FTL Shipping (Full Truckload)

FTL (Full Truckload) means you book an entire trailer for your shipment and pay one rate for the truck, whether or not the deck is physically full. It is the mode you reach for when a load is big enough, urgent enough, or fragile enough that sharing space stops making sense.

What FTL shipping is

With FTL the trailer is dedicated to your cargo from collection to delivery. There is no groupage terminal in the middle, no consolidation with other shippers, and no transshipment. The truck drives direct, which makes FTL the fastest and lowest-risk road mode for moving a large consignment between two points.

Because the whole vehicle is yours, you also control the loading window, the route, and the equipment — a curtainsider, a box trailer, or a reefer if the goods need temperature control.

How FTL is priced

FTL is priced per trip or per kilometre — one rate for the truck, not per pallet. The carrier prices the vehicle and driver for the lane, so the cost is the same whether you load 20 pallets or 30.

Factor	Effect on FTL price
Distance (km)	Main driver — most quotes are built per km
Lane balance	Backhaul / empty-return legs raise the rate
Equipment	Reefer or specialised trailer costs more than a standard tilt
Fuel	Tracked via a fuel surcharge
Waiting time	Detention charges if loading/unloading runs long

Use the freight rate calculator to sanity-check a per-km quote before you accept it.

When FTL beats LTL

LTL shipping puts your pallets on a shared trailer and prices by the space you occupy, so it wins for small consignments. FTL takes over once your volume is large enough that buying the whole truck costs less per unit than paying for pallet spaces.

The crossover is usually around 13+ Euro pallets, or sooner when you need a direct, time-critical delivery or want to avoid transshipment handling on fragile goods.

• Choose FTL when you have ~13+ pallets, a tight deadline, or fragile / high-value cargo
• Choose LTL when you ship a few pallets and can accept terminal handling and a slower transit
• Borderline? Compare a full-truck rate against the LTL per-pallet quote for the same lane

UMERA turns this comparison into action: describe your load once and it sends the lane out as an RFQ, returning booked FTL and LTL carrier quotes side by side so you pick the cheaper mode on real numbers. For the full breakdown of the trade-off, see FTL vs LTL.

FAQ

What does FTL mean in shipping?

FTL stands for Full Truckload — you book a whole dedicated trailer for your shipment and pay one rate for the truck, whether or not it is physically full.

How is FTL shipping priced?

FTL is priced per trip or per kilometre as a single rate for the vehicle, driven mainly by distance, lane balance, equipment type, and fuel. It is not priced per pallet like LTL.

When is FTL cheaper than LTL?

FTL usually beats LTL once you have around 13 or more Euro pallets, or when you need a direct, time-critical delivery. Below that, the shared-trailer LTL rate is typically lower.

Is FTL faster than LTL?

Yes. FTL drives direct with no consolidation or transshipment, so transit times are shorter and there is less handling risk than on a shared LTL service.