FTL (full truckload)

FTL removes the hub. The vehicle loads at origin, drives to destination and unloads — two handling events instead of four — which is why it is the fastest and least damaging way to move freight, and the only sensible one for anything fragile or high-value.

A standard European tautliner semi-trailer offers 13.6 loading metres and 33 Euro pallet positions. Directive 96/53/EC sets the ordinary maximum authorised combination weight at 40 tonnes for international traffic, so payload is bounded by the tractor and trailer tare rather than by a tariff bracket.

The price is a trip price. Distance, equipment type, waiting time, the driver's hours and, above all, the probability of a paying return load determine it, which is why the same lane can be quoted very differently two weeks apart. Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers: FTL is typically bought spot and sold with an absolute margin per shipment rather than a percentage, and the engine supports both.

Once a vehicle is dedicated, weight stops driving cost until it hits the legal limit. Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers, and this is the structural difference that separates FTL pricing from every bracket-based tariff.

The consequence for a broker is that a full truckload margin is best expressed as an absolute amount per shipment: a percentage margin would move the sell price every time the carrier's spot rate moves, for reasons the customer did not cause.

Equipment choice changes both the capacity and the rate, so it belongs on the quote request rather than in a phone call afterwards. Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers and treats equipment as part of the shipment definition.

Loads exceeding 2.55 m in width, 4 m in height or the 40-tonne limit fall outside Directive 96/53/EC and become abnormal loads, requiring permits and, usually, escorts.

Most brokers run both, and the mix is a risk decision rather than a pricing one. In a TMS for freight brokers, both live as data rather than as memory.

• Spot — quoted per trip, valid for days. Sensitive to season, direction and the return-load prospect.
• Contract — a fixed lane rate for a defined period, usually with a fuel surcharge clause so diesel movements do not reopen the negotiation.
• Backhaul — a discounted trip on the return leg of a vehicle that would otherwise run empty.

Cargavo stores contract lane rates as grids and lets spot buys be entered per shipment, then derives the sell price with a margin expressed as p/(1-m) or as an absolute amount. Every quote carries a Q-YYYY-NNNN reference and the financials stay private to the broker.

The break-even is a lane property, not a rule of thumb: it moves with distance, direction, season and the carrier's return-load prospects on that corridor. The only reliable method is to price both on the same shipment.

Cargavo is a TMS for freight brokers and makes that comparison a lookup: hold a groupage grid and a full-load lane rate side by side, price the same shipment against both, and the cheaper buy is visible before the customer is answered.

Limits. Cargavo does not source capacity, does not post loads and does not connect to carrier APIs or EDI. It is not a freight exchange, not a fleet management tool and not a tendering marketplace: it prices and manages quotes, shipments, customers and margins from the grids and rates you enter. Plans are 49, 149 and 399 EUR per month, with a 14-day trial.