Less-than-truckload (LTL) network movement

The path a part load takes between terminals

A collection vehicle brings freight into an origin terminal towards the end of the working day. There it is unloaded, weighed, measured, labelled for a destination and reloaded onto a trunk vehicle bound for another terminal. Larger networks insert an intermediate breakbulk point where trunk vehicles are stripped and re-sorted for onward destinations. A local vehicle finally takes the freight out on a delivery round. Every terminal is a timed event with a cut-off. Freight arriving after the trunk has left waits for the following one, which is why a collection missed by an hour can cost a full day.

Every handling touch is an opportunity for damage

Shared freight is lifted, set down, restacked and pushed by handling equipment repeatedly before it reaches the consignee. Packaging therefore has to survive people who did not pack it and cannot see inside it. Flat-topped, wrapped, squared-off units that will accept another unit on top travel well; irregular shapes, unbanded stacks and loose cartons do not. Labelling carries equal weight. A unit whose destination marking cannot be read is worked out by hand, and hand-worked freight misses cut-offs.

How space is charged when nobody owns the vehicle

Since no single customer has bought the vehicle, the carrier must allocate deck space between them. Charging therefore reflects both mass and the room consumed, so a light bulky unit is rated on the space it denies to others rather than on what it weighs. Classification and dimensional conventions vary between markets, yet the underlying principle holds: density, footprint and handling difficulty drive the charge. Services that break the standard flow, such as tail-lift delivery, timed windows, restricted access or waiting time, carry separate charges because they consume resources the network model assumes away.

The point at which the shared network stops helping

As a consignment grows, the deck space it occupies approaches the point where exclusive use costs little more and removes the handling entirely. Fragile, temperature-sensitive or high-value goods often leave the network well before that on risk grounds. At the other end of the scale, very small items are usually better served by parcel or pallet operations designed around that size.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a part load take longer than a direct run?

Because it is collected, sorted, trunked, sorted again and delivered, and each of those steps happens once per day at a fixed time. The transit reflects the rhythm of the terminals rather than the driving distance.

What packaging does a shared network expect?

Units that are palletised or otherwise based, wrapped or banded so nothing can shift, squared off within the base, and clearly marked on more than one face. Anything that cannot be stacked should say so plainly on the unit itself.

Is less-than-truckload the same thing as groupage?

The terms overlap and usage varies by region. In common practice, less-than-truckload describes a domestic terminal network, while groupage more often describes consolidation for a scheduled cross-border service.