Ideally, each freight truck could leave a shipping center with a whole cargo load, reach one destination, and unload everything for maximum efficiency. But in the real world, things are rarely so straightforward. Many carriers have to leave with partial or less than truckload cargo.
As a business owner or supply chain manager, you need to understand what partial truckload shipping is, what it costs, and the benefits of using this shipping option when communicating with your carriers. Read on for answers to all of these questions and more.
What Is Partial Truckload Shipping?
Partial truckload shipping is a shipping arrangement that doesn’t fill a truck’s cargo hold. It does not take up a truck’s total shipping capacity, so only a partial truckload of freight is sent from place to place.
It’s similar to less than truckload or LTL shipping, but there are some key differences (broken down below). Any partial truckload shipment falls between LTL and total truckload shipments.
Generally, a partial truckload shipment is over 5000 pounds OR includes six or more cargo pallets (though there are some exceptions depending on the cargo’s exact weight, size, and orientation).
Organizations may opt for partial truckload shipping in various circumstances, such as when they need to ship very fragile or valuable items and want to reduce or eliminate the risk of damage in transit.
What Are the Benefits of Partial Truckload Shipping?
There are lots of benefits to using partial truckload shipping. Let’s break down those advantages one by one.
Affordability
For starters, partial truckload shipping is much more affordable for business owners and shippers. Partial shippers only need to pay for the same space that the freight takes up in a carrier’s truck.
Since partial truckload shipments, by definition, take up less space compared to full truckloads, they’re usually cheaper than total truckload shipments on their face. But they also incur fewer fees, such as freight class fees (see more below).
With partial truckload shipments, you can negotiate exact rates with your carrier and sometimes save considerable money.
Faster Transit
In addition, partial truckload shipments typically have faster transit times than LTL or total truckload shipments. With partial truckload shipments, your cargo primarily stays on a single vehicle for the duration of its journey.
That means there isn’t wasted time loading or unloading the cargo to transfer it between trucks. In addition, because partial truckload orders are usually less volatile, carriers can make on-time deliveries more easily.
Bottom line: if you want your cargo to get somewhere fast, a partial truckload shipment might be the best choice for that cargo.
Reduced Risk of Damage
Another significant benefit of partial shipping is the lower level of handling the cargo receives. Since there’s less cargo handling, there’s less of a chance it will receive damage in transit or during loading or unloading.
Compared to less than truckload or total truckload shipments, partial truckload shipments are rarely delayed. More importantly, they usually only sit on a single truck for the majority or entirety of the transit process (i.e., they do not switch trucks very often, if at all).
In this way, partial truckloads have fewer opportunities to incur damages of any type, such as being dropped while moving from one truck to the other.
Since there’s less risk of damage, there’s also less of a chance of paying to replace or repair lost or damaged cargo while moving.
No Freight Class
Lastly, partial shipping doesn’t require you to declare a freight class for a given shipment. Typically, you must assign every shipment you send out a freight class based on product type and weight.
For example, glass is usually more expensive to transport than cardboard or wood products, so it must be assigned a specific freight class.
Carriers then use freight class to know how much to charge you for the shipping service and what precautions they should take with the cargo.
Since partial truckload shipments don’t have freight classes, you can save money – you won’t be charged any extra fees based on freight class for partial truckload cargo.
What Is the Difference Between PTL, LTL, and FTL?
The differences between partial truckload or PTL, less than truckload or LTL, and full truckload or FDL shipments are minor but important.
Partial truckloads weigh less compared to full truckload freight. However, they weigh more than LTL freight shipments. For a load to be a PTL, it has to have:
- At least six but less than 14 pallets of cargo OR
- Weigh between 5000 and 40,000 pounds
In comparison, volume less than truckload shipments typically includes between one and six pallets and less than 4000 pounds. These cargo loads also usually utilize several trucks or carriers and many additional distribution facilities.
Full truckload shipments, of course, are the heaviest. They usually include more than 10 pallets and more than 15,000 pounds of cargo. They are designed to completely fill a shipping vehicle and move directly from one point to another.
To recap:
- LTL cargo is the lightest and has the lowest capacity requirements
- PTL cargo is middling in terms of weight and cargo capacity needed
- FTL cargo is the heaviest and maxes out a vehicle's cargo capacity as much as possible
When Should You Use Partial Truckload Shipping?
Partial truckload shipping can be an advantageous transportation method in many different circumstances.
Smaller Shipments
Firstly, PTL freight is ideal if you have smaller shipments of cargo that won’t take up a lot of space in a truck. You could see lower-than-average rates compared to other shipping options since you only pay for the space the load takes up.
PTL shipping also has some advantages over LTL. LTL shipping may take longer, even if you have a smaller average load. Furthermore, you could expose your cargo to an increased risk of damage with LTL shipping compared to PTL shipping.
However, your shipping provider may recommend one process over another for other reasons. LTL and PTL shipping can both work for small shipments, and in many cases, their differences are minor.
Fragile Shipments
Alternatively, partial truckload shipping may be the right choice if you have a particularly fragile cargo load that must be hauled from one place to the other.
Since PTL shipments require less handling for their cargo, you don’t have to worry about fragile cargo being dropped or damaged in transit as much as with other freight options.
Plus, depending on the carrier or transportation service, your PTL load might be transported by itself. Thus, there could be less chance of other cargo materials impacting the PTL cargo, damaging it in the process.
Light Shipments
Lastly, light or low-density freight shipments are ideally suited for PTL shipping. If your freight is light but doesn't take up a lot of space, such as cardboard or other lightweight materials, partial truckload shipping is better compared to LTL or less than truckload shipping.
In addition to these circumstances, PTL freight could be wise if you want to lower your shipping costs. When you select partial truckload from your transportation company, you only pay for the cargo's weight capacity and space.
In this way, you can save significantly depending on your shipping arrangements and the type of cargo you need to be transported.
How Can Partial Truckload Shipping Help Your Business?
First and foremost, partial truckload shipping can help your business by helping you cut down on freight costs.
Many businesses spend tons of money shipping their products or materials from place to place. All that shipping can quickly run up a huge bill, especially if you don’t fine-tune or optimize your shipping processes.
PTL shipping is usually more cost-effective than LTL or FPL shipping, especially if the latter two are not needed due to cargo or weight requirements.
Secondly, partial truckload shipping can help you get cargo from place to place much more quickly than the alternatives. Say that you need to expedite a shipment of lightweight yet potentially fragile materials to a client or another business ASAP.
With PTL shipping, your shipment won’t be loaded and unloaded multiple times across multiple distribution centers and trucks. Instead, it will stick with the same vehicle and reach its destination quicker (although full truckload shipments also move quickly in many cases).
Lastly, partial truckload shipping may help your business by protecting fragile shipments like those mentioned above. Glass or other products are sometimes damaged in transit due to excessive handling by staff or carrier personnel.
Since PTL shipments aren’t handled as much as other shipments, the risk of damage is inherently decreased.
Thus, you can rest assured that there’s less risk of significant cargo damage in transit, enabling you and your clients to receive the cargo as it is intended with much more peace of mind.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, partial truckload shipping is a beneficial solution for many different shipping challenges.
When you have lightweight freight that takes a ton of space, or if your cargo is particularly fragile, partial truckload shipping might be wiser than less than truckload or full truckload shipping, primarily when you work with a trusted transportation provider.
That’s where RPM comes in. As an end-to-end transportation service, we can help you get your cargo from place to place in one piece, thanks to our robust logistics systems and trusted carrier network.
Contact us today to learn how RPM can help you with partial truckload shipping and everything else you may need.
Sources:
Freight Class Definition | UPS Supply Chain Solutions | United States Postal Service
Freight Shipping: What is Freight & How it Works | FedEx
U.S. freight rates have peaked, another signal inflation is easing | CNBC
