How LTL freight is actually priced
An LTL rate is built from four things: the freight class of what you are shipping, its weight, the distance between the origin and destination ZIP codes, and the accessorial services the shipment needs at either end. Everything else on the invoice — the fuel surcharge, the discount off tariff, the minimum charge — is a modifier on those four. If you understand them, an LTL invoice stops being a surprise.
Carriers publish a base tariff and then discount it, sometimes heavily, for shippers and 3PLs with volume. That is why two companies shipping the same pallet on the same lane can be quoted very different numbers. When CFL rates a shipment for you (LTL and truckload freight), the accessorials are shown before you book, because the base rate is rarely what causes an argument later — the add-ons are.
Truckload is priced differently: a flat rate or a per-mile rate for the whole trailer, regardless of how much of it you fill. The trailer goes from your dock to theirs without stopping at terminals, which means fewer touches and less damage — and a price that does not care about freight class at all.
LTL vs truckload: where the break-even really sits
The usual rule of thumb is that LTL covers one to six pallets and truckload starts at around twelve, with a grey zone in between. The rule is roughly right, but the break-even moves with three variables, and if you only look at pallet count you will pay too much in the grey zone.
- Weight. Most LTL tariffs step down per hundredweight as weight rises, then hit a point — often somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 lb — where the LTL price approaches a truckload rate on the same lane. Above that, truckload almost always wins.
- Lane. On a short lane, truckload is cheap in absolute terms and LTL minimums bite, so truckload wins earlier. On a long lane the truckload rate scales with miles, and LTL can stay competitive up to a higher pallet count.
- Density and class. Low-density freight (think empty containers, foam, furniture) carries a high class and a high LTL rate. Truckload does not care about class, so the break-even for bulky, light freight drops to as few as six or eight pallets.
There is a third option in the grey zone: volume LTL or partial truckload, where a carrier quotes six to fourteen pallets as a space-based rate rather than a class-based one. It is worth asking for on any shipment over about 5,000 lb or six pallet positions. We rate both ways and show you which one is cheaper on the lane, not on average.
Transit and handling also belong in the decision. An LTL shipment is cross-docked at two or more terminals, and each touch is a chance for damage or a lost pallet. If the product is fragile, high-value or time-critical, a truckload that costs 15% more can be the cheaper shipment once claims and stock-outs are counted.
Every LTL accessorial, explained
Accessorials are charges for anything beyond a dock-to-dock pickup and delivery during business hours. They are legitimate — a liftgate truck costs the carrier more to run — but they are also where a quoted rate and an invoiced rate part company. The fix is to declare them before pickup. Here is what each one means.
| Accessorial | What it is | How to avoid it or plan for it |
|---|---|---|
| Liftgate | A hydraulic platform on the truck lowers the pallet to the ground when there is no dock. | Declare it at rating if either end has no dock or forklift. Cheaper quoted than billed after the fact. |
| Residential delivery | Any delivery to a home, home business or address the carrier classes as residential. | Check the address type. Many carriers also class churches, schools and farms as limited access. |
| Limited access | Sites that slow the driver: schools, military bases, construction sites, mines, prisons, some storage units. | Ask the consignee. Declaring it up front is always cheaper than the carrier adding it. |
| Inside delivery | Moving freight past the first door or threshold, or to a floor other than ground. | Arrange a dock or a forklift at destination if you can; otherwise declare it. |
| Appointment / notification | The carrier must call ahead or book a delivery window before arriving. | Required by most retail DCs. Build it into the rate rather than paying a redelivery. |
| Redelivery | The truck arrived and could not deliver: nobody there, wrong hours, no appointment. | Confirm receiving hours and appointment requirements with the consignee before pickup. |
| Reweigh and reclass | The carrier weighed or measured the shipment and found a different weight, dimensions or class than the BOL. | Accurate weights and dimensions on the BOL. See the class section below. |
| Detention | The driver waited beyond the free time (often 30 minutes for LTL) to load or unload. | Have the freight staged and paperwork ready. Detention is billed in increments and adds up quickly. |
| Hazmat | Regulated hazardous materials requiring placards, documentation and trained handling. | Declare it. Undeclared hazmat is a fine, not a fee. |
| Oversize / overlength | A piece longer than the carrier threshold (commonly 8, 12 or 14 ft, depending on the tariff). | Check dimensions against the carrier rule before rating. |
| Protect from freeze | Heated trailers or terminal handling for freight that cannot freeze. | Seasonal. Declare it in winter lanes or ship truckload. |
| Sort and segregate | The driver or terminal breaks a pallet into cartons and counts them by SKU at delivery. | Common at retail DCs. Palletise by SKU if the receiver allows it. |
| Storage | Freight held at the terminal because it could not be delivered. | Usually follows a redelivery. Fix the appointment problem and this disappears. |
Fuel surcharge is not an accessorial but it belongs in this list because it is the largest line after the base rate. It is a percentage tied to a published diesel index and changes weekly. A quote that shows a rate without the fuel surcharge is not a quote.
How freight class is set, and how to avoid a reclass
Freight class is the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) system’s way of pricing how hard freight is to move. Eighteen classes run from 50 (dense, durable, easy to stow — think bricks or bagged flour) to 500 (light, bulky, fragile or high-value — think ping-pong balls). Higher class, higher rate per hundredweight.
Class is assigned by four characteristics: density (pounds per cubic foot), stowability, handling and liability. For most general commodities density is the deciding factor, and the NMFC is steadily moving more items onto a pure density scale — a significant revision took effect in July 2025. The bands below are the long-standing reference; confirm the current NMFC edition before you rate anything close to a boundary.
| Density (lb per cubic foot) | Class |
|---|---|
| 50 and above | 50 |
| 35 – 50 | 55 |
| 30 – 35 | 60 |
| 22.5 – 30 | 65 |
| 15 – 22.5 | 70 |
| 13.5 – 15 | 77.5 |
| 12 – 13.5 | 85 |
| 10.5 – 12 | 92.5 |
| 9 – 10.5 | 100 |
| 8 – 9 | 110 |
| 7 – 8 | 125 |
| 6 – 7 | 150 |
| 5 – 6 | 175 |
| 4 – 5 | 200 |
| 3 – 4 | 250 |
| 2 – 3 | 300 |
| 1 – 2 | 400 |
| Under 1 | 500 |
Calculating density for a pallet
- Measure the pallet’s length, width and height in inches, including the pallet itself and any overhang. Round up.
- Multiply the three to get cubic inches, then divide by 1,728 to get cubic feet.
- Weigh the pallet, product and packaging together. Divide the weight by the cubic feet.
- Read the density off the class table. A 48 × 40 × 48 inch pallet weighing 800 lb is 53.3 cubic feet and 15 lb per cubic foot: class 70.
A reclass happens when the carrier measures or weighs the shipment at the terminal — many now use dimensioning machines on every pallet — and finds it does not match the BOL. The carrier re-rates at the correct class, adds an inspection fee and sends you the difference. There is no appeal if the measurement is right. Three habits prevent almost all of them: weigh every pallet on a calibrated scale before the BOL is printed; measure the tallest point including overhang and stretch wrap; and, where the commodity has a specific NMFC item number, put that number on the BOL rather than guessing from density.
One more: do not under-declare to get a lower rate. Dimensioners catch it, and the reclass plus the inspection fee costs more than honesty would have.
Shipping pallets to Canada
LTL and truckload lanes into Canada work like domestic lanes with one extra party — a customs broker — and one extra rule: the paperwork has to be right before the truck reaches the border, not after. Get it right and a pallet from New Jersey or New York is in Ontario or Quebec in a couple of days. Get it wrong and it sits in a bonded yard while everyone finds the missing form.
What the shipment needs
- A commercial invoice or Canada Customs Invoice showing seller, buyer, importer, description, quantity, value, currency and country of origin for each line.
- A bill of lading, exactly as for a domestic move, with the broker named.
- A customs broker in Canada retained by the importer (or by you, if you are the non-resident importer), who files the entry electronically before arrival.
- The PARS (Pre-Arrival Review System) number: the carrier applies a barcode to the paperwork, the broker submits the entry against it, and Canada Border Services Agency releases the load on arrival. Shipments into the US use the parallel PAPS process.
- A certification of origin under USMCA/CUSMA if you are claiming duty-free treatment. Without it, duty applies at the standard rate.
- Goods and services tax (5%) is collected at import, plus any provincial tax and duty, and is normally paid by the importer through the broker.
Practical points that save money: consolidate cross-border freight into fewer, fuller shipments, because the broker fee is per entry and not per pallet; check that the carrier holds Canadian operating authority and a Canadian bond; and put the broker’s name and contact on the BOL every time. Transit on a typical US–Canada LTL lane is two to seven business days depending on the origin; the border itself adds hours, not days, when the entry is pre-cleared.
If your freight is landing at a port and moving north, our pallet consolidation desk can build the cross-border shipments from the container so the entry is filed once, not thirty times.
Before you book: a five-line checklist
- Weight and dimensions measured, not estimated. Include the pallet and the overhang.
- Class or NMFC item number on the BOL.
- Every accessorial at both ends declared: liftgate, residential, limited access, appointment.
- Receiving hours and appointment rules confirmed with the consignee.
- For six pallets or more, rated both LTL and volume/truckload and compared on the lane.
Do those five and the invoice will match the quote. If it does not, send it to us — the free cost-savings report is built from exactly that kind of invoice.