LTL guide
Everything LTL asks you to know, in one page.
LTL punishes you for not being a specialist. Here is the part that actually matters: when to use it, how to measure, what the words mean, and where the surprise charges come from.
Which mode
Parcel, LTL, or a whole trailer.
Weight decides this, and it decides it before anything else does. Get the mode right and the rest of the process follows.
Under 150 lb
Parcel
- Pallet needed
- No
- Typical cost
- $15 to $120
- Handling
- Many touches
Boxes on a van. Cheapest for small, light shipments.
150 to 15,000 lb
LTL freight
- Pallet needed
- Yes
- Typical cost
- $180 to $1,400
- Handling
- 3 to 4 touches
You share a trailer and pay for your share. This is what Anvil does.
Over 15,000 lb
Truckload
- Pallet needed
- Usually
- Typical cost
- $1,200 to $4,000
- Handling
- One touch
Your own trailer, loaded once and unloaded once. Fastest and safest.
Cost ranges are typical for a single shipment and vary widely by lane, class and fuel. They are here to show the shape of each mode, not to price your freight.
The four things that decide your price
Get these right and the invoice matches the quote.
How it is packed
It has to be liftable as one unit
Freight gets forklifted three or four times between docks. Boxes stacked on a pallet and wrapped move as one thing; loose boxes do not.
Why we ask
Loose boxes are the most common reason a pickup gets refused at the door.
What decides the mode
Weight picks parcel, LTL, or a whole trailer
Under about 150 pounds parcel wins. Over about 15,000 you want your own trailer. Everything in between is LTL, and that band is most of what a small shipper moves.
Why we ask
Getting the mode wrong is a bigger error than getting the carrier wrong.
How to measure
Measure it the way it will actually ship
Box, wrap, skid and all. Round every number up to the next inch and the next pound, never down.
Why we ask
Density, in pounds per cubic foot, sets your freight class, and class sets the rate. A missed inch is what turns into a reweigh charge later.
Both ends of the trip
Declare what happens at the dock
Liftgate, residential, inside delivery, appointment calls. These are accessorials: real work the driver has to do, not gotchas.
Why we ask
An undeclared liftgate or house delivery is the most common surprise on a freight invoice. Named up front, it is just a line item.
Glossary
Every word Anvil uses on a quote or an invoice.
If a term appears on your bill of lading, your rate sheet, or an exception on your board, it is defined here.
- BOL
- Bill of lading. The shipping contract and the driver's instructions. We generate it; you print it and hand it over.
- PRO number
- The carrier's tracking number for your shipment. Anvil's own reference is separate and is for your account; public tracking uses the carrier PRO or a share link.
- Accessorial
- An extra service beyond dock to dock: liftgate, residential, inside delivery, appointment calls.
- Consignee
- Whoever receives the freight. If it is a person's house, that is a residential delivery.
- Freight class
- A 50 to 500 code carriers use to price freight, driven mostly by density. We calculate it for you.
- NMFC code
- The national code behind freight class. You never have to look one up on Anvil.
- Line haul
- The base charge for moving the freight between terminals, before fuel and accessorials.
- Fuel surcharge
- A percentage the carrier adds based on current diesel prices. It is inside the number you are quoted, not added afterwards.
- Reweigh
- The carrier weighs your pallet, finds it heavier than declared, then rebills. You see the adjustment and the certified weight ticket before it posts.
- OS&D
- Over, short and damaged. The report filed when something arrives wrong, short, or broken.
- POD
- Proof of delivery. The signed receipt showing who took the freight and when.
- W&I report
- Weight and inspection report. The carrier's official record of what your pallet actually measured.
- Terminal
- The carrier's hub where your pallet is unloaded and reloaded onto the next trailer.
- Deficit weight
- When shipping more weight would have cost less. We flag it on the quote when it happens.
Now put a real pallet through it.
The quote tool works out your density, suggests the class, and tells you whether the freight belongs on an LTL trailer at all. No account and no card.
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