Freight basics
What Is Freight Shipping for Business Cargo?
Freight shipping is how companies move palletized cargo under a bill of lading. Here is how it differs from parcel and when to quote FTL or LTL.
Updated 2026-08-20 · what is freight shipping
What is freight shipping if your warehouse already prints parcel labels all day? It is the movement of commercial cargo—usually on pallets, often dock to dock—under a bill of lading, not a consumer tracking sticker. Weight, cube, freight class, and whether you fill a trailer decide the mode.
COL Freight Solutions is a licensed U.S. property broker (USDOT 4427559, MC-1741651) coordinating full truckload, less-than-truckload, and warehousing across the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Use this primer to brief your team, then send origin, destination, and pallet specs for a quote.
What is freight shipping compared with parcel?
Parcel networks price by zone and package. Freight networks price by how much space and handling your cargo consumes: pallets, linear feet, density, and accessorials such as liftgate or appointment delivery. A bill of lading names shipper, consignee, commodity, and liability—not a drop-box receipt.
Most shippers cross into freight when cartons will not stack on a single small parcel, when a pallet jack or forklift is required, or when a receiving dock will not accept small-package drivers. That is an operations decision, not a branding one.
- Typical unit is a pallet, crate, or skid—not a poly mailer
- Pickup often needs a dock, forklift, or liftgate
- Documents: bill of lading, packing list, and sometimes commercial invoice on export
FTL, LTL, and when the trailer is yours
Full truckload (FTL) reserves the trailer for one shipper. You pay for the capacity even if you do not cube out, which is why it wins on damage risk, appointment control, and transit that does not bounce through LTL terminals.
Less-than-truckload (LTL) consolidates several shippers. You pay for the cube and class you tender, and the freight is handled at terminals. Volume or partial truckload sits in between when you have several pallets but not a full 53-foot van.
What a broker actually books
A licensed property broker does not operate the tractor. COL matches your freight to contracted motor carriers, confirms equipment, and stays on the shipment when a dock runs late or a border queue builds. That is different from a freight forwarder that may issue house bills for air or ocean.
Ask for USDOT and MC numbers before you tender. COL publishes USDOT 4427559 and MC-1741651. Offices in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and Los Gatos, California, support bilingual desks for North American lanes.
Details that make a freight quote usable
A usable quote needs pickup and delivery ZIPs or city/state, number of pallets, dimensions, weight, stackability, commodity, and any accessorials (liftgate, inside delivery, limited-access site, appointment). Guessing class without density is how invoices surprise accounting.
Do not expect a public rate card that fits every lane. Fuel, season, equipment type, and border requirements move the number. COL prices the load in front of you—not a generic online slider.
From definition to a COL quote
If this definition matches how you actually ship—pallets, docks, and recurring North American lanes—send the specs and request a quote. Consistent volume may also be reviewed for the Transportation Cost Recovery Program™.
Call 561-880-9808 or use the contact form. Share the lane, equipment need, and whether you are comparing FTL against LTL so the desk can recommend a mode instead of forcing one.