Mastering FTL, LTL, and the Power of Freight Triangulation

One of the biggest mistakes new food and beverage brands make is underestimating freight costs. You can have the best product on the shelf—but if you don’t understand how freight impacts your pricing, your margins will vanish before you scale.

This is especially true in your early days, when you’re not shipping full trucks—you’re shipping partial pallets, LTL, and sometimes less than 30 cases per SKU to distributors like UNFI or KeHE.

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The Harsh Truth: You Start Small—Very Small

Distributors and retailers do not order full truckloads from new brands unless your volume is already proven.

• UNFI and KeHE often start with 20–30 cases per SKU
• Smaller distributors may not order even half a pallet per SKU
• Retailers may test your brand with 1 case per store or less

So in the beginning, your shipments are almost always LTL (Less Than Truckload)—and the freight cost per case will be high.

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Key Freight Terms You Need to Understand

Partial Pallet

• A pallet that is not fully stacked with product.
• Most standard pallets hold 60–100 cases, depending on size.
• Many distributors will only order a few layers of cases—leaving you with extra costs for underutilized space and higher per-unit freight.

Full Truckload (FTL)

• You pay for the entire truck (typically holds 26–30 pallets or ~40,000–44,000 lbs).
• One pickup, one drop-off. No shared freight.
• Lowest cost per pallet—but only if you can fill it.
• Not realistic in your early stages unless you’re consolidating multiple orders.

Less Than Truckload (LTL)

• You share space on a truck with other shippers.
• Billed based on number of pallets, weight, distance, and freight class.
• Higher cost per pallet, but flexible.
• This is the default mode for early-stage brands with small distributor or retailer orders.

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Step 1: Understand FTL vs LTL — And How to Get Real Freight Quotes

It’s not enough to know what FTL and LTL mean—you need to get real, accurate pricing so you can build your cost model. Here’s how.

FTL (Full Truckload)

• Best for high-volume consolidated shipments
• 2025 Market Cost Range:
  • Short-haul: $2.50–$3.50/mile
  • Long-haul: $1.85–$2.50/mile

Midwest-to-Southeast lanes are cheapest. West Coast to Northeast lanes are significantly more expensive.

LTL (Less Than Truckload)

• Your pallets ride with freight from other companies
• 2025 Market Cost Range (per pallet):
  • <300 miles: $100–$300
  • 300–800 miles: $200–$400
  • 1,000 miles: $300–$700+

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Where to Get Freight Quotes

Start here if you’re new:

1. Freight Brokers (best option for new brands)
   • CH Robinson, Echo Global, FreightQuote, Unishippers
   • They shop around and give you the best available carrier and rate
2. Direct LTL Carriers
   • R+L, SAIA, Old Dominion, Estes, XPO
   • Good if you know your lanes and ship consistently
3. Freight Marketplaces
   • FreightQuote.com, Flock Freight, Freightos
   • Good for self-service, real-time quoting

✅ Pro Tip: Start with a freight broker. You’ll save time, get better pricing, and avoid early rookie mistakes.

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What Info You Need to Get a Freight Quote

You’ll need:

• Origin address (your warehouse or copacker)
• Destination address (distributor DC or warehouse)
• Number of pallets
• Dimensions & weight per pallet
• Freight class (usually Class 55–85 for beverages and food)
• Packaging (stackable, fragile, etc.)
• Special delivery needs (liftgate, appointment, call-ahead)

Also keep in mind that prepping your pallets adds hidden costs. Shrink wrap, corner posts, stabilizers, slip sheets, and proper labeling are all necessary to avoid damage and chargebacks. These materials and labor can cost $5–$15 per pallet, and they are often overlooked in COGS calculations.

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What You Need From Your Distributor or Receiver

Once a PO is placed:

• Delivery address and hours
• Appointment requirements
• Dock vs liftgate details
• Routing guide (for preferred or required carriers)
• Receiving contact name and phone number

⚠️ Many large distributors require scheduled deliveries and will charge back for early, late, or non-compliant freight.

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Do Freight Costs Change?

Absolutely—and frequently.

• Diesel fuel prices
• Peak shipping seasons (Q4 = surge pricing)
• Carrier availability and labor shortages
• Regulatory impacts (especially in California)

Refresh quotes quarterly and build in a 10–15% buffer in your cost model.

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Step 2: Use Freight Triangulation to Model Your Freight Costs

Freight costs vary wildly depending on distance, destination, and mode of transport. That’s why smart brands use a method called freight triangulation to estimate their average freight cost per pallet or per case.

What is Freight Triangulation?

Freight triangulation is the process of selecting three destinations at varying distances from your warehouse or manufacturing facility—usually one nearby, one mid-range, and one long-haul—and averaging the costs to get a realistic freight estimate for planning.

It’s not a perfect science—but it gives you a solid national or regional freight assumption, especially when you don’t yet know exactly where all your orders will go.

Why Use It?

Because:

• Your freight will not always go the same distance
• LTL rates are non-linear—they don’t increase proportionally with mileage
• It’s impossible to predict every route, but you still need a baseline to forecast COGS and set pricing

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Example of National Freight Triangulation

Warehouse Location: Fresno, CA
You’re expecting orders from across the country.

Destination	Distance	LTL Quote	Cost per Pallet
Los Angeles, CA	~250 miles	$400	$100
Denver, CO	~1,000 mi	$1,200	$300
New York, NY	~2,800 mi	$2,800	$700

Average per pallet = ($100 + $300 + $700) ÷ 3 = $366.67
If each pallet holds 60 cases = $6.11/case in average freight

That becomes your working assumption for national freight cost per case. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough to protect your margin when building pricing models and evaluating distributor costs.

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What If You’re Only Shipping to One Region?

If you’re only shipping to one coast or region—for example, just the East Coast—you don’t need to triangulate across the whole country. Instead, triangulate within that zone.

Example: East Coast-Only Freight Triangulation

Warehouse Location: Chicago, IL
Target Market: East Coast distributors and retailers

Destination	Distance from Chicago	LTL Quote	Cost per Pallet
New York, NY	~800 miles	$1,000	$250
Boston, MA	~950 miles	$1,100	$275
Miami, FL	~1,350 miles	$1,500	$375

Average per pallet = ($250 + $275 + $375) ÷ 3 = $300
Pallet holds 60 cases = $5.00/case freight

✅ Pro Tip: Use the cities that are most representative of your customer base—not random corners of the country. If your first few distributors are all on the West Coast, triangulate using LA, San Francisco, and Seattle.

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Step 3: Apply This to Your Pricing Strategy

• Add freight to your COGS
• Model freight per SKU, per case, or per pallet
• Don’t forget zone-based differences if you ship regionally
• Track quotes quarterly and update your pricing assumptions

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Step 4: How to Optimize Freight Over Time

• Ship full pallets when possible
• Use warehouses with cross-dock services
• Work with your broker to build freight programs
• Stack pallets more efficiently
• Combine orders to reduce LTL frequency

What is a Cross-Dock Warehouse?

A cross-dock facility is a warehouse where goods are quickly unloaded from inbound trucks and directly reloaded onto outbound trucks with minimal or no storage in between. This is helpful because:

• It allows you to consolidate smaller orders from multiple manufacturers into one outbound truckload
• You reduce storage time, which lowers cost and speeds up delivery
• You can combine shipments from different brands for regional distributor deliveries

✅ Yes, this is common in food & beverage, especially for smaller brands that can’t yet justify full truckload shipments but want to save on LTL costs.

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Final Word: Freight Can Kill You—Or Save You

Freight is one of the most overlooked killers of gross margin in food and beverage. But it doesn’t have to be.

If you:

• Understand partial pallets, LTL, and FTL
• Get real quotes
• Use freight triangulation
• Model case-level freight impact

…then you’re already way ahead of the game.

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Need help building pricing models or working with distributors?
Cascadia helps brands like yours dial in pricing, freight, and go-to-market strategy with real-world, boots-on-the-ground experience.

Want a free freight triangulation calculator in Excel?
Just ask. We’ll build one for you.