--- title: "What Is LTL Freight (Less-Than-Truckload)?" url: https://www.uncap.com/glossary/ltl-freight author: "Denis Dyli" published: 2026-10-14 updated: 2026-10-14 summary: "LTL freight (less-than-truckload) is a shipment too large for parcel but too small to fill a trailer, so it shares the trailer with other shippers' freight. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) says it suits 150 to 10,000 pounds, usually on pallets. You pay only for the space you use, priced on weight, distance, freight class and more." --- # What Is LTL Freight (Less-Than-Truckload)? > LTL freight (less-than-truckload) is a shipment too large for parcel but too small to fill a trailer, so it shares the trailer with other shippers' freight. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) says it suits 150 to 10,000 pounds, usually on pallets. You pay only for the space you use, priced on weight, distance, freight class and more. **LTL freight (less-than-truckload)**: LTL freight (less-than-truckload) is a shipment too large for parcel but too small to fill a trailer, so it shares the trailer with other shippers' freight. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) says it suits 150 to 10,000 pounds, usually on pallets. You pay only for the space you use, priced on weight, distance, freight class and more. ## How it works The Federal Highway Administration's freight glossary defines a less-than-truckload load as a trailer loaded with cargo from more than one shipper, where each load does not by itself meet truckload requirements. A truckload is the quantity of freight needed to fill a truck, or at least to qualify for a truckload rate. NMFTA, a standards organization whose standards include the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC), compares LTL with parcel and truckload shipping: - Weight. Parcel shipping is typically under 150 pounds. LTL fits freight between 150 and 10,000 pounds that benefits from palletized transport. - Size. Shipments of one to six pallets are generally considered LTL, though the cutoff depends on the carrier. A truckload carrier would typically expect an LTL shipment to be under 12 linear feet. - Price. Costs are calculated from dimensions, weight, density, distance, NMFC codes, shipment volume and handling requirements. - Handling. Shipments share truck space and often move through several terminals, so transit is longer and each handling adds risk of damage, which careful packaging reduces. - Services. LTL carriers focus on business-to-business delivery, with added services such as liftgate and inside delivery when needed. **The LTL shipping process, per NMFTA** ### 1. Step 1, Classification The shipment is classified with NMFC codes, based on the goods, weight, dimensions and how they are packaged and handled. ### 2. Step 2, Packaging Goods are packed to the guidelines for their classification, using the right containers, padding and securing. ### 3. Step 3, Pickup and transport The carrier picks up the freight and moves it through its network, where it may be transferred between trucks several times. ### 4. Step 4, Delivery The final leg delivers the shipment to the recipient's location. ## LTL vs. full truckload With full truckload (FTL), one trailer is contracted to a single shipper, and the freight usually goes from point A to point B before it is unloaded. FTL gives more confidence in delivery time. LTL suits smaller loads when dates can flex, since you pay only for the capacity you use. ## How LTL rates are quoted Freight rates can be quoted per hundredweight (100 pounds) by weight band, with a minimum charge per shipment. The US General Services Administration's baseline rates for agency freight (GSA 1000-D) work this way: rates in cents per hundredweight, weight columns from less than 500 pounds to 40,000 pounds and over, and a minimum charge that applies per shipment. In its first distance row, the rate falls as the weight column rises. ## Example A distributor ships 2 pallets of floor-care supplies, 650 pounds each, to a contractor's warehouse. At 1,300 pounds, it sits inside the 150 to 10,000 pound range NMFTA gives for LTL. Suppose the carrier's tariff for this lane, class and weight break is $18.40 per hundredweight. 1,300 pounds is 13 hundredweight, so the line-haul charge is 13 x $18.40 = $239.20, before any minimum charge check or added services. The buyer also asks for liftgate delivery, one of the added services NMFTA lists. ## On Shopify Shopify's rate options include weight-based rates, set as tiers on the combined weight of items shipping from the same location. With third-party carrier-calculated shipping (CCS), Shopify requests live rates from your connected carrier accounts based on the order's weight, dimensions and destination. CCS is available on Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus plans, and Shopify Grow stores can add it for an additional monthly fee or by switching to annual billing. An app can also add a carrier service, which provides real-time shipping rates to Shopify and a list of applicable rates at checkout. Shopify's developer docs list a plan requirement for it too: Advanced or higher, the Shopify plan with yearly billing, or the feature added for a monthly fee. In practice, this is how an app or custom build can return LTL rates at checkout. When freight is quoted by hand on a B2B draft order, you can choose a preset shipping rate or create a custom rate. ## How Uncap helps Uncap's guide to [shipping in Shopify B2B commerce](/post/shipping-the-most-underrated-growth-driver-in-shopify-b2b-commerce) names freight (LTL) integration as a common pain point: manual quoting slows checkout and kills momentum. Its fix is to integrate directly with freight carriers to calculate real-time quotes instead of static rates. ## Related terms - Freight class - Hundredweight (cwt) - FOB (free on board) - Landed cost - 3PL (third-party logistics) - Case pack ## Sources - NMFTA: Parcel vs. LTL Shipping - NMFTA: The LTL Delivery Process - FHWA Freight Glossary and Acronyms ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a less-than-truckload? It is a shipment that shares a trailer with other shippers' freight because it does not fill a truck on its own. NMFTA describes LTL as suited to freight of 150 to 10,000 pounds, and generally one to six pallets. ### What is LTL vs truckload? A truckload fills a trailer, or qualifies for a truckload rate, and usually goes straight from pickup to delivery. LTL freight shares the trailer, may be loaded and unloaded several times, and costs less for smaller loads in exchange for longer transit. ### Can you ship LTL without a pallet? NMFTA lists pallets or crates as LTL packaging, and says LTL shipments are usually secured on pallets, which reduces damage risk and simplifies loading. Packaging follows the shipment's classification, and heavy or oddly shaped items often need custom crates.