Ship LTL now or wait for a full truckload?

You have freight sitting in your Vermont warehouse that doesn't fill a whole truck. Your customers are asking when their orders will ship. You're torn between paying more per pound for LTL service or waiting weeks to accumulate enough for a full truckload.

This is the classic freight dilemma. LTL carriers pick up partial loads and combine them with other shipments to fill trucks. Full truckload means you wait until you have 26,000+ pounds or enough pallets to justify dedicating an entire truck to your freight.

LTL typically costs $1.50 to $3.00 per pound but ships within days. Full truckload runs $0.80 to $1.20 per pound but requires waiting until you accumulate enough freight. The break-even point depends on how long you can afford to hold inventory and whether your customers will wait.

If your Vermont customers expect regular deliveries and you can't tie up working capital in sitting inventory, ship LTL as orders are ready. If you're shipping non-perishable goods with flexible timing, batching for full truckloads saves money. Gateway Logistics can run the numbers on both options based on your actual freight patterns.

Once you pick the right approach, your cash flow improves and customer complaints drop. You'll know exactly when freight moves and what it costs.

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