FTL and LTL—Which
Road Freight Should
You Choose?
Freight transport comes in three categories—air, land, and sea.
The most popular and sought-after choice for logistics is road
transport. Thanks to the level of convenience and flexibility it offers.
There is no denying that a vast majority of businesses and
individuals choose road freight to ensure quick and smooth
transportation.
What Exactly is Road Freight?
Commonly known as road haulage, road freight stands for cargo
transportation through roadways. Being one of the most commonly
used forms of transport in the world, road freight has become
people’s favorite choice for all types of logistics transportation.
Road freight could be used alone or in conjunction with sea freight
in order to enable door-to-door delivery services whenever
required. In this post, we will discuss the two most popular types of
road freight services—LTL and FTL. Let’s take a look:
LTL and FTL Road Freight
LTL stands for the Less Than Truckload freight. It’s for businesses
that need small-sized cargo to be transported to the target
destination. LTL is basically for those who don’t have enough cargo
to fill the loaded truck. If you choose the LTL, you have to share the
space in the loading truck as well as the transport cost with other
companies. It happens to be the most cost-effective method of
transportation since you get to share the cost of transportation with
other businesses. At the same time, it takes a lot of time to deliver
the cargo through this method. The delivery takes longer than usual
because the truck takes several stops on the way, and the packing
and re-packing of the cargo could be really time-consuming.
FTL stands for the Full Truck Load Freight. As the name suggests,
this method of transportation is for large businesses that have a
large-sized shipment. If your shipment is heavy and big enough to
fill the entire truck, you should consider opting for FTL. The method
is mostly preferred for delicate goods. Even if the cargo size is not
big enough to load the entire truck, people might consider FTL. It
is also a great option for companies that need to deliver the cargo
within a specific time limit.
Choose Between FTL and LTL
There are quite a few factors you must consider before choosing
between FTL and LTL.
Size of the Shipment: For small cargo delivery, LTL looks like the
best and most viable option. This method works for all types of
small shipments so long as they don’t fall in the high-risk category.
Budget: There is no point in hiring a huge truck when you have to
transport small freight. The rest of the truck will be empty, but you
will end up paying the full cost of transportation. However, if you
have large-sized cargo, you can consider FTL. It is the most costeffective option for budget-conscious buyers.
Time: It goes without saying that LTL is a more time-consuming
process than FTL. Since the truck is loaded with a cargo of different
sizes and types, it might take frequent stops. This makes the
delivery a little complex. The vehicle stops at several points since
the cargo has to be delivered to different destinations. You don’t
have to worry about this problem with FTL. It involves one origin
and only a single target destination, making the delivery faster and
most cost-effective.
Shipment Type: Although the size of the shipment is an important
factor when it comes to choosing an appropriate mode of
transportation, it is definitely not the only thing to consider when
transporting goods from one place to another. There are certain
types of goods that can’t be transported with other goods. Put it this
way, some dangerous, high-risk goods cannot share space with
other items in the truck, which is why they need to be transported
separately. Let’s say a company is transporting hazardous
chemicals from one point to another. These chemicals can’t be
shipped with other regular-use goods. That’s where FTL seems the
most reliable option for transportation.
Although there are many methods of transportation to choose from,
the most flexible and viable one is road freight. It comes with its set
of unique advantages.