Part loads and groupage for pallets and mid-size shipments
When your goods are too big for a parcel service and too small for a whole truck, they share a trailer with other loads. You pay for the space or weight you take up.
- Billed per loading metre
- Pallets & crates
Part load or groupage: the difference
Part load (LTL): your goods travel directly from loading to delivery on a truck that carries one or two other loads. No hub, no reloading, fast transit. Typical for a few metres of a trailer up to about half.
Groupage: single pallets and small consignments run through a network of hubs and are reloaded on the way. Slower, but usually the cheapest option for one to a few pallets.
How the price is calculated
Freight on shared trucks is charged by whichever is higher: the actual weight, or the space your goods block on the trailer floor, measured in loading metres.
Goods that cannot be stacked block the space above them too, so they are charged by floor space even when they are light.
- One Euro pallet (120 × 80 cm) placed lengthways uses 0.4 loading metres
- One industrial pallet (120 × 100 cm) uses 0.5 loading metres
- A full 13.6 m trailer holds 33 Euro pallets in one layer
What we need for a price
- Loading and delivery postcode and country
- Number of pallets with dimensions and weight per pallet
- Whether the pallets can be stacked
- Loading date and the latest delivery date
- Whether a tail lift or a call before delivery is needed
Questions about part loads and groupage
How do I know which option is cheaper?
Send the pallet details. We compare part load and groupage for your lane and tell you the price and transit time of both where both are possible.
Are my goods reloaded?
With a part load, no. With groupage, yes, at one or more hubs. If your goods are sensitive to handling, tell us and we book a part load.
Can I calculate loading metres myself?
Yes, our free loading metre calculator does it from pallet counts or from your own dimensions.
Related
A few pallets to ship?
Send the pallet details and both postcodes. We tell you the cheaper way.