A part load (LTL, Less Than Truck Load) is the right solution when your shipment is too big for general cargo but too small for a whole truck – typically about 10 to 50 percent of the load-space capacity, so roughly 4 to 7 loading metres or several tonnes. Your goods share the vehicle with one or two further consignments; the costs are shared accordingly.
Speed Logistics combines part loads across Europe so that as little as possible is transhipped: ideally the truck loads your consignment directly at your site and delivers it without a hub detour, supplemented only by compatible co-loads on the route. That makes LTL considerably cheaper than a full load – with transit times closer to the direct run than to groupage.
When is a part load economical?
- Shipment size: from around 4 loading metres or roughly 2.5 t, when general-cargo rates become disproportionately expensive
- Flexible deadlines: whoever has half a day to a whole day of leeway on the delivery window saves considerably compared with the direct run
- Regular lanes: on recurring routes we combine your consignments with fixed co-load partners – this stabilises price and transit time
- Robust, palletised goods: form-fit stowed pallets or mesh boxes are ideal for combined traffic
How Speed Logistics plans your part load
You tell us the loading metres, weight, collection and delivery address as well as your time window. Our dispatch team checks which co-loads on the route are compatible – by weight distribution, load securing and type of goods – and calculates a fixed price that you receive within a few hours. During transport we track the vehicle by GPS; transhipments take place only if the route combination requires it, and are communicated to you transparently in advance. On recurring lanes we get to know your shipment structure and reserve load space before you have to register it.
Load securing with combined consignments
Where several consignments share a load space, the stowage planning decides the safety: heavy goods go at the bottom and against the front wall, form-fit stowage prevents shifting, lashing straps and locking bars cleanly separate the consignments from one another. Our dispatch team checks before the combination whether the types of goods are compatible – machine parts next to food packaging, for example, only with appropriate separation. Please mark non-stackable or pressure-sensitive goods on registration, then that feeds into the loading sequence.
Part load or groupage – the difference
Groupage runs via fixed hub lines with systematic transhipment and suits smaller shipments. The part load, by contrast, stays as far as possible on one vehicle: less handling, shorter transit time, better suited for sensitive or heavy consignments. As a rule of thumb: up to around 2.5 t groupage is usually cheaper, above that LTL pays off – in case of doubt we calculate both variants in parallel.
Part loads across Europe and to non-EU countries
We dispatch part loads EU-wide, cabotage-compliant, and beyond that on non-EU lanes such as Türkiye – including complete customs clearance. Precisely for half loads to non-EU countries the combination pays off: you pay only your share of the load space, and the clearance from a single source prevents waiting times at the border.