Choosing between full truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload (LTL) is one of the first decisions in any shipment, and it affects cost, transit time and how many times your cargo is handled. Neither option is "better". The right one depends on what you are moving and how fast it needs to arrive.
What FTL means
With FTL, a trailer is dedicated to your cargo from pickup to delivery. Nobody else's freight shares the space, and the truck normally goes straight from origin to destination.
For reference, a 53-foot trailer typically carries around 20 to 24 pallets and up to roughly 42,000 lbs. Smaller dedicated vehicles, such as sprinters, cargo vans or 3.5-ton trucks, work the same way for smaller loads: the vehicle is yours for the trip.
What LTL means
With LTL, your shipment shares a trailer with freight from other shippers. You pay for the space your cargo uses instead of the whole trailer. Consolidated services run on schedules, and cargo is often moved through a terminal or cross-dock where loads are combined and separated.
Between the two sits partial freight: a dedicated or semi-dedicated service for small and medium shipments that are too large for a typical LTL but do not need a full trailer.
Side by side
| Factor | FTL | LTL |
|---|---|---|
| Space | Entire trailer, only your cargo | Shared with other shippers |
| You pay for | The truck and the route | The space and weight you use |
| Handling | Loaded once, unloaded once | May be handled several times |
| Transit | Direct, set by your pickup and delivery times | Depends on consolidation schedules |
| Best for | Large, urgent, fragile or high-value loads | Small and medium shipments, regular replenishment |
Five questions to decide
- How big is the shipment? As a rule of thumb, when your cargo fills about half a trailer or more, it is worth getting an FTL quote next to the LTL one. Sometimes the full truck costs about the same, and it is faster.
- How urgent is it? If the delivery date is firm, a dedicated vehicle removes the waiting that comes with consolidation.
- How fragile or valuable is the cargo? Fewer touches mean fewer chances of damage. For fragile or high-value goods, FTL or a dedicated vehicle is usually safer.
- How often do you ship? For recurring small shipments on the same route, scheduled LTL keeps costs down without sacrificing reliability.
- Is the cargo ready? LTL depends on good packaging and labeling, because your pallets travel with other people's freight. Palletize, wrap and label every package clearly.
What changes when the shipment crosses the border
For cross-border moves, the documents matter as much as the truck. A dedicated trailer is cleared as one shipment, while a consolidated load involves several shippers and several sets of documents, and a mistake in one of them can slow down the whole load. Whichever service you choose, send your customs broker complete, consistent paperwork before pickup. Our border documents checklist lists what to prepare.
How On Time International helps
Our fleet runs from sprinters and cargo vans to 53-foot trailers, and our ground services include FTL, consolidated LTL, partial freight and expedited options across Mexico, the USA and Canada. If you are not sure which fits, tell us the number of pallets, weight, origin, destination and deadline, and we will quote the option that makes sense. You can also read how to prepare the information for an accurate quote.
