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LTL freight means less than truckload: a shipment too small to fill a trailer, so it shares one with freight from other shippers. Carriers describe it as shipments that weigh between 150 and 15,000 pounds, take only part of a trailer and are usually palletized. Shippers use LTL to move a few pallets without paying for a whole truck. Carriers earn by filling the trailer with several of them.
How LTL freight works
In trucking, LTL refers to both the freight and the way it moves. A full truckload goes from one shipper to one receiver on one truck. An LTL shipment rides with others, and an LTL carrier runs a network of terminals to sort it.
Here's the usual path. A local truck picks up the pallets and brings them to the nearest LTL terminalTRUCKING TERMA carrier facility where LTL freight is unloaded, sorted and reloaded onto trucks heading toward its destination.. Workers unload it, sort it by destination and load it onto a linehaul trailer with other freight going the same way. That trailer runs overnight to a terminal near the receiver, where the freight is sorted again and goes out on a local delivery truck.
Most national LTL carriers run on the hub and spokeTRUCKING TERMAn LTL network that moves freight from local terminals to central hubs for sorting, then out to terminals near the receiver. model. Smaller service centers (spokes) handle short-haul and local pickups and deliveries, while larger hubs consolidate freight for long-distance moves. The scale is large: one national carrier, Estes, reports 300+ service centers, 26 hubs and nearly 7,000 next-day lanes.
Source: Estes Express Lines, LTL Freight Shipping FAQs: What Is LTL and How Does It Work?, October 2026
Every handoff is a chance for damage or delay, which is why LTL shipments need good packaging and accurate paperwork. It also explains why the price has so many parts.
LTL, partials and full truckload
Shippers choose between three ways to move freight that doesn't fill a trailer on its own, or does. The line between them is mostly size and handling.
| Mode | How it moves | Priced by | Who usually hauls it |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTL | Through terminals, handled several times | Weight, freight class, distance, extras | LTL carriers with terminal networks |
| Partial (volume LTL) | One truck from pickup to delivery, few handoffs | Trailer space (linear feet) and miles | Truckload carriers and owner operators, often through brokers |
| Full truckload | One shipper, one truck, straight through | Miles and market rate for the lane | Truckload carriers and owner operators |
Partials matter most for carriers without a terminal network. Two or three partials going the same direction can fill a dry van or a reefer and pay close to, or more than, one full load. The floor plan above shows how four shippers share one trailer. Pick a shipper to see its share of the floor in pallets and linear feet. To check your own floor, try our pallet and linear feet calculator.
Freight on pallets also changes how it's loaded. PalletizationTRUCKING TERMLoading and securing freight on pallets so it can be moved by forklift or pallet jack. lets a forklift move it in seconds, and how the pallets sit on the floor, straight, turned or pinwheeled, decides how many fit. See our guide to palletized freight for the details.
What sets an LTL price
LTL rates depend on weight (cost per pound falls as shipments get bigger), freight class, lane distance and competition, accessorial fees and fuel surcharges. Each piece is worth knowing, whether you pay the bill or haul the freight.
Source: Estes Express Lines, LTL Freight Shipping FAQs: What Is LTL and How Does It Work?, October 2026
Freight class
LTL carriers price most shipments using the NMFCTRUCKING TERMThe National Motor Freight Classification, published by NMFTA, which assigns commodities to freight classes used to price LTL shipments., which puts each commodity in a freight class. Many items now use density to set the class. A 13-subprovision density scale, from class 400 under 1 pound per cubic foot to class 50 at 50 pounds per cubic foot or more. Light, bulky freight lands in a high class and costs more per pound. Dense freight lands low. Check a shipment with our freight class and density calculator.
Source: NMFTA, NMFC Docket 2025-1 density scale (effective July 19, 2025), October 2026
Reweighs and reclasses
If the carrier finds the weight or the class on the bill of lading is wrong, it bills the correct one. An LTL reweighTRUCKING TERMWhen a carrier weighs a shipment again and bills the actual weight if it differs from the bill of lading. or reclassTRUCKING TERMWhen a carrier changes a shipment's freight class after inspecting it and rebills at the corrected class. often arrives with a fee on top. Accurate paperwork is the cheapest way to avoid both.
Accessorials
Accessorials are fees for non-standard services that need special equipment or handling, such as liftgate, hazmat, white glove delivery and storage. Residential and limited-access deliveries, inside delivery and appointment requests often carry their own charges too. A quote that leaves them out isn't the real price. Our guide to LTL freight quotes shows how to compare quotes line by line, and the LTL freight cost estimator gives a ballpark before you ask.
Source: Estes Express Lines, LTL Freight Shipping FAQs: What Is LTL and How Does It Work?, October 2026
Shipping LTL: what shippers control
A shipper can't change the carrier's network, but it controls the parts that cause most extra charges and claims:
- Packaging. Pallets wrapped tight in shrink wrapTRUCKING TERMPlastic film stretched around palletized freight to hold the load together and protect it., nothing hanging over the edges, labels on two sides.
- Accurate weight and size. Measured, not guessed, so the class and weight on the bill of lading match what the carrier finds.
- Extras declared up front. Liftgate, residential, inside delivery and appointments named on the booking, not discovered at the door.
- Tracking. The PRO number from the carrier, used to follow the shipment. Our guide to LTL freight tracking covers what each status means.
For the full process from quote to delivery, read how to ship LTL freight. One note: LaneHarvest dispatches carriers. We don't sell or quote shipping to shippers.
What LTL means for the loads you can haul
For an owner operator or a small fleet, LTL freight shows up in three ways.
Partials on load boards
Brokers post partials that need 10, 16 or 24 feet of trailer. Alone, a partial rarely pays like a full load. Combined with a second or third partial heading the same way, it can fill the trailer and pay well. The catch is the route: every extra stop takes time at a dock, and the delivery order has to match the load order so you're not unloading one shipper's pallets to reach another's. Use our multi-stop load pay calculator to check whether the combined pay covers the extra stops.
Linehaul for LTL carriers
Some LTL carriers hire outside trucks, often power only, to pull trailers between their terminals. The freight is already loaded and sealed; you run terminal to terminal on a schedule.
Box truck LTL and final mile
A 26 ft box truck with a liftgate fits LTL-style deliveries: a few pallets to stores, job sites or businesses without docks. That's the smallest truck we dispatch. Liftgate, residential and limited-access stops are where the extra pay is, so they need to be on the rate con before you say yes.
Partials pay when the trailer fills and the stops make sense. That's where a dispatcher earns the fee. On our desk, we look for partials that fit together by direction, dock times and load order, and send you the full plan with every stop, rate, weight and appointment. Nothing is booked until you say yes, and each broker sends its rate confirmation straight to you. See how it works on dry van dispatch, or start from the LaneHarvest home page for all 11 truck types.