What direct partial truckload is, and what it is not
A direct partial truckload, or PTL, is a shipment that takes part of a dry van or flatbed and moves on that same piece of equipment from pickup to delivery. The carrier fills the rest of the trailer with one or two other partials heading the same way, or runs it with open space because the lane pays. Your freight is loaded once and unloaded once.
It is not LTL with a bigger discount. In LTL your pallets are freight in a network: they are unloaded at the origin terminal, sorted, loaded onto a linehaul trailer, possibly moved through a break-bulk and unloaded again at the destination terminal. A partial skips all of that. It is also not a full truckload: you pay for the linear feet you use, not the whole 53 feet.
The practical consequences are simple. A partial is priced on space from the start, so there is no cubic capacity minimum charge, no 96-inch roof imputation and no weight and inspection re-bill to wait for. Fewer forklift moves mean fewer damage claims on fragile freight. And transit follows truckload timing on the lane, plus any stop for the other freight on the truck.
Cubic Transport does not run trucks. We place partials with regional and national carriers that build multi-shipper loads on the lanes they run, and we manage the load from tender to signed delivery receipt.
The partial window: 6 to 18 pallets, 12 to 36 linear feet
Partials pay off where LTL starts penalising and a full truckload is still too big. The table runs the same non-stackable skid, 48×40×64 inches at 350 lbs, at three quantities over 1,100 miles. Rates are indicative outputs of our cost model.
| Skids | Actual cu ft | Tariff cu ft (96") | Weight | Linear feet | LTL re-rated | Direct PTL | 53' truckload |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 426.7 | 640.0 | 2,100 lbs | 12 | $1,294 | $1,136 | $2,695 |
| 10 | 711.1 | 1,066.7 | 3,500 lbs | 20 | $2,114 | $1,444 | $2,695 |
| 18 | 1,280.0 | 1,920.0 | 6,300 lbs | 36 | $3,753 | $2,060 | $2,695 |
At six skids the load sits right on the 12-foot linear line, and a partial already undercuts a re-rated LTL bill. At ten it is the clear winner. At eighteen, 36 linear feet is 69% of a 53-foot van and the partial costs 76% of the whole trailer: $2,060 against $2,695. The partial is still cheaper, but for $635 more the truckload gives exclusive use, no second stop and truckload transit. That is why the partial band in practice ends somewhere between 30 and 34 linear feet, and our desk prices both modes once a load gets close.
Worked example: ten non-stackable skids, 1,100 miles
Ten crated medical carts on 48×40 skids, 64 inches tall, 350 lbs each, cannot take weight on top. This is the preset loaded in the engine on this page.
- Measured cube. 48 × 40 × 64 = 122,880 cubic inches ÷ 1,728 = 71.11 cu ft per skid; × 10 = 711.1 cu ft.
- Density and class. 10 × 350 = 3,500 lbs ÷ 711.1 = 4.92 PCF. That is Sub 4, Class 175.
- Tariff cube. The skids are non-stackable and taller than 60 inches, so an LTL carrier cubes them at 96 inches: 106.67 cu ft each, 1,066.7 cu ft total, 3.28 PCF.
- Triggers. 1,066.7 cu ft under 6 PCF clears the 750-cubic-foot tier. At 3.28 PCF it just misses the 350-under-3 tier. Two across in five rows is 240 inches, 20 linear feet.
- LTL outcome. Booked at Class 175 the bill would be about $1,207. With a synthetic weight of 1,066.7 × 6 = 6,400 lbs and a restricted discount, the re-rated bill runs about $2,114, a $907 re-bill.
- Partial outcome. 20 linear feet over 1,100 miles prices at about $1,444 in our model, with no terminal and no re-rate risk. Volume LTL would be about $1,258, but with medical carts the two or three extra dock moves are worth more than the $186 difference.
Twenty linear feet is 38% of a 53-foot van, which leaves the carrier 32 feet to sell to another shipper. That spare space is exactly why partial pricing works.
Price your skids as a direct partial
- Safe — tariff cube, density and linear feet stay under the carrier's cube and linear-foot rules.
- Tier 1 — 350 cu ft or more under 3 PCF (XPO, Saia, ABF, Estes): synthetic weight of 6 lbs per tariff cubic foot.
- Re-bill — 750 cu ft or more under 6 PCF, or linear feet at the carrier's rule: book volume LTL or direct partial truckload.
How Cubic Transport tenders a partial
- Dimension the load. We need quantity, L×W×H for each handling unit, weight per unit, stackability, commodity, and any accessorials: liftgate, appointment, inside delivery, tarps for open deck.
- State linear feet, not pallets. Partial carriers sell feet of deck. We give them a floor plan in feet, with the loading pattern (straight or turned) and whether anything can ride on top.
- Match the lane. Partials price best on lanes where the carrier is already building a load. We ask carriers that run the corridor rather than any carrier with a van.
- Fix the windows. A partial truck may have one other pickup and one other delivery. We set pickup and delivery windows that the carrier can commit to, and say so if the consignee needs a hard appointment.
- Match the paperwork. The bill of lading carries the same piece count, dimensions and weights as the tender. If the freight changes on the dock, tell dispatch@cubictransport.com before the truck arrives.
What changes a partial rate
| Factor | Effect on price | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Linear feet | Primary driver | Deck space is what the carrier sells |
| Lane balance | Large | Partials into freight-poor markets carry the backhaul cost |
| Stackability | Large | Stackable freight halves floor use: ten 48-inch stackable pallets take 12 feet, not 20 |
| Hard appointments | Moderate | Fixed times constrain how the carrier sequences other stops |
| Liftgate, inside delivery | Moderate | Needs specific equipment or extra time at the stop |
| Weight | Small below 10,000 lbs | Matters once the combined load nears legal gross |
Two quick wins come up on most partials. First, if the freight can safely take a second tier, mark it stackable and say so on the bill of lading; it can cut floor space nearly in half. Second, trim pallet overhang: 2 inches on each side of a 40-inch pallet turns 40 into 44, and two 44-inch pallets side by side still fit, but 48-inch crates with overhang may not fit two across in a 98.5-inch van. See pallet overhang and density.
Dry van, open deck and specialty partials
Most partials ride in 53-foot dry vans, but the same pricing logic applies to other equipment. The table shows the floor each one offers and the freight it suits.
| Equipment | Usable floor | Width | 48×40 positions | Typical partial freight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53' dry van | ~52.5 ft | 98.5–101" | 26 straight | Palletized and crated dry freight, fixtures, cabinetry |
| 48' flatbed | 48 ft | 102" | 24 straight | Machinery, steel, building materials, side-loaded crates |
| 48'–53' Conestoga | 48–53 ft | ~98–100" inside the kit | 24–26 | Tall or side-loaded freight that must stay covered |
| 53' reefer | ~51 ft | ~98" | 26 straight | Temperature-sensitive freight with compatible set points |
Open-deck partials have their own planning rules, covered on flatbed and Conestoga partial freight. Refrigerated partials only work when every shipment on the trailer can ride at the same temperature, so they are rarer and priced lane by lane.
On a dry van the rear door opening is the height limit that matters, not the 110-inch interior. Anything taller than about 100 inches needs the specific trailer measured before it is promised.
Where a partial stops being the right answer
- Past about 30 to 34 linear feet. Price a 53-foot truckload alongside. The partial price approaches the truckload price, and exclusive use with no extra stop is often worth the difference.
- Short hauls under roughly 250 miles where the freight needs exclusive use or a liftgate, and a dedicated 26-foot box truck costs only a couple of hundred dollars more with no co-load.
- Dense, stackable freight under 12 linear feet. It will not trip a cube or linear rule, and class-rated LTL is the cheaper mode.
- Freight that cannot share a trailer: some hazmat combinations, strong odours near food, or loads that require a sealed, exclusive-use trailer.
