FTL vs LTL: when should your shipment go full truckload?

The short version

Full truckload, or FTL, means your freight has a dedicated trailer. The truck picks up at your facility, or at the facility you name, and that trailer is committed to your shipment until it is delivered. Less-than-truckload, or LTL, is for freight that does not need the whole trailer. Your pallets share space and a route with other shipments, and the rate is based on weight, dimensions, the lane, and extra services, not on the cost of an entire truck.

Neither mode is automatically better. A few pallets usually belong on LTL. A trailer you can fill, or nearly fill, usually belongs on FTL. The shipments in between are the ones worth comparing, and those are where a partial truckload sometimes enters the conversation. Our team quotes all three from Los Angeles and across the 48 states. Use the form at the top of this page and ask us to quote more than one mode if you are in the middle.

What full truckload is for

Choose FTL when you have enough freight to fill or nearly fill a standard 53-foot trailer, or when you want that trailer to yourself even if you are a little short of a full load. A dedicated trailer is also the right starting point when the freight is time-sensitive, should not be handled at intermediate terminals, or needs a reefer set point for the entire trip.

FTL is how we quote dry van and reefer truckload service. Ambient freight goes dry van, and freight that needs a temperature goes reefer. For help with that choice, see reefer vs dry van. The mode question on this page is separate: is the shipment large enough, or important enough, to take a trailer of its own?

Because the trailer is dedicated, transit is usually more direct. The driver is running your pickup and your delivery, not a route built around several consignments. That can make appointment planning cleaner and reduce handling. Those benefits are why some shippers choose FTL even when the pallet count is short of a full trailer — especially for higher-value product, tight delivery windows, or receivers who do not want a multi-stop truck on their dock.

What LTL is for

Choose LTL when you have a handful of pallets and you do not need a dedicated trailer. The carrier consolidates your freight with other shipments heading in the same general direction. You pay for the space and handling your pallets require, which is usually the more economical way to ship a small quantity, especially over a longer distance where a dedicated truck would be mostly empty.

LTL rates depend on more than miles. Carriers look at weight, dimensions, and freight class, which is based in large part on density, plus the origin and destination and extra services such as a liftgate or limited-access location. You do not have to calculate a class before you write to us. Send the weight, pallet count, and dimensions if you have them, and mention if the freight is especially light and bulky or unusually dense. Our LTL shipping in Los Angeles page is the service page for this mode.

Because LTL freight is consolidated, it may be handled more than once and may spend time at a terminal. Transit is often longer than a comparable full truckload, and pickup or delivery days can be less precise unless you add services that lock in a window. If you have a hard delivery date, put it in the notes so we can tell you whether LTL is realistic or a dedicated trailer is the safer plan.

Pallet count and weight: a practical rule of thumb

There is no single legal cutoff between LTL and FTL, but a standard rule of thumb is a good place to start. LTL is typically a good fit for about 1 to 6 pallets, or for freight that weighs under about 15,000 pounds. Once you are above that range, a full truckload quote is usually worth requesting, even if you also want an LTL number for comparison.

Those figures are guidance, not a hard wall. Pallet size changes the picture. Six standard grocery pallets that can be double stacked are a different shipment than six tall, non-stackable pallets that already eat most of a trailer’s floor. A dense product can hit a weight limit before it looks “full,” and a light, bulky product can fill the cube long before it approaches 15,000 pounds. That is why a pallet count without dimensions, or a weight without a commodity, can lead to a quote that does not match the freight.

When you are close to the line, the most useful thing we can do is quote both modes. The cheaper line-haul number is not always the better choice once you factor in transit time, handling, and appointment risk. If you want a dedicated trailer, choose Dry Van or Reefer on the form. If you have a few pallets, choose LTL. If you are unsure, choose “Not sure” and include the pallet count and weight.

Partial truckload

Partial truckload, often called PTL or a partial, sits between the two. You have more freight than a typical LTL shipment — often more than a few pallets, or freight that is awkward to send through a terminal network — but you are not filling a 53-foot trailer. Instead of buying the whole truck, you buy a portion of a dedicated or semi-dedicated trailer. Your freight is not mixed and rehandled the way classic LTL is, and you are not paying for empty space you will not use.

A partial is not available, or not attractive, on every lane and date. It depends on whether another shipment can share the truck and still meet both schedules, or whether a carrier will take a shorter trailer fill at a partial price. We do not treat partial as a default mode on the form. If your shipment is in that middle zone, tell us in the notes that you are open to a partial, and we will quote it when it is realistic. If it is not, we will send the FTL and LTL numbers instead.

Partials can be a good conversation for recurring mid-size releases, freight that should not be handled at a terminal, and shippers who are regularly just short of a full trailer. They are less useful when the delivery appointment is very tight, or when you already have enough volume to justify FTL.

Other differences worth weighing

Handling is the quiet difference. On FTL, the freight is typically loaded once and unloaded once. On LTL, it may be transferred between trailers or staged at a hub. For sturdy, well-wrapped dry freight, that is a normal part of the service. For fragile product, poorly palletized freight, or anything with a strict temperature need, the extra handling is a reason to look at a dedicated trailer.

Temperature control works differently too. A reefer full truckload holds your set point for the trip. LTL can sometimes move temperature-controlled freight, but the options are narrower, and we need to know the set point up front. Do not assume an LTL quote includes refrigeration.

Accessorials appear in both modes, but they show up more often on LTL: liftgates, limited-access parks, inside pickup or delivery, residential destinations, and appointment services. If your facility or customer needs any of those, include them so the LTL rate is complete. FTL quotes should still include dock or appointment constraints, especially at grocery and retail distribution centers.

The rest of what goes into a rate — miles, season, fuel, and lead time — is covered in our guide to how much a truckload costs. Those factors apply to FTL directly, and they influence LTL as well.