Truckload shipping is the movement of large amounts of homogeneous

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tra ...

, generally the amount necessary to fill an entire

semi-trailer A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer. A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a trac ...

intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from sh ...

. A truckload carrier is a trucking company that generally contracts an entire trailer-load to a single customer. This is as opposed to a less-than truckload (LTL) company that generally mixes freight from several customers in each trailer. One advantage Full Truckload (FTL) carriers have over Less than Truckload carriers is that the freight is never handled en route, whereas an LTL shipment will typically be transported on several different trailers. Truckload shipments are typically run on 48' or 53'dry van trailers which will hold 24 or 26 pallets respectively.

Responsibilities

Truckload is used for larger shipments of freight. If the number of items is large, a 48’ or 53’ capacity trailer will not be enough for shipping products. In such a case, truckload shipping is the best method to reduce cost, transport goods quicker and reduce damage. The shipment will be cost-effective if it is large enough to require the use of the space of the trailer. Truckload shipping will also be more beneficial than booking multiple LTL (less than truckload) shipments. There are three types of truckload shipment — dry van, flatbed, and

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

. During the time of filling the entire trailer, "full truckload" should be selected. This is ideal for large shipments. If the freight does not need the entire space of a truck, it is called LTL. On the other hand, the entire space or weight limit of a trailer is required for a full truckload (FTL) shipments. Efficiency and productivity of the package can also be improved in truckload shipping. Compared to LTL, selecting full truckload will be cost-effective when the weight is high. Full-truckload freight is very fast because it is sent to the chosen destination directly. Thus transit time is less.

Packaging

Freight is usually loaded onto

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. A pallet is the structural founda ...

s for

unit load The term unit load refers to the size of an assemblage into which a number of individual items are combined for ease of storage and handling, for example a pallet load represents a unit load which can be moved easily with a pallet jack or fork ...

s. Sturdy

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

s such as

crate A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood, typically used to transport or store large, heavy items. Steel and aluminium crates are also used. Specialized crates were designed for specific products, and were often made to be reusa ...

s or

corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugate ...

boxes are commonly used. Carriers have published tariffs that provide some guidance for

packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a c ...

Packaging engineer Packaging engineering, also package engineering, packaging technology and packaging science, is a broad topic ranging from design conceptualization to product placement. All steps along the manufacturing process, and more, must be taken into a ...

s design and test packaging to meet the specific needs of the

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

system and the product being shipped. Truckload shipments are sometimes broken down into individual containers and further shipped by LTL or

express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

carriers. Packaging for TL often needs to withstand the more severe handling of individual shipments. A typical full truckload for a dry van trailer consists of 24 standard pallets of cargo that weighs up to 45,000 lbs. (or more).

History

When the US

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

expanded in the 1950s, the trucking industry took over a large market share of transportation of goods throughout the country. Before this era, railroads had transported the bulk of goods country wide. The

allowed merchandise to travel door to door much more easily. Since then, truckload carriers have utilized the interstate system to transport merchandise across the country. They typically will bring the merchandise from the distribution center in one area of the country to a distribution center in a different part of the country. The increase in truckload freight transportation has reduced the amount of time taken to transport goods where the freight was manufactured or produced to the different areas around the nation.

Sources

* Constantin, James A. and Hudson, William J.. Motor Transportation: Principles and Practices. The Ronal Press Company. New York, 1958. Pages 149–154. * Bardi, Joseph E., Coyle, John J., and Langley, John C. Jr..The Management of Business Logistics: A Supply Chain Perspective. Cengage Learning, 2000. Pages 45–58, 67–81. * McKinlay, A. H., "Transport Packaging", IoPP, 2004 * Fiedler, R. M, "Distribution Packaging Technology", IoPP, 1995 * PJ Logistics Agency, truckload; https://pjlogisticsagency.com/truckload-1 ,2021

External links

Mirriam Webster definition of truckload
{{Trucking industry in the United States Freight transport