Less than truckload (LTL) shipping is the transportation of relatively small freight.
Less than truckload is a service offered by many freight and haulage companies for business' that have less than a full container load of freight to be transported. LTL freight is transported with various other shipments and is usually not delivered directly to a destination as full truckloads are. The weight of LTL shipments can typically be anywhere between 68 to 9000 kg. Less than truckload shipping is often a cost effective option for freight transportation as the cost of delivery is shared with other customers.
Transit times for LTL freight are longer than for Full Truckload freight (FTL) because carriers do not follow a direct route from the shipper to the destination, therefore, LTL transit times cannot be directly related to the distance between shipper and consignee. Instead, LTL transit times are dependent upon the makeup of the network of terminals that are operated by the carrier and that carrier's beyond agents and interline partners. Delivery to remote areas will almost always add days to the time taken for the freight to be transported, and freight might have a delivery time frame of up to 10 days.
The primary advantage of using a LTL carrier is cost. The price of sending a shipment using a LTL carrier rather than a FTL carrier is significantly lower. The LTL carrier also has to compete with parcel carriers, who generally will not accept shipments of more than 70 to 100 pounds in weight. This competition gives usually results in LTL carriers offering lower rates per pound than parcel carriers.