Freight
LTL & Palletized Freight
One to twelve pallets, liftgate and pallet jack on every truck, and no terminal in the middle losing your freight.
Cargo Taxi Deliveries moves palletized LTL freight from Los Angeles across eleven western states, carrying 1 to 12 standard pallets up to roughly 10,000 lbs on a 26ft box truck. Every truck carries a liftgate and a pallet jack, so a delivery to an address with no dock does not need a second appointment.
Conventional LTL works by consolidation: your pallets go to a terminal, get cross-docked onto whatever trailer is heading the right way, and may be handled four or five times before they arrive. It is cheap and it is how most freight moves, but every handling is a chance for a pallet to be dropped, mis-sorted or delayed, and the tracking tells you where the trailer is rather than where your freight is.
The runs here are direct. Freight is loaded at your dock and comes off at the consignee, on the same truck, with the same driver, and no terminal in between. For one to twelve pallets inside the western states that is frequently competitive with conventional LTL once accessorials are counted, and it is dramatically more predictable.
Every box truck carries a liftgate and a pallet jack as standard equipment rather than as a billable extra that has to be requested at booking. The number of deliveries that go wrong because a residential or small-commercial consignee turns out to have no dock and no forklift is remarkable, and the fix is to simply always have the equipment on the truck.
Specifications
The numbers.
| Pallet capacity | 12 standard 48x40 pallets (26ft box truck) |
|---|---|
| Payload | Up to ~10,000 lbs |
| Equipment | Liftgate and pallet jack on every truck |
| Handling | Direct — loaded once, unloaded once |
| Lanes | California and ten further western states |
| Oversize | Up to 26ft deck length on flatbed for non-palletized loads |
Equipment used for this work
26ft Box Truck
Enclosed 26ft box with a liftgate and a pallet jack on board as standard — the right truck for palletized freight going anywhere without a dock.
- Limit: Not a 53ft trailer — 12 pallet positions, not 26
- Limit: Restricted on some residential streets and low clearances
Mercedes Sprinter
Long-wheelbase, high-roof cargo van for medium loads and efficient multi-stop routes — the workhorse of the fleet.
- Limit: No liftgate — needs a dock or forklift for heavy pallets
- Limit: Maximum 4 pallet positions
Questions
LTL & Palletized Freight, answered.
How many pallets fit on a 26ft box truck?
Twelve standard 48x40 pallets fit on the floor of a 26ft box truck, and up to roughly 10,000 lbs of payload. Double-stacking lifts that higher when the freight is stackable. More than twelve floor positions needs a second truck or a 53ft trailer, and dispatch will say so rather than promise a single run that cannot be loaded.
Do you charge extra for a liftgate?
Liftgates and pallet jacks are on every box truck as standard rather than as a surcharged extra. A liftgate fee only appears where a delivery requires an unusually long gate cycle — a full truck unloaded piece by piece at a site with no equipment — and that is quoted up front.
Is this cheaper than standard LTL?
For one to twelve pallets inside the western states it is frequently competitive once accessorials are counted, because conventional LTL adds liftgate, residential, inside-delivery and appointment fees that are already included here. For a single pallet crossing the country, conventional LTL is cheaper and you should use it.
Will my freight be cross-docked at a terminal?
No. Freight is loaded at origin and unloaded at destination on the same truck with the same driver. That single-handling is the main reason to use a direct carrier rather than a consolidator, and it is why damage and misroute rates are different.
Further reading
How this works in practice.
Choosing a carrier
What Does It Cost to Ship Freight From Los Angeles?
How much does it cost to ship freight out of Los Angeles?
Los Angeles
Demurrage, Free Time and the Port Clock
How do I avoid demurrage charges at the Port of Los Angeles?
Choosing a carrier
LTL, Truckload or Expedited: Which One Do You Need?
Should I ship LTL, truckload or expedited?
Related services
Often booked together.
Dedicated Truckload
Your freight is the only freight on the truck — loaded once, driven straight through, unloaded at the other end.
Expedited Freight
A truck assigned now, driven straight there, because the line is down and the arithmetic has changed.
Flatbed & Open-Deck
Twenty-six feet of open deck for the loads that will never fit through a roll-up door.
Same-Day Courier
Picked up within the hour, delivered the same day, tracked by a dispatcher who answers the phone himself.