What is FTL (full truckload)?
An FTL is priced per trip, as a lane rate or per kilometer or mile, not per kilogram. The truck loads at one address and drives straight to the consignee, so there is no terminal handling on the way. In Europe the standard unit is a 13.6 m semi-trailer about 2.48 m wide inside, which takes 33 Euro pallets on the floor; in North America it is usually a 53-foot dry van.
With LTL, cargo shares the truck and is priced on the space or weight it uses; with FTL, the shipper pays for the whole vehicle whether it is full or not. Between the two sits the partial or part load, a larger consignment that shares a truck with only one or two others and often travels direct. When a consignment fills a large part of a trailer, ask for both prices.
Plan loading and delivery windows, because waiting beyond the agreed free hours is billed as detention or standing time. Check the legal weight limits, including axle loads, for every country on the route; a standard European curtainsider is commonly planned at around 24 metric tons of payload. International road shipments in Europe normally move under a CMR consignment note signed at both ends.