Road freight in Europe comes in three basic forms. They differ in how many customers share the truck, how often your goods are handled, and how the price is built. Picking the wrong one costs either money or time.
Full truckload (FTL)
One trailer, one customer. The truck loads at your site and drives straight to the receiver.
- Price: per truck, whatever you load on it
- Transit: the fastest option, no stops for other customers
- Handling: loaded once, unloaded once
- Fits when: you fill more than about half a trailer, the dates are tight, or the goods should not be touched on the way
Part load (LTL)
Your goods share a trailer with one or two other loads, but still travel direct from loading to delivery without passing through a hub.
- Price: by loading metres or weight, whichever is higher
- Transit: close to a full truckload, sometimes a little longer because of other stops
- Handling: usually no reloading
- Fits when: you have several metres of goods but not a full trailer
Groupage
Single pallets and small consignments are collected, sorted at a hub, and carried onwards with other customers’ goods, often through more than one hub.
- Price: per pallet or by weight, usually the cheapest for small quantities
- Transit: longer, with fixed departure days on many lanes
- Handling: reloaded at least once
- Fits when: you ship one to a few pallets and a day or two more does not matter
A simple way to decide
- Work out your loading metres. Our loading metre calculator does it in a minute.
- If you are above roughly half a trailer, ask for a full truckload price as well. The difference is often smaller than expected.
- If the goods are sensitive to handling, avoid groupage even when it is cheaper.
- If the delivery date is fixed, say so. A cheaper option that misses the date is not cheaper.
You do not need to decide alone. Send the details and ask for both prices where both are possible. A good forwarder tells you when the cheaper option is the better one.