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What you can find in this article:

• FTL transportation and its advantages;
• LTL transportation and its advantages;
• related videos;
• companies that practice FTL-LTL transportation.

Imagine that you need to transport a large consignment of goods during minimum short terms, or vice versa, to take away several freights from different senders and several cities, send them to the end consumer. Modern logistics offers solutions for different types of business and needs.

The logistics companies use special denotations in the terminology and list of services, – FTL and LTL, – to indicate how the vehicle is loaded during the transportation of goods.

We talk in this article about the differences between LTL and FTL, their peculiarities, give a definition of terms, define the terms and show the examples of major 3PL operators that are engaged in this kind of transportation.

The abbreviation FTL from English is decrypted as Full Truck Load. In simple words, FTL transportation means the loading of a vehicle to the maximum permissible weight. As a rule, FTL transportation is used when it is necessary to transport the large consignments of goods from one customer.

Advantages of FTL transportation:

• minimum delivery time. FTL means loading of a vehicle once with a large batch of goods. The truck does not collect products at other points but immediately goes to the warehouse. This significantly saves time for delivery;
• choice of the optimal type of transport. 3PL operators, who are engaged in FTL transportation, own the different vehicles. For example, canvas-topped vehicles which protect cargo from unfavorable weather conditions, or reefers – vehicles for transportation the goods with the required temperature mode (more often it is food);
• transportation of special kinds of loads. If you need to transport goods with non-standard dimensions or dangerous goods, then FTL is the only solution. One kind of product is transported in one truck which cannot affect perniciously on other goods.

3PL operators offer the vehicles for FTL transportation which can transport cargo even from 1 to 20 tons.

The abbreviation LTL also comes from English and stands for Less than Truck Load. Thus, LTL transportation differs from FTL in that the vehicle is loaded with not large consignments of goods.
LTL transportation is used for the transport of goods from different customers. A cargo owner pays for place. Since the products from different senders are transported in one vehicle, warehouse workers sort and consolidate the goods. Then the cargo can be picked up directly at the warehouse or delivered to the final point.

Advantages of LTL transportation:

• minimization of costs. In contrast to FTL, in LTL transportation only the place that is occupied by the cargo nor the entire vehicle is paid for. This greatly reduces the cost of transportation;
• possibility to collect goods from any point. If a business operates in one city but transports goods from 2 or more points of departure, then FTL transportation is more profitable.

Let’s compare the features of FTL and LTL transportation

LTL and FTL transportation have proven themselves in the Ukrainian market.
The leading players in the Ukrainian market who provide the services for the transportation of full and partial loads are Raben, DB Schenker, Ekol, Zammler and others.
Today these major 3PL operators offer door-to-door delivery of goods, transportation across Europe, insurance and customs clearance of goods, developed infrastructure of warehouses for consolidation, registration of accompanying documentation, the tools for tracking the location of goods in real time.
The WareTeka platform offers a base of 3PL operators that provide FTL and LTL services. Here you will find a reliable logistics partner who understands the needs of the business.