The three most common ways to transport your goods via road are by LTL, PTL, and FTL. All three modes are closely related and yet differ significantly.  Which method you choose totally depends on several factors such as the size, weight, and volume of the shipments. Other factors like urgency, safety, and costs also play an important role. Let’s take a deeper look into these three modes of road transportation to get a better understanding and then decide the best way to move your products.

LTL

If you are someone who ships goods frequently regardless of the volume then LTL might be the right mode of transport due to several reasons. LTL can save a lot of costs related to transportation, fuel, and other expenses, especially during the days when you have a low volume of shipments. Shipments from multiple vendors are consolidated into a single truck and hence the expenses are divided based on the amount of utilized space.

PTL

Choose PTL shipping method when the items are larger or require more space than LTL shipments. PTL is usually safer and faster than LTL since the number of shippers would be much lower for a single trailer which in turn reduces the transit time. Due to this reason, PTL is generally more expensive than LTL but cheaper than FTL. The handling fee will be much lower compared to LTL as the shipments aren’t transferred as much as LTL shipments. PTL offers additional services like pickup and delivery requests.

FTL

This should be your choice if you want better control and visibility. A truck is dedicated to a single shipper and hence the products would be the safest in this mode. If you have large quantities of goods or a high-ticket item large enough to need its own space, then this will be the best way to ship them. FTL shipping is the most expensive among the three but also the fastest.

Conclusion

The method of road transportation selected for the shipments depends upon the nature of the shipments and it will in turn affect the overall costs, control, and operational efficiency within the supply chain. LTL could be the cheapest option for frequent shipments, PTL for shipments that are generally larger than LTL shipments in terms of size, and FTL when the volume is high enough to fill a container and require better control and visibility.

Three Lines Shipping has over two decades of cross-border LTL and FTL experience in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and KSA. We have moved more than 500K+ Trucks and more than a million packages during this time period.