A 53-foot semi-truck on a California interstate highway in a convoy with other trucks
Truckload Desk · Same-day cover

Full Truckload.
One truck. One driver.
One chain of custody.

The fastest, lowest-damage way to move 10+ pallets across North America. Dedicated 53′ trailer, single driver end-to-end, lane-priced quotes from a vetted 50,000-truck carrier pool.

50,000+
Vetted carriers
<2 hr
Avg cover time
99.4%
On-time delivery
45,000 lb
Max payload
What is FTL?

A truck booked for your shipment alone.

The opposite of LTL. The fastest, most secure way to move bulk freight on the road.

Full Truckload (FTL)means an entire 53-foot trailer is booked exclusively for your shipment. There’s no co-loading with other shippers, no terminal stops, no third-party handling — the freight is loaded at your dock, the trailer is sealed, the driver runs direct to the destination, and the trailer is opened by the consignee.

Most freight networks split FTL into three buckets: contract FTL (annual rates locked in for high-volume lanes), spot FTL (market-rate one-off bookings), and dedicated FTL (a truck that runs your lanes every day on a private rate). Qeep handles all three, with a 24/7 desk and same-day cover on most North American lanes.

Long-haul semi-truck on a North American interstate at sunset
A 53′ dry van — the backbone of North American freight, the most common rig on the road.

When does FTL beat LTL?

The break-even is typically around 6–8 pallets. Below that, LTL is usually cheaper because you only pay for the trailer space you use. Above that, LTL accessorials (liftgate, residential, inside delivery, reweigh fees) add up fast — and FTL becomes both cheaper and faster. Time-sensitive, fragile, or high-value freight is almost always better on FTL regardless of pallet count, because cargo never leaves the trailer until it reaches your dock.

How is FTL priced?

FTL is priced per-mile based on the lane’s current market rate (tracked daily via DAT and Greenscreens indexes), plus a fuel surcharge tied to the EIA national diesel average, plus deadhead miles the driver must travel empty to your pickup. Accessorials — detention after 2 free hours, lumper fees, layover, driver-assist — are passed through with no margin. There’s no mystery in an FTL invoice.

Interactive estimate

Estimate your lane in 30 seconds.

Pick equipment, origin, destination, and cargo weight. Get a directional lane price + transit estimate. Then click through to get a real, lane-specific quote from our desk.

Equipment
35,000 lb
5,000 lb45,000 lb max
Estimates use lane miles + market RPM + FSC. Real quotes account for fuel index, deadhead, accessorials, equipment availability and season.
Estimated lane price
$2,100
USD all-in, per shipment
Lane miles700 mi
Rate per mile (RPM)$3.00
Transit (HOS)2 days
Get the real quote
Equipment

Three trailer specs.
Same dispatch desk.

53′ trailer
Equipment

53′ Dry Van

The North American freight standard. Most common trailer on the road, widest carrier pool, deepest capacity.

Pallet positions
26 standard or 30 pinwheeled
Max payload
45,000 lb
Interior length
636″ (53′ 0″)
Interior width
100″ (8′ 4″)
Interior height
110″ (9′ 2″)
Best for

General dry freight, palletized goods, packaged consumer products, long-haul moves

Cinematic long-exposure shot of an American semi-truck on a US interstate at twilight
Coast to coast

From Long Beach to the Port of New York.
Every American interstate, every day.

48 contiguous states plus daily Canada and Mexico cross-border. The largest vetted carrier pool in North America at your dispatch desk.

The FTL lifecycle

From quote to POD,
in five clean steps.

  1. Logistics dispatcher reviewing lane rates on a desktop monitor
    01

    Quote in minutes

    Live lane rate from DAT/Greenscreens market intel plus our contract rates. Quote within 15 minutes during business hours.

  2. Professional fleet of semi-trucks parked at a North American carrier yard
    02

    Tender to vetted carrier

    We dispatch from our 50,000-truck pool. FMCSA Authority, CVOR, insurance and safety scores rechecked every booking.

  3. Aerial view of trucks docked at a modern distribution center
    03

    Pickup + confirmation

    Driver arrives with BOL, signed pickup confirmation pushed to your account, GPS tracking activates immediately.

  4. Semi-truck on a US interstate at dusk with motion blur
    04

    Live in-transit visibility

    Hourly GPS pings, milestone events, exception alerts if the truck stops unexpectedly. You always know where the freight is.

  5. Forklift loading freight into a modern distribution warehouse
    05

    Delivery + POD same-day

    Signed POD imaged and pushed within 4 hours of delivery. Detention timer auto-tracks if the dock holds the driver.

FTL vs LTL

When each mode wins.

Pick FTL when

Full Truckload

  • 10+ pallets or 15,000+ lb
  • Fragile, high-value or hazmat
  • Time-sensitive (no terminal layovers)
  • Dedicated chain of custody required
  • Cross-border under one bill of lading
Estimate FTL
Pick LTL when

Less-than-Truckload

  • 1–6 pallets or under 15,000 lb
  • Predictable cost matters more than fastest transit
  • Dock-to-dock B2B freight
  • OK with terminal touches
  • Frequent small-quantity shipments
See LTL service

The break-even point is around 6–8 pallets. Below that, LTL almost always wins on price. Above that, FTL wins on price AND transit.

What drives the rate

Five inputs. Zero mystery margins.

Driver #1

Lane rate

The single biggest input. Set by the supply-demand balance on the specific origin-destination corridor. Outbound <> inbound imbalance drives whether the carrier’s next load is profitable, which sets your rate. We pull live market data from DAT and Greenscreens every quote.

Driver #2

Fuel surcharge

Indexed weekly to EIA national diesel average. Floats with diesel — passed through, not marked up.

Driver #3

Deadhead

The empty miles a driver runs to reach your pickup. Origins far from carrier home bases cost more.

Driver #4

Accessorials

Detention after 2 free hours (~$50–80/hr). Lumper at major retail DCs ($150–400). Layover ($300–500/night). Driver assist, weekend pickup, residential delivery.

Driver #5

Seasonality + market

Produce season (Apr–Jul), peak retail (Sep–Nov), CVSA Roadcheck week, and inclement weather all spike spot rates. Contract lanes hedge against the volatility.

FTL questions

Things shippers ask before booking.

How fast can you cover an FTL load?
Most North American lanes are covered same-day. AOG, hot-shot, and team-driver expedites can be dispatched within an hour for an additional charge. Cover time depends on the lane — Toronto–Chicago is typically <90 minutes, Calgary–Halifax may take 4–6 hours.
What's the maximum weight I can ship FTL?
Up to 45,000 lb net payload on a 53′ dry van — that’s the typical legal limit (80,000 lb gross vehicle weight minus ~35,000 lb for tractor, trailer, fuel and driver). Heavier loads route to flatbed, RGN, or specialized equipment with state-issued overweight permits.
Do you offer dedicated FTL capacity?
Yes — for regular lanes (2+ shipments per week), we can dedicate trucks on an annual contract with locked-in rates, named driver continuity, and guaranteed weekly capacity. Talk to us about your lane history and we’ll model a dedicated program against your spot spend.
What's your cargo insurance coverage?
Standard $100,000 cargo coverage included on every FTL shipment. Higher-value coverage is available via per-shipment certificate of insurance — we have brokers who can bind $500k, $1M, or higher within an hour.
Can you handle hazmat FTL?
Yes — we have hazmat-certified carriers across all 9 DOT classes. Add hazmat at quote stage and we’ll route to the appropriate carrier with placards, driver hazmat endorsement, training docs, and 24/7 emergency response contacts.
Do you handle Canada-US and Mexico FTL?
Yes — daily FTL across both borders. Canada–US runs through our in-house customs desk (ACE/ACI, PARS/PAPS, CARM). Mexico–US runs through our Mexico desk at Laredo, El Paso, Otay Mesa and McAllen with Mexican carrier transfer coordination.
Let’s move it

Have a shipment? Get rates in 10 min.

Tell us the origin, destination and mode. A Qeep specialist replies within the hour with live capacity, lane price, and a transit window you can actually plan around.