Freight delivery is the process of shipping large, heavy, or bulk goods that exceed what standard parcel carriers like UPS or FedEx typically handle. While parcel shipments generally weigh under 70 pounds per package, freight kicks in for individual items over 150 pounds or packages longer than 108 inches. If you’re shipping pallets of inventory, heavy equipment, building materials, or large furniture, you’re in freight territory.
How Freight Differs From Parcel Shipping
The core distinction comes down to size, weight, and how the shipment moves. Parcel carriers pick up individual boxes, run them through automated sorting facilities, and deliver them to doorsteps. Freight carriers handle goods on pallets or in crates, load them onto trucks (or trains, ships, and planes), and deliver to loading docks, warehouses, or other commercial locations.
Pricing works differently too. Parcel rates are based mostly on weight and distance. Freight rates factor in something called freight class, a standardized system that considers four characteristics of your shipment: density, handling difficulty, stowability (how easily it fits with other cargo), and liability (the risk of damage or theft). Classes range from 50 to 500, with lower numbers getting more favorable rates. Two items can weigh the same but fall into different classes if one is fragile, oddly shaped, or harder to stack safely alongside other cargo.
LTL, FTL, and Other Shipping Modes
Most domestic freight moves by truck, and the two main options are less-than-truckload (LTL) and full truckload (FTL).
Less-than-truckload (LTL) combines smaller shipments from multiple customers onto a single truck. You share the space and split the costs. LTL works well when your shipment is too big for parcel but not big enough to fill a 53-foot trailer. It’s also useful for destinations that don’t need frequent deliveries, since you don’t have to wait until you have enough cargo to justify a full truck.
Full truckload (FTL) means your cargo fills the entire truck, and nothing from other shippers rides along. FTL is faster because the truck goes directly from pickup to delivery without stops to load or unload other customers’ goods. Businesses that regularly restock retail locations or move large production runs typically use FTL.
For international shipments, freight also moves by ocean container, air cargo, or rail. Many international shipments use a combination of these modes, with trucks handling the first and last legs of the journey.
How the Freight Process Works
Whether you’re shipping a few pallets across the state or a container overseas, the freight process follows a general sequence.
It starts with documentation. The most important document is the Bill of Lading (BOL), which serves as a receipt, a contract between the shipper and carrier, and a record of what’s being moved. The BOL lists the contents, weight, freight class, origin, and destination. For international shipments, you’ll also need customs forms and commercial invoices.
Next comes pickup. A truck arrives at the shipper’s location to collect the goods. For LTL shipments, the cargo goes to a carrier’s terminal where it’s consolidated with other shipments heading in the same direction. FTL shipments skip that step and head straight to the destination.
International freight adds customs clearance on both ends. Before goods leave the origin country, documents go through customs review to confirm compliance with export regulations. At the destination country, the shipment clears import customs before it can be released for delivery. A customs broker typically handles this paperwork to avoid delays or penalties from incomplete documentation.
The final step is last-mile delivery, getting the goods from the carrier’s terminal or port to the recipient’s address. For commercial deliveries, this usually means backing a truck up to a loading dock. Residential or non-standard deliveries require extra coordination and often carry additional fees.
Accessorial Charges to Expect
A freight quote covers the basic move from point A to point B. Anything beyond that standard service gets billed as an accessorial charge, an add-on fee for extra services the carrier provides. These charges can add up quickly if you’re not aware of them.
- Liftgate delivery: If the delivery location doesn’t have a loading dock, the driver uses a hydraulic lift on the back of the truck to lower your freight to ground level.
- Residential surcharge: Deliveries to homes or areas not designed for commercial trucks cost more due to tighter access and lack of dock equipment.
- Limited access charge: Applies when the pickup or delivery site is congested or requires special entry procedures, such as a military base, construction site, or school.
- Inside delivery: If the driver needs to move goods beyond the loading dock and into a building, you’ll pay extra for the labor involved.
- Detention charges: Hourly fees that kick in when a driver is stuck waiting at a loading or unloading dock longer than the allotted free time. Extended waits of 24 hours or more become layover charges, which are billed as a flat fee.
- Redelivery charge: If the delivery can’t be completed on the first attempt because no one is available to receive the shipment, you’ll pay for a second trip.
- Reconsignment charge: Changing the delivery address after the truck is already en route triggers this fee.
- Fuel surcharge: A variable charge that fluctuates with diesel prices, applied to nearly every freight shipment.
Other charges you might encounter include tarp fees for protecting open flatbed loads from weather, hazmat fees for shipping hazardous materials, and lumper charges when third-party labor is needed to load or unload at large distribution centers. If your shipment’s weight or dimensions don’t match what you declared, carriers can apply reclassification and reweigh fees.
What You Need to Ship Freight
To get a freight quote, you’ll need to know the weight of your shipment, its dimensions, the pickup and delivery zip codes, and the freight class. Many carriers and freight brokers have online tools that help you determine class based on your product type and density.
Your goods need to be properly packaged for freight handling, which is rougher than parcel. That typically means palletizing items, shrink-wrapping them to the pallet, and ensuring the load is stable enough to be moved by forklift. Loose boxes or poorly secured loads can shift during transit, leading to damage and potential extra charges.
You can book freight directly with a carrier or through a freight broker, which is a middleman that connects shippers with available trucks and often negotiates better rates. Many small businesses use brokers because they simplify the quoting and booking process and provide a single point of contact if something goes wrong. For larger operations with regular shipments, working directly with carriers through negotiated contracts usually makes more financial sense.
Delivery windows for freight are less precise than parcel shipping. LTL shipments typically take anywhere from one to five business days for domestic routes, depending on distance and how many terminals the shipment passes through. FTL is generally faster since there are no intermediate stops. International freight by ocean can take weeks, while air freight cuts that to days at a significantly higher cost.