What does LTL mean? What procedures do you need to go through for the consignment of LTL goods?

In simple jargon, LTL freight is a form of freight corresponding to vehicle transportation. The strict definition is: the road less-than-one-load transportation of goods consigned by automobile transportation enterprises below the specified vehicle weight limit, referred to as automobile less-than-one-load transportation. According to the specific conditions of different periods, different countries have different regulations on the above weight limit.

The Rules for Road Automobile Freight Transportation formulated by China Automobile Transportation Management Department stipulates that goods that are consigned at one time and weigh less than 3 tons are LTL goods. The freight rate of LTL goods is higher than that of the whole vehicle. Carrying out less-than-truckload cargo transportation is conducive to meeting the social demand for various sporadic cargo transportation, and at the same time, it can also open up more sources of goods for automobile transportation enterprises.

The characteristics of LTL cargo transportation are: small batch of goods, many varieties, scattered stations and strict transportation organization requirements.

To carry out the automobile LTL freight business, it is necessary to choose reasonable LTL freight routes, establish corresponding LTL freight stations, determine the operation cycle and operate LTL freight buses. LTL freight lines generally take the city as the center, or the key stations of railways and waterways as the hub, leading to the surrounding towns where goods are distributed. Automobile LTL freight station is the distribution point of LTL goods, equipped with storage warehouses, loading and unloading machinery, business, tally and loading and unloading personnel suitable for the flow direction of goods.

Automobile LTL freight stations are divided into ordinary LTL freight stations, transit freight stations and dangerous goods LTL freight stations. LTL passenger cars generally use special trucks, which have fixed routes and stations and operate regularly. The scheduling time is determined according to the flow direction of LTL goods and the load capacity of LTL freight vehicles, and is generally divided into daily shift, alternate day shift, three-day shift, five-day shift and ten-day shift.