Choosing the right road freight method depends on your cargo attributes, budget and timeliness requirements, and more importantly, your understanding of transportation way.

When your goods need to be transported within the EU, choosing between groupage, LTL and FTL will directly impact your logistics efficiency and costs. This article will clearly analyze the essential differences between the three methods to help you make an accurate decision.

I. Detailed Explanation of Groupage, LTL and FTL

In fact, within Europe road freight, the way of sharing a truck transportation is mainly divided into two operational modes: one is Groupage (consolidated shipping), and the other is LTL (Less Than Truckload).

Under the Groupage mode, a truck collects goods from multiple different customers. Upon arriving at a warehouse, all cargo is sorted again and reloaded onto vehicles bound for the next stop based on their respective destinations. For long-haul shipments, goods may need to go through multiple such transfer relays within the transportation network before reaching their final destination. 

In contrast, LTL transportation is like a scheduled "direct shuttle". A truck picks up goods from multiple customers door-to-door in sequence, then delivers them directly to consignees’ doorsteps stop by stop along an optimized route, without the need for multiple unloading or truck switching. It is an efficient point-to-point mode, and the process is illustrated in the figure.

FTL (Full Truck Load) refers to a transportation method where the goods exclusively occupy an entire truck for delivery, with no consolidation, truck switching or transshipment during transit, achieving direct door-to-door delivery.

II. What Are the Characteristics of Groupage, LTL & FTL?

 III. How to Select the Right Transportation Method on Teknihall?

The system will automatically match transportation ways based on cargo volume. Below are the most common selection recommendations tailored to different scenarios:

✔ Cargo of 1–5 pallets with a limited budget → Choose Groupage

It offers the lowest cost and is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized sellers and loose cargo.

✔ Medium cargo volume (6–10 pallets) with stable timeliness requirements → Choose LTL

It is ideal for B2B transactions, overseas warehouse replenishment and warehouse-to-warehouse transportation.

✔ Large cargo volume (over 10 pallets) or oversized goods → Choose FTL

Full-truck direct delivery ensures the fastest speed and highest security.

✔ High-value goods with zero tolerance for damage → Choose FTL or high-standard LTL

✔ Residential delivery (B2C) → Choose Groupage supporting B2C or specific LTL channels

On Teknihall Europe Trucking Platform, most B2B customers opt for LTL; oversized and high-value goods are transported via FTL; cross-border sellers and overseas warehouse's loose cargo is better suited for Groupage.