Truckload Freight Services

Truckload freight services dedicate an entire trailer to a single shipper, moving straight from pickup to delivery with no terminal stops in between. You need them when a shipment fills or nearly fills a trailer, weighs more than roughly 15,000 pounds, requires temperature control, or is fragile enough that extra handling raises the risk of damage. Because the freight never gets unloaded and reloaded at a terminal, transit is faster and claims are rarer than modes that pool multiple shippers on one trailer. CargoTrans sizes each shipment first, then books dry van, refrigerated, or flatbed equipment and sources a vetted carrier for the lane, blending contract and spot coverage so a truck shows up even in a tight market.

A standard 53-foot dry van holds about 26 standard pallets in a single stack, or roughly 52 if the freight double-stacks safely. Legal payload runs up to about 45,000 pounds once you subtract the tractor and trailer from the 80,000-pound gross vehicle weight limit on interstate highways. Refrigerated trailers carry slightly less because insulation and the cooling unit add weight and take interior space. Flatbeds are governed by legal width, height, and axle limits rather than enclosed volume, so oversized loads may need permits. CargoTrans confirms weight, dimensions, and equipment type before quoting, because a load that scales over legal weight or needs a permit changes both the rate and the transit plan.

Dry van is the enclosed 53-foot trailer that handles most packaged and palletized freight needing weather protection and security. Refrigerated equipment, often called a reefer, adds a temperature-control unit for food, pharmaceuticals, and anything with a cold-chain requirement, holding a set point through transit with continuous monitoring. Flatbed and open-deck equipment, including step-deck and removable gooseneck trailers, carry oversized, heavy, or awkward loads that cannot fit inside a van, such as machinery, building materials, or coils, and require tarping and securement. CargoTrans runs all three under one desk, so a shipper with mixed freight can book every trailer type from one point of contact rather than chasing three different carriers.

A truckload rate is priced by the mile for a specific lane and reflects supply and demand for trucks on that route at that moment. The main drivers are lane balance, which is whether trucks are plentiful or scarce in the origin market, fuel cost, equipment type, seasonality, and how far ahead you tender the load. A lane with lots of outbound freight but little inbound freight costs more because the carrier has to reposition an empty truck. Rates spike during produce season, before holidays, and after weather events. CargoTrans benchmarks your lanes against current market data, so you can see when a rate is high and whether a dedicated commitment would smooth out the volatility.

Accessorials are fees for services beyond simple pickup and delivery, and on truckload they mostly relate to a driver's time. Detention is charged when a driver waits beyond the free window, usually two hours, to get loaded or unloaded at your dock. Layover applies when a driver is held overnight, often because a facility cannot receive the same day. Other common charges include truck-ordered-not-used when a booked load cancels, driver-assist unloading, tarping on flatbeds, and permits or escorts on oversized freight. These add up quickly, so CargoTrans quotes them up front and audits each invoice against the driver's logs and the bill of lading, catching charges billed in error before they hit your freight bill.

A single driver on a full truckload move covers roughly 500 to 550 miles a day, limited by federal hours-of-service rules that cap driving time and require rest breaks. That puts a coast-to-coast run around 2,800 miles at about five to six days with one driver. Team service, where two drivers alternate so the truck barely stops, cuts the same coast-to-coast run to two or three days. Regional lanes under 500 miles often deliver next day. Because truckload moves point to point with no terminal handling, transit is both faster and more predictable than modes that route through sort facilities. CargoTrans confirms a realistic delivery window at booking based on distance, hours-of-service, and whether you need single or team drivers.

A dedicated lane is a standing commitment where a carrier reserves trucks for your recurring route at an agreed rate, rather than you re-sourcing a truck on the open market every shipment. It makes sense when you run consistent volume on the same lane week after week, when that lane is critical to production or customer commitments, or when spot-market swings on the route have burned you before. The payoff is predictable capacity and pricing: your trucks are committed even during seasonal peaks, and your budget stops riding the spot roller coaster. CargoTrans sets up dedicated programs on your highest-volume lanes while keeping spot coverage available for surge and one-off freight, so you get stability where it matters without overcommitting the rest.

Every carrier is checked before it ever touches your freight. We verify active operating authority with the FMCSA, confirm cargo and liability insurance meets the coverage your commodity requires, and review safety scores and inspection history for red flags. Once a carrier is approved, it carries a performance scorecard we track on on-time pickup, on-time delivery, communication, and claims, so a carrier that slips gets fewer loads. This matters most with spot coverage, where an unvetted truck is the biggest source of theft, damage, and no-shows. CargoTrans keeps a base of proven contract carriers for your steady lanes and layers in vetted spot capacity for surges, so you are never gambling your freight on an unknown truck to cover a gap.

Yes. Truckload is one mode inside a broader domestic program, and running it alongside your other freight under one team is where the operational savings show up. When volumes drop below a full trailer, we can shift that freight to less-than-truckload shipping without you re-keying the order or calling a different broker, and everything lands on one freight-spend report. For a shipment that starts or ends overseas, we tie the truckload leg to our international network so the load stays with one provider from origin to final delivery. CargoTrans manages every domestic mode through one managed TMS, so booking, tracking, billing, and audit all live in one place regardless of how the freight moves.

A truckload rate is built from two main parts: a linehaul rate for the miles and a fuel surcharge that floats with diesel prices. The linehaul reflects lane balance, equipment, and how far ahead you book. The fuel surcharge is usually tied to the national diesel average the Department of Energy publishes each week, applied as a per-mile amount that rises and falls with the pump, so the same lane can quote differently week to week purely on fuel. Depending on diesel prices, fuel can run anywhere from a fifth to a third of the all-in rate on a long haul. CargoTrans breaks the linehaul and fuel apart on every quote, so you can see what is lane pricing and what is simply the current cost of diesel.

If a booked truck cancels or a driver runs out of federal hours before completing the run, the load has to be re-covered, and how fast that happens depends on the carrier base behind it. Because CargoTrans blends contract carriers on your steady lanes with a vetted spot pool, a cancellation can usually be re-sourced the same day rather than leaving the freight stranded. Hours-of-service rules cap driving time and force rest breaks, so a driver who hits the limit legally has to stop; on a tight delivery this is where team service, with two drivers alternating, keeps the truck moving. Live tracking flags the problem early, and we quote a realistic delivery window at booking that already accounts for hours-of-service, so surprises are rare.

The tipping point is usually around six to ten pallets or roughly 12,000 to 15,000 pounds, but it moves with lane, fuel, and how the shared-trailer market is pricing that week. Below that, freight riding a shared trailer generally costs less per unit because you only pay for the space you use. Above it, dedicating the whole trailer wins on both cost and transit, since the load moves straight through with no terminal handling. Fragility and time also push toward a full trailer even when the weight is modest, because a load that stays on one truck is handled once instead of sorted at every hub. CargoTrans prices the same shipment both ways when it sits near the break-even, so the mode is a math decision rather than a habit.

To book a full truckload you need the pickup and delivery addresses with contact details, the commodity, the total weight, the trailer type, and any appointment or receiving requirements at each end. If the freight needs temperature control, the set point goes on the order; if it is oversized, the dimensions determine whether a permit is required. Once the load is tendered, two documents govern it: the rate confirmation, which locks the agreed price and equipment with the carrier, and the bill of lading, which travels with the driver and records the shipper, consignee, commodity, and piece count. A signed delivery receipt closes it out. CargoTrans prepares the rate confirmation and bill of lading and confirms appointments up front, so the driver arrives with the right paperwork.

When a shipment cannot wait for standard transit, there are two levers. Expedited single-driver service prioritizes the load and runs it with minimal dwell, and team service puts two drivers on the truck so it barely stops, cutting a coast-to-coast run from five or six days to two or three. For genuine emergencies, a hot-load booking sources the nearest available truck for same-day pickup. All of these price at a premium over standard service because you are buying dedicated speed and reserving capacity on short notice. CargoTrans keeps expedited and team capacity available alongside the contract base, so an urgent lane can be covered quickly, and we confirm a firm pickup and delivery window at booking rather than leaving the timing open on freight that genuinely cannot slip.