Twenty two pallets of bottled sauce are ready at a warehouse in Commerce on a Monday morning, and a grocery distribution center outside Phoenix expects them on Wednesday at 6 a.m. The pallets are too many to split across shared LTL trailers and too important to route through two terminals. So one trailer backs up to the dock, takes all twenty two, gets sealed, and does not open again until Phoenix. That is FTL shipping. Most of what makes it work or fail happens before the truck ever moves.
This guide covers what full truckload means in practice, how an FTL shipment moves from booking to proof of delivery, how long it really takes, what the rate is made of, which trailer to ask for, and the mistakes that turn a simple load into a detention invoice. If you already have freight to move, the list of what to send us is near the end.
What FTL shipping is
FTL shipping, short for full truckload shipping, is moving one shipper’s freight in a trailer used only for that shipment, loaded at the origin, sealed, and driven to the destination without stopping to load or unload anyone else’s goods. You pay for the whole trailer, whether or not you fill every inch of it, and in return nobody else’s freight shares the space.
The term shows up in many forms and they all describe the same thing. FTL freight, an FTL shipment, FTL transportation, FTL trucking and FTL logistics all mean a dedicated trailer for one load. In logistics, FTL stands for full truckload; the opposite is less than truckload, where several shippers share a trailer and each pays for its share of the space.
What “full” actually means: cubing out and weighing out
A trailer is full in one of two ways, and you should know which one applies to your freight before you ask for a price.
It cubes out when the floor or the space is used up. On the 53 foot dry van trailers we run, that is up to 26 standard 48 by 40 inch pallets on the floor, depending on weight and how they are loaded. Our guide to how many pallets fit in a truck walks through the layouts.
It weighs out when the weight limit is reached first. Federal rules cap gross vehicle weight on the Interstate System at 80,000 pounds, with no more than 20,000 pounds on any single axle and 34,000 pounds on a tandem axle group. That 80,000 includes the tractor, the trailer and the fuel, so the freight gets what is left. Dense products such as beverages, paper or metal parts often weigh out long before the floor is covered, and a load under the gross limit can still be illegal if too much of it sits over one axle group. If your lanes cross several states, the state by state axle weight guide is worth a read.
How an FTL shipment moves, step by step
An FTL load looks like one trip. In practice it is seven handoffs, and each one has a document or an appointment attached to it. The table below is the order we see them in, with the part you control and the thing that usually goes wrong.
| Step | What happens | What you control | What goes wrong here |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Quote and booking | The lane, dates, weight and equipment are priced and a truck is assigned | How accurate the weight, pallet count and ready date are | A load quoted as 30,000 pounds that turns out to be 44,000 needs a different plan |
| 2. Rate confirmation | The agreed price, pickup and delivery details and accessorial terms go in writing | Reading the accessorial terms before you sign, not after | Detention and layover terms nobody looked at until the invoice arrived |
| 3. Pickup appointment | The truck arrives for a live load, or collects a trailer you loaded in advance | Having the freight staged and the dock free at the appointment time | Freight not ready, and the clock for detention starts |
| 4. Loading and sealing | Freight is loaded, secured, counted and the trailer is sealed | Load distribution, securing, and writing the seal number on the bill of lading | Piece count on the paperwork does not match what went on the trailer |
| 5. Linehaul | One driver takes the trailer straight to the destination | Little, beyond realistic delivery dates | A delivery date that ignored the driver’s legal hours |
| 6. Delivery appointment | The receiver checks the seal, unloads and counts | Giving the carrier the receiver’s appointment rules and contact at booking | Truck arrives on time for an appointment nobody made |
| 7. Proof of delivery and invoice | The signed delivery receipt comes back and the load is billed | Making sure exceptions are written on the receipt at delivery | A clean signature on a damaged load, which weakens any claim later |
Two documents carry the whole load. The bill of lading is the receipt and the contract of carriage at pickup, and the proof of delivery closes it at the other end. If a shipment arrives short or damaged, those two pieces of paper and the seal number decide whether a freight claim is easy or hopeless.
Live load or drop trailer
At pickup the truck either waits while you load it, which is a live load, or collects a trailer that was left at your dock earlier and loaded on your own schedule, which is a drop trailer. Live loading is the default and it puts your dock on the clock. Drop trailers take that pressure away, which is why warehouses and distribution centers that ship steadily tend to prefer them. We run drop trailer programs for exactly that kind of shipper.
How long FTL transit really takes
FTL is usually the fastest ground option because the trailer goes straight from dock to dock with no terminals in between. It is not unlimited speed, though. A single driver runs under federal hours of service rules, and those rules set the pace of every long load.
| Rule for property carrying drivers | What it means for your delivery date |
|---|---|
| 10 consecutive hours off duty before a shift | A driver who finished late cannot simply start early at your dock |
| No driving once 14 consecutive hours have passed since coming on duty | The clock keeps running through waiting at pickup and delivery |
| At most 11 hours of driving inside that window | This is the ceiling on how far one driver can take your load in a day |
| A 30 minute break after 8 hours of driving | Built into any honest schedule |
| 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 in 8, reset by 34 hours off | A driver late in the week may not have the hours for a long lane |
The row that catches shippers is the 14 hour window. Every hour a truck sits at your dock waiting for freight is an hour of that window gone, and it can push a next day delivery into the day after. So the fastest way to speed up an FTL load is usually not a faster truck. It is having the freight ready when the truck arrives.
To estimate transit on a lane, work out how far a driver can realistically cover in 11 hours of driving on that route, divide the distance by it, and add the loading and unloading time at each end. If the date is still too tight after that, the load needs expedited service rather than a standard FTL booking.
What an FTL rate is made of
An LTL rate is built from weight and freight class. An FTL rate is built mostly from the lane, because you are buying the whole truck for that trip. The factors below are the ones that move a full truckload price, and for most of them there is something a shipper can do.
| Factor | Why it moves the price | What you can do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Lane and mileage | Distance sets driver time and fuel, but two lanes of the same length can price very differently | Quote the exact origin and destination, not the nearest big city |
| Direction and backhaul | If the carrier cannot find a load out of your destination, the empty miles home are priced into your rate | Delivering into a busy freight market is usually cheaper than into a quiet one |
| Market capacity and season | When there are more loads than trucks, rates rise, and seasonal peaks tighten capacity | Book early in known peaks, and keep flexible dates where you can |
| Fuel surcharge | It moves with a published diesel price; a common reference is the weekly on highway diesel average from the US Energy Information Administration | Ask which index and which table your surcharge follows |
| Weight and dimensions | Heavy loads need equipment that can legally carry them, and oversized freight needs different equipment entirely | Send the real weight and measured dimensions at booking |
| Equipment type | Dry van, reefer, flatbed and hazmat capable equipment are separate markets with separate rates | Ask for the simplest equipment the freight can safely travel in |
| Pickup and delivery requirements | Live loads, appointment windows, detention, layover and extra stops all add cost | Be ready at the appointment and state every requirement up front |
The line items that surprise people are the accessorials. Detention is charged when a truck is held at pickup or delivery beyond the free time in the rate confirmation. Layover applies when a load cannot be delivered and the driver has to wait overnight. A truck order not used fee applies when a truck is dispatched and the load is cancelled or not there. None of these are in the line haul rate, and all of them are avoidable with a ready dock and an accurate booking. For the wider picture of how rates are put together, see our freight rates guide.
Which trailer to ask for
Full truckload is not one product. The trailer decides which carriers can take the load, what it costs and what the freight has to survive. Start with the simplest option the freight can safely travel in.
| Equipment | Built for | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Dry van | Palletized or boxed freight that needs protection from weather but not temperature control | Retail goods, packaging, auto parts, consumer and industrial products |
| Refrigerated | Freight that must stay within a temperature range from dock to dock | Food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and anything that spoils or freezes |
| Flatbed | Freight loaded from the side or from above, often by crane or forklift | Steel, lumber, building materials and equipment that will not fit through van doors |
| Heavy haul and oversized | Loads over normal legal weight or size, moving under permits | Machinery and other freight that cannot be broken down into smaller pieces |
| Hazmat | Regulated materials that need qualified carriers, placards and shipping papers | Anything classed as hazardous, even in small quantities inside a larger load |
If you are not sure a flatbed load is right for your freight, our notes on transporting a load on a flatbed cover securing and loading.
When FTL is the right call, and when it is not
FTL earns its price in a few clear situations:
- The freight fills most of a trailer, by floor or by weight. At that point you are paying for the truck either way, and sharing it saves nothing.
- The delivery date is firm. No terminals means fewer places for a load to wait, and one driver means one schedule.
- The freight is fragile or valuable. Loaded once, sealed, unloaded once. Fewer touches means fewer chances for damage and for cargo theft.
- The freight needs controlled conditions. Temperature sensitive and hazardous loads are simpler to manage when nothing else shares the trailer.
It is the wrong call when the freight covers only a few pallet positions and the date is flexible. Then you are paying for empty trailer space. Volume LTL and partial truckload sit in between, and for small repeat shipments consolidation is often cheaper still. If you want the two main options side by side, we compared them in FTL vs LTL shipping.
Six ways FTL loads go wrong, and what prevents each one
- The freight is not ready at pickup. Detention starts and the driver’s 14 hour window shrinks, which can cost you the delivery date as well as the fee. Book the pickup for when the freight will actually be staged, not when production hopes to finish.
- The weight was guessed. An overweight trailer can be stopped at a scale and has to be reworked. Weigh the freight, and tell the carrier if it is dense enough to weigh out before it fills the floor.
- The load shifts in transit. A partly filled trailer is where loads move. Brace, strap or block the freight, and keep heavy pallets spread along the trailer rather than piled at one end.
- The paperwork and the trailer disagree. Count pieces as they are loaded, write the seal number on the bill of lading, and have the receiver check it before the doors open.
- Nobody booked the delivery appointment. Many distribution centers only accept trucks by appointment. Send the receiver’s rules and contact at booking so the appointment exists before the truck does.
- The carrier is not who you think it is. A load re-sold to an unknown carrier without your knowledge is a real risk. Work with a partner who vets carriers, and read how double brokering works so you can spot it.
How to book an FTL shipment: what to send
A quote request with two city names and a weight gets a number. It does not get a number that survives the dock. Send these instead and the rate you get is the rate you pay:
- Pickup and delivery addresses with zip codes, and whether either end is a distribution center, a residence or a site with appointment rules
- Ready date and required delivery date, stated separately
- Pallet count and pallet size, and whether pallets can be stacked
- Total weight including pallets, measured rather than estimated
- What the commodity is, and whether it is hazardous or temperature sensitive
- Live load or drop trailer at each end, and dock hours at both
- Declared value, so you can decide on cargo insurance before the load moves
Once the load is booked you should have a rate confirmation that lists the accessorial terms, a pickup appointment, and a way to track the load in transit. Every load on our dry van service includes real time GPS tracking and live dispatch.
Frequently asked questions
What does FTL stand for in shipping?
FTL stands for full truckload. In shipping and logistics it means one shipper’s freight travels in a trailer that carries nothing else, from the pickup dock to the delivery dock.
What is FTL freight?
FTL freight is any load shipped as a full truckload: loaded at origin, sealed, and delivered without being moved through terminals or combined with other shipments. It is usually large enough to fill most of a trailer by space or by weight, or valuable or urgent enough that exclusive use is worth paying for.
How many pallets make a full truckload?
On a 53 foot dry van, up to 26 standard 48 by 40 inch pallets fit on the floor, depending on weight and loading pattern. Heavy freight can reach the legal weight limit with fewer pallets, and at that point the trailer is full even though floor space is left.
How much weight can a full truckload carry?
Federal rules cap the gross weight of the whole vehicle on the Interstate System at 80,000 pounds, including the tractor, trailer and fuel, with separate limits per axle and axle group. How much of that is left for freight depends on the equipment, so ask for the legal payload on your lane before you book.
Is FTL faster than LTL?
Usually, because an FTL trailer goes directly from pickup to delivery while LTL freight passes through terminals. The limit on FTL speed is the driver’s legal hours: 11 hours of driving within a 14 hour on duty window after 10 hours off.
How is FTL shipping priced?
Mainly by lane: origin, destination, distance, and how easily the carrier can find the next load out of your destination. Market capacity, season, fuel surcharge, equipment type and any pickup or delivery requirements are added on top.
What are the main benefits of FTL shipping?
Direct transit with no terminal stops, less handling and therefore less damage, a sealed trailer that only your freight travels in, and a lower cost per pallet than LTL once the load fills most of a trailer.
The short version
FTL shipping buys you a whole trailer. You pay for all of it, and in return your freight is loaded once, sealed, and driven straight to the receiver. It makes sense when the load fills most of a trailer by floor or by weight, when the date is firm, or when the freight cannot afford extra handling.
What makes an FTL load go smoothly is mostly on the shipper’s side of the dock: an accurate weight, freight ready at the appointment, the seal number on the bill of lading, and a delivery appointment that exists before the truck does.
We move full truckloads nationwide through our dry van FTL service, with reefer capacity for temperature controlled loads and LTL when a full trailer is more than the freight needs. Send the seven fields above and we will tell you which one your shipment belongs in.
