Full Truck Load (FTL)
1 pickup and 1 destination
Full Truck Load shipping is the movement of an entire trailer or intermodal container with a maximum weight of about 24 tonnes in Europe. An FTL haulier contracts an entire trailer-load to a single shipper. He normally delivers a trailer to a shipper who will ¬fill the trailer with freight for one destination. After the trailer is loaded, the driver returns to the shipper to collect the required paperwork like the CMR invoice, and for cross border shipments, the customs paperwork.
In most cases the driver then proceeds directly to the destination and delivers the freight himself. FTL transit times are normally constrained by the driver's availability according to Hours of Service regulations and distance.
A rule of thumb is that FTL drivers will transport freight at an average rate of 1,50 euros per Kilometer and a speed of 75 Km per hour (including traffic jams or queues at intersections). FTL hauliers will often specialize in moving a specific kind of freight requiring speci¬fic equipment and / or licenses or on a specific lane or geographical area.
This service with a single shipper and a single destination provides a lot of flexibility for shippers, since the operation is dedicated to one consignment and there are few cargo handovers and therefore fewer risks associated with the transport.