What is LTL (less than truckload)?
In North America, LTL carriers run terminal networks: a local truck collects the freight, it is cross-docked at a terminal, moved on a linehaul trailer to a terminal near the consignee, and delivered on another local route. Prices are set per hundred pounds according to freight class and distance, plus a fuel surcharge and accessorial charges for anything beyond dock-to-dock service.
In Europe the same service is usually called groupage or part loads, and it is priced on the higher of the actual weight and a space-based weight: loading meters for palletized freight, or volumetric weight at 1:3000 for small consignments. Compared with FTL, LTL costs less for small loads but adds handling, extra transit days and less predictable delivery times.
Example: four non-stackable Euro pallets weighing 1,200 kg in total take 4 × 0.4 = 1.6 loading meters, which a carrier using 1,750 kg per LDM bills as 2,800 kg. Describe LTL freight precisely, with dimensions, weight, stackability and, in the US, the correct freight class, because carriers reweigh and remeasure shipments and invoice any difference.