LTL Shipping Changes Are Making News: Here’s Why
For electrical distributors and other small companies that rely on less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping to deliver goods to customers, two announcements over the past week are worth noting.
The month of June kicked off with news that FedEx has completed its spin-off of FedEx Freight Holding Company — a plan it first announced back in December. As such, FedEx Freight is now operating as an independent, publicly traded company and is focused on the North American LTL industry.
LTL shipping – which allows multiple companies to share trailer space with other shippers instead of being responsible for filling the entire truck themselves – is especially popular with small businesses.
Distribution Strategy Group – a source for research-backed webinars, whitepapers, blogs, and events for the wholesale industry – cautioned that the change could affect distributors that rely on FedEx for LTL shipments in regard to “pricing, network investments and service strategies as the company establishes its stand-alone operating model.”
Calling it “one of the most significant restructurings in the transportation and logistics sector in recent years,” Distribution Strategy Group noted that the separation “comes at a time when less-than-truckload carriers are balancing soft freight demand with ongoing efforts to improve yield, network efficiency, and profitability.”
Distribution Strategy Group shared this advice for distributors and manufacturers: “FedEx Freight is a major transportation provider for industrial, construction, manufacturing, and wholesale distribution customers that rely on less-than-truckload shipping for replenishment orders and regional deliveries. While day-to-day operations are not expected to change immediately, the company’s long-term priorities may evolve as management focuses exclusively on the LTL business rather than broader FedEx corporate objectives. That could influence future pricing strategies, network investments, service offerings, and contract negotiations. Distributors with significant exposure to FedEx Freight may want to monitor the company’s first few earnings reports as an independent business for signals about capital allocation plans, service expansion initiatives, and yield-management strategies.”
Amazon enters the field
However, the most significant news impacting companies that use LTL shipping came from Amazon this week on June 10, when its Amazon Supply Chain Services division launched its LTL shipping service for all businesses of any size to any type of destination.
“We kept hearing the same thing from shippers, ‘I need LTL that performs like my full truckload service,’” said Jim Ruiz, director at Amazon Freight. “That’s a high bar, and it’s exactly the one we set for ourselves. This launch is our answer to that challenge and built on the same operational backbone that moves Amazon shipments.”
When Amazon launched inbound LTL last year, it was built for smaller shippers moving loads into Amazon fulfillment centers. Now, as part of Amazon Supply Chain Services, there are more options. Amazon’s LTL service is now open any company – not just those participating in Marketplace – and can be used for shipments as small as one to six pallets.
According to a company statement from Amazon, “Whether you’re a budding business or a large enterprise, you can tap into Amazon’s logistics network for your LTL freight the same way thousands of shippers already do for FTL. This includes shipping to your own warehouses, distribution centers, and retail locations, as well as Amazon fulfillment centers.”
Businesses can start receiving quotes for LTL loads immediately by creating an account in the Amazon Freight portal. Amazon Freight maintains terminals across the country and has a fleet of 80,000+ trailers.
According to Amazon Freight, qualified shippers will have access to a unified, multi-modal drop trailer pool shared across both FTL and LTL. That means when the Amazon trailer pulls up, a company’s warehouse crew doesn’t have to spend time sorting through which ones are for FTL and which ones are for LTL before they are loaded.
In addition, Amazon Freight’s LTL service delivers real-time tracking through EDI integrations and a web portal, with pallet-specific milestone events including terminal arrival and departure updates.
With fuel rates still remaining volatile in light of the war in Iran, thereby affecting the costs of transportation, distributors and manufacturers are paying close attention to potential shipping changes that could either negatively – or positively – impact their cost of doing business in 2026 and beyond.
