The Freight Crossover Moved. Here Is Where It Sits Now.
Reading this because you are specifying, buying or selling containers? Send the details and a grader answers in writing, usually the same business day.
The old rule — LTL below ten, truckload above thirty — left a twenty-unit hole where most orders actually sit. Volume LTL and partial truckload now cover ten to thirty units at roughly a third less than standard LTL, and almost nobody asks for it by name.
I have been quoting freight on these for eight years and the shape of the curve has changed enough that our old advice needs retiring.
The old version: ship LTL up to about ten units, go full truckload above about thirty, and in between take whatever looks cheaper. That was reasonable when standard LTL was cheap and capacity was loose. It left a twenty-unit band with no good answer, and that band is where most of our orders sit.
What changed
Three things, none of them dramatic on its own.
- Standard LTL got relatively more expensive for low-density freight. Dimensional pricing has tightened, and an empty IBC is the definition of low-density freight: a full pallet position carrying 125 lb.
- Partial truckload capacity became easier to find. Load boards and routing have made 10-to-20-pallet partials a normal product rather than a favour.
- Fuel moved, in both directions, more than it used to. Which matters because the LTL and truckload curves respond to it differently — truckload is more fuel-exposed per mile, LTL more handling-exposed.
The net effect is that the middle of the range got a lot better and the bottom got worse.
Where it sits now
| Quantity | Best mode | Per unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Standard LTL | $150 – $240 |
| 2 – 4 | Standard LTL | $85 – $170 |
| 5 – 9 | Standard LTL or volume LTL | $60 – $110 |
| 10 – 16 | Volume LTL | $40 – $62 |
| 17 – 26 | Partial truckload | $30 – $48 |
| 27 – 40 | Partial truckload | $22 – $40 |
| 41 – 48 | Full truckload | $18 – $34 |
The interesting row is 10 to 16 units. Quoted as standard LTL that lands around $70 to $95 a unit. Quoted as volume LTL it lands around $40 to $62. Same freight, same distance, roughly a third less, and the difference is which product the quote was built as.
Why nobody asks for it
Because standard LTL is the path of least resistance for everyone in the chain. It is the default on every quoting screen, it needs no routing thought, and it is quick. Volume LTL and partial truckload need somebody to look at where the trailer is actually going.
So if you are buying totes from anybody — us included — and your order is between ten and thirty units, ask explicitly: "what is this as volume LTL or a partial?" In our experience about half the quotes in that band come back materially cheaper when somebody is made to look.
The cube and weight distinction has not changed
This part is physics rather than market, and it still governs everything.
Empty totes are cube-bound. Forty-eight double-stacked in a 53-foot van weigh about 6,000 lb against a 43,500 lb legal payload — you fill the trailer and carry a seventh of the allowed weight. You cannot improve this; the object is mostly air.
Filled totes are weight-bound. Eighteen water-filled units hit the payload using 18 of 26 floor positions, leaving eight positions empty. With corn syrup at specific gravity 1.38 it is thirteen units and thirteen wasted positions.
Which means: if you are having totes delivered empty, order more of them per movement. If you are shipping them filled, there is no point ordering more per movement, because the truck is already at its limit.
What a delivered price actually consists of
On a ten-unit order of technical-grade 275s at 500 miles, roughly:
- Goods: $1,200
- Linehaul: $560 – $780
- Fuel surcharge: typically 18 – 28% of linehaul
- Liftgate, if no dock: $95 – $140
- Limited access, if a farm or site: $75 – $110
- Appointment or notify: $25 – $45
The last three are why our enquiry form asks about your dock and forklift. On a ten-unit order those accessorials can be a fifth of the freight bill, and they are entirely predictable if somebody asks the question.
The one piece of advice that has not changed
Compare delivered, never ex-yard. A tote that is $40 cheaper 800 miles away is $140 more expensive by the time it reaches you. We have lost orders on unit price to sellers whose delivered number was higher than ours, and the buyer found out on the invoice.
737 words · published 14 January 2025 by Tomás Vrba, Dispatch and freight at IBC Tote Market LLC. We correct posts rather than quietly deleting them; if something here is wrong, tell us and we will say what changed.