--- title: "FTL vs LTL: Choosing a Road Freight Mode" description: "How full truckload and LTL groupage differ on price, handling, transit time and damage risk, with the transport economics and claims data behind the choice." url: https://dealtilogistics.com/en/insights/ftl-vs-ltl language: en date_published: 2026-09-09 date_modified: 2026-09-09 author: "Dealti Insights" publisher: "Dealti Logistics" --- # FTL vs LTL: Choosing a Road Freight Mode _In short_ - FTL is one shipper's dedicated point-to-point vehicle; LTL, also called groupage, shares one vehicle between shippers through a hub-and-spoke terminal network; partial truckload fills the middle band. - In the Europe, Turkey and CIS market, LTL is priced on loading metres and chargeable weight, billing whichever of space or weight is higher, while FTL is a near-fixed per-vehicle, per-trip rate. - The cost break-even is a range, not a point: LTL up to about 6 pallets, partial truckload from roughly 6 to 12, FTL above that or near the loading-metre cap. - Large datasets put the LTL damage rate near 1.24 percent of shipments; a two-touch cross-dock model measured 0.81 percent, showing that handling events drive claims. - Each hub terminal adds roughly 12 to 24 hours; a groupage shipment on the Turkey to Europe lane is usually 2 to 4 days slower than a direct truck, almost all of it consolidation. - Some cargo removes the choice: ADR, temperature-controlled, out-of-gauge and high-security goods often have to move as dedicated loads. The choice between a full truckload (FTL) and a shared load (LTL, also called groupage or a partial load) is usually framed as a cost question, but the two modes differ in their network shape, their handling, their transit time and their damage exposure, and each of those has been measured. This article sets out how each mode is priced in the Europe, Turkey and CIS market, where the cost break-even sits, and what the transport economics and industry claims data actually show, so the decision can be made on evidence rather than habit. For the underlying terms, see [Full Truckload (FTL)](/en/insights/full-truckload-ftl) and [Less Than Truckload (LTL)](/en/insights/less-than-truckload-ltl). ## FTL, LTL and partial loads: what the terms mean Three modes cover almost all road freight between Turkey, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the CIS: - **Full truckload (FTL):** one shipper books the whole vehicle. The trailer is loaded once at origin, sealed, and opened at destination. The shipper pays for the vehicle and the trip, whether the trailer is full or half full. - **Less than truckload (LTL) or groupage:** several shippers' consignments share one vehicle. Each shipper pays only for the space and weight their goods use. Freight is consolidated and deconsolidated at terminals along the way. - **Partial truckload (PTL):** a middle option for larger part-loads, typically several pallets to around half a trailer, that move with one or two other shipments and often bypass the terminal network. It fills the gap where a shipment is too big for economical LTL but too small to justify a dedicated truck. Freight consolidation, or groupage, is the practice of combining smaller shipments from different shippers into one transport unit so they share the cost of the vehicle. For small consignments this is what makes professional line-haul affordable at all: industry estimates put the saving against a dedicated vehicle at roughly 50 to 80 percent for a shipment that only needs a few loading metres. ## The two network shapes behind the price FTL and LTL are priced differently because they are operated differently. An FTL shipment is **point to point**. The vehicle drives from the loading address to the delivery address, using the planned border crossings, with no intermediate handling of the goods. The cargo is touched twice: once at loading, once at unloading. An LTL shipment moves through a **hub-and-spoke** network. Local vehicles collect consignments and bring them to an origin terminal, where freight is unloaded, sorted and reloaded onto line-haul trailers by destination region. It may pass through one or more hub terminals, then a destination terminal, then a local vehicle for final delivery. In a traditional hub-and-spoke operation each consignment is handled at least five times between pickup and delivery: pickup, origin terminal sort, line-haul, destination terminal sort, and local delivery. Additional intermediate breaks can push this to seven. A cross-dock operation that skips the deep sort reduces this to about two handling events. This structural difference is the reason LTL is cheaper per shipment for small volumes, slower on average, and more exposed to handling damage. None of those are accidents of a particular carrier; they follow from the network shape. ## How each mode is priced ### Full truckload: per vehicle and trip An FTL rate is built from the cost of running one vehicle over one route. The main components are broadly: - **Fuel:** the largest single variable cost on a long international lane, and the reason quotes move with diesel prices. - **Driver:** wages, subsistence and rest-period rules, which on multi-day Turkey to Central Asia runs are a significant share. - **Tolls, road taxes and permits:** including bilateral road-transport permits where they apply. - **Border and transit costs:** TIR Carnet or T1, escort fees on some corridors, and the cost of time spent in border queues. - **Vehicle:** depreciation, maintenance, tyres, insurance. - **Repositioning:** the cost of getting the vehicle to the loading point and the risk of an empty or cheap return leg. That total is close to fixed regardless of how much of the trailer volume or payload is used, up to the legal limits, around 24 to 25 tonnes of payload and about 13.6 loading metres on a standard semi-trailer. The practical consequence: once a shipment is large enough to fill a meaningful share of a trailer, the FTL rate stops rising with volume while an LTL rate keeps climbing. ### LTL and groupage: loading metres and chargeable weight In the European, Turkish and CIS groupage market, LTL pricing is based on the **loading metre (LDM)** and the **chargeable weight**, not on a single freight class. - One loading metre is a strip of trailer floor one metre long by the full internal width, about 2.4 metres. The formula is LDM = (length in m x width in m) / 2.4. A standard EUR pallet of 1.2 by 0.8 metres occupies about 0.4 LDM. - Each loading metre carries a weight allowance, commonly between 1,750 and 1,850 kg depending on the carrier and lane. If a shipment is denser than that, it is charged on weight; if it is lighter and bulkier, it is charged on the space it blocks. - The carrier applies a **volume to weight ratio**, typically 1 cubic metre to 333 kg for road groupage, and charges whichever figure is higher. This is why a light, bulky pallet can cost as much as a heavy one: it is blocking sellable trailer space that cannot be used for anything else. The North American equivalent is the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC), which assigns each commodity a class from 50 to 500 based on four factors: density, stowability, handling and liability. Lower density, awkward shape, fragile or high-value goods, and difficult handling all raise the class and the rate. The LDM-and-chargeable-weight method and the NMFC method are different tools for the same underlying fact: in a shared vehicle, a shipper is charged for the constraint it imposes, whether that is weight or blocked space. To see how a specific shipment converts, use the [LDM calculator](/en/tools/ldm-calculator) and the [cubic metre calculator](/en/tools/m3-calculator). ### The empty return and why density matters Both modes carry the cost of repositioning. Across the EU truck fleet, 21.6 percent of vehicle-kilometres are run empty, which works out to roughly 85 billion empty kilometres a year, and the empty share is higher on international movements. The average load factor of loaded European trucks is around 50 percent, meaning the typical truck on the road is about half full by the measure of what it could legally carry. An LTL network exists to attack that number by pooling many shippers' freight into fuller trailers. When it works, the shipper benefits from a cost that would be impossible with a dedicated vehicle. When a lane is thin, the same consolidation that lowers cost also adds days, because the trailer waits for enough freight to justify the line-haul. ## Where the break-even sits There is no single crossover point, because it depends on the lane, the density of the goods, and the current balance of truck supply and demand. The industry consensus range, expressed in the pallet and weight terms common in North American analyses, is: | Shipment size | Usually cheapest mode | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Up to about 6 standard pallets / under ~4 tonnes | LTL / groupage | Paying only for space used clearly wins. | | About 6 to 12 pallets / ~4 to 7 tonnes | Partial truckload | Often 20 to 40 percent below LTL in this band, with fewer handling events. | | More than 12 pallets / over ~7 tonnes, or more than roughly 6 loading metres | FTL | The fixed vehicle rate is now spread over enough volume to beat LTL. | In loading-metre terms, which is how the Turkey and CIS market quotes, the shift toward FTL usually begins somewhere around 5 to 6 LDM, and most carriers apply a **linear-foot or loading-metre cap**: past a threshold, an LTL shipment is billed as if it were a full truck regardless of its weight, because it blocks that much floor. A shipment near that cap should always be quoted both ways. A worked check: 8 EUR pallets, each 1.1 metres high and 300 kg, so 2,400 kg of actual weight. Floor space is about 8 x 0.4 = 3.2 loading metres. Volume is about 8 x (1.2 x 0.8 x 1.1) = 8.4 cubic metres, which at 333 kg per cubic metre gives a volumetric weight of about 2,800 kg. The 3.2 loading metres of blocked floor correspond to about 3.2 x 1,850 = 5,900 kg on the loading-metre basis. The carrier charges on the highest of the three figures, so this shipment is billed at roughly 3.2 loading metres, and the actual 2,400 kg is not what drives the price. That is still comfortably in LTL or partial territory. Add height, or a ninth and tenth pallet, and it moves toward the cap, at which point a truckload quote is worth running. ## Damage and claims: what the data shows This is where the modes differ most sharply, and it has been measured on large datasets. - The **LTL industry average damage rate is about 1.24 percent** of shipments, roughly one in eighty, and it has barely moved in a decade (2025 shipper research study, 1,000 respondents). Measured in money rather than shipment count, damage and loss claims run at about 0.35 percent of total freight spend. - A dataset of **808,574 shipments** moved on a cross-dock model with about two handling events, rather than the traditional five, recorded a **0.81 percent damage rate**, roughly 35 percent below the industry average. Fewer touches, measurably fewer claims. - The **average LTL damage claim is around 1,800 US dollars** per incident, and 35 to 40 percent of claims are denied on incomplete or missing documentation rather than on the merits. - Carrier-disclosed claims ratios range from under 0.1 percent for the best operators to near 1 percent for the weakest, so carrier selection changes the exposure by an order of magnitude. An FTL shipment sits at the low-touch end of that spectrum by construction: loaded once, sealed, opened once. The trade-off is that when damage does occur on an FTL move it is often a single large event, such as a load shift, rather than the edge and corner damage typical of terminal handling. For how liability and compensation actually work once goods are damaged on an international road movement, including the CMR weight-based limit and the reservation that has to be recorded in time, see [Carrier Liability and Compensation Under the CMR](/en/insights/cmr-carrier-liability-and-compensation-guide) and [How to Fill In a CMR Note](/en/insights/how-to-fill-in-a-cmr-note). ## Transit time and reliability Because an FTL vehicle drives directly, its transit time is essentially the driving time plus borders. An LTL shipment adds the network on top of that. Each hub terminal a consignment passes through adds roughly 12 to 24 hours, and consolidation at the origin can add more while the trailer fills. On the Turkey to Europe corridor, a direct truck is commonly quoted at 5 to 7 days, while a groupage shipment on the same lane is quoted 2 to 4 days longer, and that gap is almost entirely consolidation and terminal handling, not extra road time. The variability matters as much as the average. The same LTL lane can produce noticeably different transit times from week to week depending on terminal volumes and how a shipment is routed through the hubs, whereas an FTL move is exposed mainly to border queues and weather. For time-critical cargo, a production line input or a project deadline, the reliability difference is often the deciding factor rather than the headline rate. ## Load factor, efficiency and emissions: the industry picture Expressed per tonne-kilometre, a fuller vehicle is more efficient. Real-world measurements on heavy diesel trucks show fuel consumption rising by about 1.9 to 7.0 percent per additional tonne of payload, so the fuel and the emissions are shared across more freight as the trailer fills. Recent work on payload management puts the net decarbonisation benefit of better loading at roughly 2.6 to 9.0 grams of CO2 per tonne-kilometre. This is an argument for high utilisation in general, and it cuts both ways between the modes. A well-filled groupage trailer spreads its emissions across many shippers and is efficient per tonne-kilometre. A half-empty dedicated truck is not. An FTL move that actually fills the trailer is efficient; one booked for a shipment that uses a third of the space is the least efficient option on the list. The practical takeaway is to match the mode to the volume rather than defaulting to a dedicated vehicle for convenience. ## When the choice is made for you Some cargo removes the decision. In these cases the mode follows from the goods, and the question becomes which carrier can do it properly rather than FTL versus LTL: - **Dangerous goods (ADR):** segregation rules, placarding and driver certification apply. Many consolidators will not mix certain ADR classes with general freight, so an ADR shipment often moves as a dedicated or near-dedicated load even when its size would otherwise suit groupage. - **Temperature-controlled:** a reefer trailer running a single setpoint suits a full load or a co-load of compatible products. Mixing temperature bands in one trailer is possible but limits which shipments can share it. - **Out-of-gauge or heavy indivisible loads:** these need route surveys, permits and sometimes escorts, and cannot be consolidated at all. - **High-value or security-sensitive goods:** some shippers require a sealed, non-stop trailer for insurance or contractual reasons, which rules out a terminal network regardless of volume. ## Common mistakes in the FTL and LTL decision - **Quoting only one mode.** Near the break-even band, the cheaper mode is not predictable from the pallet count alone. A shipment between about 4 and 8 loading metres should be quoted as LTL, partial and FTL. - **Ignoring the loading-metre cap.** A light shipment that blocks a lot of floor can be billed as a full truck under an LTL tariff. If the goods are bulky, check where the cap sits before assuming LTL is cheaper. - **Treating the list transit time as a guarantee.** LTL transit times are planning figures that vary with terminal volumes. If the date is firm, that variance has to be in the decision. - **Under-packing for a shared load.** Goods that go LTL should be palletised, stacked within the pallet footprint and wrapped to survive five handling events. Packaging built for a sealed FTL trailer often does not. - **Booking a dedicated truck for convenience.** A full vehicle for a third of a load is the most expensive and least efficient option on the list. If the volume genuinely does not fill a trailer, a partial load usually serves better. ## A decision framework Work through these in order: - **Volume.** Under about 6 pallets or 5 to 6 loading metres, start with LTL or groupage. Between roughly 6 and 12 pallets, get a partial-load quote. Above that, or near the loading-metre cap, quote FTL. - **Time sensitivity.** If a fixed delivery date matters, weight the decision toward FTL or a direct partial load, because the hub network adds both days and variance. - **Fragility and value.** High-value, fragile or awkward-to-stow goods carry more risk through a terminal network. If the goods cannot be palletised and shrink-wrapped to survive five handling events, factor that into the comparison, not just the rate. - **Density.** Light and bulky goods are penalised by the volume-to-weight ratio in LTL. If a shipment cubes out well before it weighs out, the LTL price may be closer to FTL than the pallet count suggests. - **Frequency.** Regular flows on the same lane can justify a dedicated or semi-dedicated vehicle even below the usual break-even, because a predictable schedule and single handling have a value of their own. | If the priority is | Lean toward | | --- | --- | | Lowest cost for a small shipment | LTL / groupage | | Best value in the 6 to 12 pallet range | Partial truckload | | Speed and a reliable delivery date | FTL or direct partial | | Minimum handling for fragile or high-value goods | FTL | | A large or space-blocking shipment | FTL | | Frequent, scheduled flows on one lane | FTL or semi-dedicated | ## How Dealti Logistics handles FTL and partial loads Dealti Logistics operates road freight between Turkey and the Caucasus, Central Asia and the CIS in both modes. A [Full Truckload](/en/service/full-truckload) booking is a dedicated vehicle planned point to point with TIR or T1 transit and the CMR handled around it. A [Less Than Truckload](/en/service/less-than-truckload) booking places the consignment on a consolidated line-haul and is priced on loading metres and chargeable weight. Where a shipment falls in the middle band, both are quoted so the comparison is on real numbers for the lane. For process context on either mode, see [How International Road Freight Works](/en/insights/how-international-road-freight-works) and, for indicative corridor timings, [Road Routes from Turkey to Central Asia](/en/insights/turkey-central-asia-road-routes). To get both an FTL and an LTL price for a specific shipment, use the [quote form](/en/get-offer). Sources - Peer-reviewed: "Are there economies of traffic density in the Less-Than-Truckload motor carrier industry? An operations planning analysis," *Transportation Research Part A*; and cost-function studies of large LTL carriers in the *Journal of Transport Economics and Policy*. - Peer-reviewed: "Effects of Vehicle Load on Emissions of Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks: A Study Based on Real-World Data" (payload to fuel relationship); and payload-management decarbonisation estimates in *npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport* (2026). - Industry data: 2025 shipper research study on LTL damage rates (1,000 respondents, 1.24 percent average); large-carrier cross-dock dataset of 808,574 shipments (0.81 percent damage rate); published carrier claims ratios. - Statistics: Eurostat road freight transport statistics on load factors and empty running (EU empty vehicle-kilometre share 21.6 percent). - Operational references: European groupage loading-metre (LDM) and chargeable-weight practice; National Motor Freight Traffic Association, National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC). Figures for the cost break-even, transit-time additions and claim costs are industry ranges, not fixed values. The exact crossover for a given shipment depends on the lane, the density of the goods, the carrier and current market rates; request a quote in both modes for a specific comparison. ## Key takeaways - Match the mode to the volume: paying for the space used wins for small shipments, a fixed vehicle rate wins once a trailer is meaningfully full. - LTL pricing charges for the constraint the goods impose, weight or blocked floor space, so light bulky freight can cost close to an FTL rate. - Fewer handling events mean measurably fewer claims: about 1.24 percent damage on the traditional five-touch network versus 0.81 percent on a two-touch model. - LTL transit times are planning figures with real week-to-week variance; FTL transit is mainly driving time plus borders. - Near the break-even band, quote all three modes; the cheaper one is not predictable from the pallet count alone. - A dedicated truck booked for a third of a load is the most expensive and least efficient option available. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between FTL and LTL? FTL (full truckload) means one shipper books the whole vehicle, which is loaded once, sealed and driven point to point. LTL (less than truckload), or groupage, means several shippers share one vehicle and each pays only for the space and weight their goods use, with consolidation and deconsolidation at terminals along the way. ### What does groupage mean? Groupage is the European term for LTL: combining smaller consignments from different shippers into one vehicle so they share the cost of the line-haul. For a small shipment it is what makes professional international transport affordable, with typical savings of 50 to 80 percent against a dedicated vehicle. ### How is LTL freight priced in Europe and the CIS? On loading metres (LDM) and chargeable weight. One loading metre is a strip of trailer floor one metre long by the full internal width, about 2.4 metres. Each metre carries a weight allowance of roughly 1,750 to 1,850 kg, and the carrier applies a volume-to-weight ratio, commonly 1 cubic metre to 333 kg, then charges whichever figure is higher. ### What is a loading metre (LDM)? A unit of trailer floor space: LDM = (length in metres x width in metres) / 2.4. A standard EUR pallet of 1.2 by 0.8 metres occupies about 0.4 LDM, so a standard 13.6 metre semi-trailer holds roughly 13.6 loading metres. ### At what size does FTL become cheaper than LTL? It depends on the lane, the density of the goods and current market rates, but the consensus range is: LTL up to about 6 pallets, partial truckload from roughly 6 to 12 pallets, and FTL above about 12 pallets, 7 tonnes, or 5 to 6 loading metres. A shipment near the carrier's loading-metre cap should be quoted both ways. ### What is partial truckload and when does it make sense? Partial truckload is a middle option for larger part-loads, several pallets up to about half a trailer, that move with one or two other shipments and often bypass the terminal network. In the 6 to 12 pallet band it is frequently 20 to 40 percent cheaper than LTL, with fewer handling events. ### Is LTL more likely to damage my goods? The data says yes, because of handling. The LTL industry average damage rate is about 1.24 percent of shipments, roughly one in eighty. A large dataset of over 800,000 shipments moved on a two-touch cross-dock model, rather than the traditional five touches, recorded 0.81 percent, about 35 percent lower. An FTL shipment is handled only at loading and unloading. ### How much slower is LTL than FTL? Each hub terminal a consignment passes through adds roughly 12 to 24 hours, and consolidation at origin adds more while the trailer fills. On the Turkey to Europe corridor a direct truck is commonly quoted at 5 to 7 days and a groupage shipment 2 to 4 days longer, with the difference being consolidation and terminal handling rather than road time. ### What is the loading-metre or linear-foot cap? A threshold in most LTL tariffs beyond which a shipment is billed as a full truck regardless of its weight, because it blocks that much trailer floor. A light but bulky shipment can hit the cap well below the weight you would expect, which is why bulky freight near the limit should always be quoted as FTL as well. ### Can dangerous goods (ADR) move as LTL? Sometimes, but many consolidators will not mix certain ADR classes with general freight because of segregation rules, placarding and driver certification. As a result an ADR shipment often moves as a dedicated or near-dedicated load even when its size would otherwise suit groupage. ### How do I compare FTL and LTL for a specific shipment? Convert the shipment to loading metres and chargeable weight using the LDM and cubic metre calculators, then request a quote in both modes for the lane. Near the break-even band, also ask for a partial-load price. --- Source: [FTL vs LTL: Choosing a Road Freight Mode](https://dealtilogistics.com/en/insights/ftl-vs-ltl) - Dealti Logistics.