Table of Contents
Tabular Difference - LTL vs FTL Shipping Methods
Factors To Consider While Choosing Between Full Truckload & Less Than Truckload 
The importance of on-demand trucking apps & shipping is huge if you own your transportation business. And beyond them, choosing the apt shipping method for your business becomes necessary for your company. Before you choose the best freight management systems:
1. Size & Weight of The Shipment
Prior to everything, you need to make sure that your shipments are of the ideal size and weight of the shipments as it is always pre-determined in both the methods FTL & LTL:
Full Truckload
In this FTL method, the shipments should ideally weigh more than 5000 - 10,000 pounds, irrespective of the shipping size.
Less Than Truckload
When we go through the LTL method, precisely the shipments should weigh 500 - 10,000 pounds, and here the shipping size is out of concern for the entrepreneurs.
2. Transit Time Requirements
This point will help you as a business owner to consider the preferable methods for better transit time requirements:
Full Truckload
The FTL is considered the fastest and the most effective of all shipping methods. Besides, the transfer of freight that mainly travels directly loads in the destination. The time-sensitive Cargo is bound to be a part of this method in your business.
Less Than Truckload
It is the best and most common alternative for moving smaller shipments. Here, the transit time may take slightly longer than desired. The driver is bound to carry multiple shipments simultaneously, which cannot lead to a perfect time for the consignment to reach the destination.
And if the shipment is less than the full truck to justify the costs, LTL is the best. As per the estimation, the LTL market is bound to grow at a CAGR of 7% between 2022 and 2027.
3. Fragility & Sensitivity of The Cargo
As per the fragility and sensitivity of the goods, make sure that you are choosing the appropriate method:
Full Truckload
The FTL is an apt choice if the shipments are sensitive and fragile. Here, the driver will mainly be able to handle loading or unloading fragile and sensitive goods. It can be safely delivered to its destination through this method of Truckloading.
Less Than Truckload
The LTL is mainly a shipment where less fragile goods are better to get delivered. There will be multiple hirers, so there are chances of no better handling of your goods.
4. Cost Considerations
It is important to align the budget of your business and then can allocate it toward the freight. Therefore, the cost considerations should be crucially noted before the following:
Full Truckload
When your shipment has more than six pallets of Cargo, the FTL method is best and can give the appropriate value for your cost.
Less Than Truckload
If the shipment is less than six pallets, then the LTL method is the best for your business. And can provide the exact value of the cost rendered.
5. Frequency of Shipments
The end decision between this method of shipping also depends on the frequency of shipments that your business will require:
Full Truckload
Mainly, in this method, the leading time of shipments is more than 5 to 6 days. The heavy goods or the Cargo that don't require frequent shipping are mainly delivered through FTL.
Less Than Truckload
In this method, the interval of days between one consignment and another is mostly around one to five days. Hence, choose if no frequent cargos need to be delivered in your business.
Author Bio
Paresh Sagar is the CEO at aPurple. The company is an expert in providing transport and logistics app solutions by helping entrepreneurs in digitizing their businesses. That can help in providing various benefits like streamlining the business operations, getting the white-label solution for freight business, building a brand in the market, etc. aPurple has helped many trucking companies by building a fully-functional app for the trucking app within weeks.
