Groupage

When your shipment is too small to justify a whole truck, you don't need to pay for one. Groupage lets a carrier or forwarder pool your goods with other consignments heading the same way, splitting the cost of a single vehicle across everyone on board.

What groupage means

Groupage (also called consolidation) is the practice of combining multiple shippers' part-loads into one truck or container. Each shipper is billed only for the volume their cargo occupies, so a few pallets cost a fraction of a full truckload. It is the European road-freight term most often used interchangeably with LTL (less-than-truckload), the equivalent label common in US and ocean freight.

How consolidation works

Your pallets rarely travel straight from your door to the consignee. A typical groupage move runs through a consolidation hub:

1. Local collection brings your part-load to the forwarder's depot.
2. At the hub, goods are sorted and grouped with other consignments for the same lane.
3. The combined load runs as one line-haul to a destination hub.
4. Cargo is de-consolidated and delivered locally to each consignee.

This hub routing is why groupage takes longer than a dedicated load and why it involves more handling — your goods are loaded and unloaded several times along the way.

Groupage vs a dedicated load

Factor	Groupage / LTL	Full load (FTL)
You pay for	Space used (LDM or pallet spaces)	The whole vehicle
Best for	1–6 pallets, small volumes	Half a trailer or more
Transit time	Longer (hub routing)	Direct, faster
Handling	More (load/unload at hubs)	Minimal (sealed door to door)
Damage risk	Higher (repeated handling)	Lower

The crossover point is usually around 6–8 pallets or roughly half a trailer. Below that, groupage is almost always cheaper; above it, a dedicated load can win on price per pallet and removes the handling and transit penalty. See FTL vs LTL for a fuller breakdown.

How groupage is priced

Groupage is quoted on the space your cargo occupies, not just its weight. The two common units are:

• Loading metres (LDM) — the length of trailer floor your goods take up, regardless of how high they stack. One standard pallet is about 0.4 LDM. Work yours out with the loading metres calculator.
• Pallet spaces — a simple count of standard pallet footprints, sometimes with a height cap.

Carriers also apply chargeable weight rules, so a light but bulky load is rated on its volume. For the logic behind LDM-based pricing, see what is LDM.

Once you know your LDM or pallet count, UMERA turns that spec into an RFQ and collects comparable carrier quotes, so you can see what your groupage shipment actually costs across the market rather than from a single carrier's tariff.

FAQ

Is groupage the same as LTL?

In practice, yes. Groupage is the European road-freight term and LTL (less-than-truckload) the US and ocean-freight term, but both describe consolidating several shippers' part-loads into one vehicle and billing each for the space used.

When is groupage cheaper than a full truck?

For small consignments — typically up to six to eight pallets, or anything under about half a trailer. Beyond that, a dedicated load is often cheaper per pallet and avoids the extra handling and transit time.

Why does groupage take longer?

Because your goods route through one or more consolidation hubs where they are sorted, grouped and reloaded with other consignments, rather than running direct from collection to delivery.

How is groupage freight priced?

By the space your cargo occupies, measured in loading metres (LDM) or pallet spaces, with chargeable-weight rules applied to light, bulky loads.