What is the difference between LTL and parcel shipping?

Parcel moves individual boxes, up to 150 lb each at UPS and FedEx Ground, through a sorting network. LTL (less than truckload) moves palletized freight that shares a trailer with other shippers' freight through the carrier's terminals, priced by total weight, freight class and distance.

Is FedEx Freight the same as FedEx Ground?

No. FedEx Ground is FedEx's parcel service for boxes. FedEx Freight is an LTL carrier for palletized freight, and since June 1, 2026 it has been a separate public company.

When is LTL cheaper than parcel?

Usually once a shipment is more than a few boxes or a few hundred pounds, or anything you would stack on a pallet. A few boxes inside the parcel limits are almost always cheaper by parcel.

How big a package can I ship by parcel?

UPS Ground and FedEx Ground take up to 150 lb a package, 108 inches long and 165 inches in length plus girth. USPS Ground Advantage takes up to 70 lb and 130 inches. Past 96 inches long or 130 inches in length plus girth, UPS and FedEx add a large-package surcharge and bill the box as at least 90 lb.

LTL vs Parcel Shipping: FedEx Ground or FedEx Freight?

The size of a shipment picks the service. Boxes inside the parcel limits go parcel. Pallets go LTL. A lot of pallets go partial or full truckload. This guide covers where each line falls, how FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight fit, and how each service is priced.

Parcel, LTL and truckload

Parcel: each box moves on its own through a sorting network. UPS Ground, FedEx Ground and USPS are parcel services.
LTL (less than truckload): pallets share a trailer with other shippers' freight and move through the carrier's terminals.
Truckload: a trailer of your own, either part of one (partial truckload) or all of it (full truckload).

When a shipment is too big for parcel

FedEx Ground takes packages up to 150 lb, up to 108 inches long, and up to 165 inches in length plus girth,^[1] and UPS Ground uses the same limits. Girth is twice the width plus twice the height. USPS Ground Advantage stops at 70 lb and 130 inches in length plus girth.^[2]

Before those limits there's a second line. A box longer than 96 inches, or over 130 inches in length plus girth, is a large package at UPS and FedEx: it carries a surcharge and is billed as at least 90 lb.

Parcel carriers also bill by size. At UPS and FedEx daily rates, dimensional weight is length × width × height in inches ÷ 139, and the box is billed at its dimensional weight or its actual weight, whichever is more. A big, light box (pillows, lampshades, foam) can bill at several times what it weighs. The dimensional weight calculator shows what a box bills at.

When LTL costs less than parcel

A few ordinary boxes inside the limits: parcel is almost always the cheaper service.

Several heavy boxes, a few hundred pounds, or anything you'd stack on a pallet: stack it, wrap it and ship it LTL as one unit on one bill. LTL is priced on the total weight of the shipment, not box by box, so the comparison tips once the boxes add up. How to ship a pallet covers building one.

Freight Sidekick typically needs at least one pallet, or a piece about that size. If you describe a parcel-sized shipment to Allison, our AI freight agent, on the phone or in chat, she tells you parcel is likely cheaper before she quotes it as freight.

FedEx Ground or FedEx Freight?

They're different services, and since June 2026, different companies.

FedEx Ground is FedEx's parcel network for boxes, inside the parcel limits above.
FedEx Freight is an LTL carrier for palletized freight. Its two main services are Priority, with delivery typically in 1 to 3 days, and Economy, typically 3 to 6 days.^[3]

FedEx Freight has been its own public company since June 1, 2026.^[4] What FedEx Freight is and how its services differ goes further.

UPS works the same way. UPS Ground is parcel. UPS's LTL company, UPS Freight, was sold to TFI International in 2021 and now runs as TForce Freight.^[5]

When LTL becomes a truckload

Our quote prices dry freight as LTL from one pallet to 28 linear feet and 20,000 lb: standard LTL rates to about 12 linear feet and 10,000 lb (about 6 standard pallets), and volume LTL rates past that. Refrigerated LTL runs to 28 linear feet and 15,000 lb; past that, refrigerated freight ships as a full reefer truckload.

Past the LTL line, a partial truckload fits dry freight of 28 to 32 linear feet or 20,000 to 30,000 lb. Past 32 feet or 30,000 lb it's a full truckload: a 53-foot dry van holds 26 standard pallets on the floor and about 45,000 lb of freight, and the freight doesn't change trucks. The linear feet calculator works out how much trailer a shipment takes, and the trailer guide covers the equipment.

Each LTL carrier also publishes where a single piece starts paying an overlength charge, and where a shipment stops being priced on weight and class and starts being priced on the trailer space it takes:

Carrier	Overlength charge from	Piece length limit	Priced as a volume or capacity load from	Tariff
FedEx Freight	8 ft (longest side)	12 ft	15 linear ft	FXF 100-Y, effective Jan 5, 2026
Old Dominion	8 ft (longest side)	27 ft 3 in	20 linear ft or 20,000 lb	ODFL 100-Q, effective Apr 14, 2025
Estes	8 ft (length)	No stated limit	20 linear ft or 20,000 lb	EXLA 105, effective Jan 2, 2026
Saia	8 ft (length)	28 ft	Not published as a number	Saia 170-D, effective Oct 1, 2025
ABF Freight	8 ft (longest side)	27 ft	24 linear ft	ABF 111-AU, effective Jun 22, 2026
R+L Carriers	8 ft (length or width)	No stated limit	20 linear ft	RLCA rules tariff, effective Jul 9, 2026
TForce Freight	8 ft (longest side)	20 ft	15 linear ft or 15,000 lb	UPGF 102-T, effective Mar 16, 2026

From each carrier's published tariff. A piece at or past the length limit needs the carrier's approval or may be refused. A carrier can change these when it reissues its tariff; the tariff in force on the ship date decides.FedEx Freight: 15 linear ft counts only when the freight is 5 ft or wider, or nothing identical could be loaded beside it.Saia: Capacity load is defined as full visible capacity; cubic rule starts at 750 cu ft under 6 lb/cu ft (or 350 cu ft under 4 lb/cu ft).ABF Freight: Capacity load at 24 linear ft, or 2,250 cu ft of effective occupancy.TForce Freight: 15 linear ft counts only when the freight is 5 ft or wider, or nothing identical could be loaded beside it.

A carrier rebills a standard LTL shipment that crosses its trailer-space line after pickup, once it sees the space used. When volume LTL rates come back for your shipment, our quote drops a carrier's standard rate past that carrier's line and keeps the volume rate, which is priced for the space.

How each one is priced

Parcel is priced per box: the billable weight (actual or dimensional, whichever is more), the distance zone, and surcharges for large, heavy or residential packages.
LTL is priced per shipment: the total weight, the freight class (set mostly by density), the distance, and extras such as a liftgate or residential delivery. The freight class estimator works out a class from weight and dimensions, and the service fees guide lists the common extras.
Truckload is priced by the trip: the miles and the market on that lane. You pay for the truck whether you fill it or not.

How fast, and how it's handled

Ground parcel takes 1 to 5 business days in the lower 48, and each box is sorted several times on the way. Most LTL takes 1 to 5 business days depending on distance, moving through terminals on its pallet; the shipping time calculator estimates a lane. A truckload usually runs straight from pickup to delivery.

Which one your shipment needs

A few boxes inside the parcel limits: parcel.
One pallet to 28 linear feet and 20,000 lb of dry freight: LTL, with volume rates past about 12 feet or 10,000 lb.
28 to 32 linear feet or 20,000 to 30,000 lb: partial truckload.
Past 32 linear feet or 30,000 lb: full truckload.

Freight Sidekick doesn't ship parcel. Our freight quote works out LTL, partial or truckload from the freight you enter, and compares LTL carriers, FedEx Freight among them, on the lanes they serve.