directly with a carrier. For example, if you need to ship more freight during certain times of year—or you need different types of equipment for different shipments—a broker can help. With access to multiple carriers, along with their varied fleets, a broker will likely be able to accommodate varied needs throughout the year.

Better Pricing

In some industries, you get the best pricing by going direct to the companies you’re working with. For many LTL shipments, the opposite is true:

• With the ability to quote your shipment across multiple carriers, a freight broker can gather several quotes to find the best price for you.
• Additionally, some brokers do a large volume of business with particular carriers. As a result, they may have access to negotiated rates that are better than if you tried to go direct.

Excellent Communication

Freight brokers, by their nature, act as an intermediary between the shipper and the carrier. The best freight brokers take this job seriously and put significant effort into keeping shippers updated on the movement of their freight. If a problem pops up, good freight brokers are also skilled at facilitating solutions, with the goal of forging a strong partnership with the shippers they work with.

Expert Insights and Answers

Finally, establishing a partnership with a freight broker means having an expert on your side, someone who knows LTL shipping inside and out. They know what forms you need, how to communicate with the carriers, how to fix problems, and how to make LTL shipments easy.

They can also be an invaluable resource when it comes to future planning, helping you estimate costs and schedules to keep your business running. If your freight broker has experience in the industry you’re in, even better.

In short, a freight broker can help save you time, effort, and money when moving LTL freight. It’s worth taking the time to establish a partnership with one you can trust.

Making the Most of Your LTL Shipments

Now that you understand exactly what LTL shipping is, the pros and cons, the challenges you might experience, and the benefits of working with a freight broker, you’re ready to decide whether LTL freight shipping is right for you. You’re also well-positioned for an efficient, cost-effective shipment that will keep your business moving forward.

Looking for assistance with your next LTL shipment? Our experts have access to a robust network of over-the-road carriers to move your cargo anywhere in North America. Get started today with a complimentary quote for your next LTL shipment.