01The number nobody negotiates
In the last two years I have sat in a lot of pricing conversations. Almost all of them are about the unit price of the pallet. Almost none of them are about the trailer, which is usually the larger number.
On a Grade B 48x40 delivered at $11.50, roughly $4.00 to $5.50 of that is freight depending on the lane. If you shave forty cents off the pallet through hard negotiation and leave the trailer half empty, you have lost the argument while winning the meeting.
| Load size | Trailer cost | Freight per pallet | Landed cost at $7 pallet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 540 pallets | $1,850 | $3.43 | $10.43 |
| 460 pallets | $1,850 | $4.02 | $11.02 |
| 380 pallets | $1,850 | $4.87 | $11.87 |
| 280 pallets | $1,850 | $6.61 | $13.61 |
| 180 pallets (LTL) | $1,240 | $6.89 | $13.89 |
02Why the break points sit where they do
A 53-foot dry van holds 500 to 560 stacked 48x40 pallets, depending on stack height, deck configuration and whether the load is double-stacked. That is the physical ceiling. Below it, the trailer is being paid for and not used.
- Above ~500: you are at the efficient frontier. Per-unit freight is as low as it goes on that lane.
- 450–500: still economic. Most of the trailer is working.
- 350–450: the awkward zone. You are paying for a full trailer and using three-quarters of it.
- Below ~250: LTL or shared lane territory. Per-unit freight roughly doubles.
- Below ~100: the freight can exceed the value of the pallets, which is a strange thing to explain to a finance team.
03Backhaul: the lever most buyers do not know they have
A truck that delivers 540 pallets to your dock has to go somewhere next. If it goes back empty, those empty miles are in your rate whether or not the invoice itemises them. If it collects cores from a site twenty miles away, the return leg earns and your rate falls.
The obstacle is information, not economics. We check for backhaul pairings on every quote over a trailer, but we can only pair what we know about. If you generate empty pallets — and almost every business that buys them also generates them — say so at quote stage even if you were not planning to sell them.
- Do you generate empties at the same site? The same truck can do both legs.
- Are you near another customer? Route density may put you on a scheduled lane instead of a spot quote.
- Can you receive early? A 5am delivery costs less than a 10am one on most urban lanes.
- Can you take a trailer drop? That removes despatch cost entirely.
04Trailer drops, if you have the space
A trailer drop is the cheapest freight available and the most under-used option in the industry. We park an empty trailer at your site, you load or unload at your own pace, and we swap it when it is full. There is no driver waiting, no appointment, no dock congestion, and no despatch cost to price into your rate.
The requirements are simple and non-negotiable: somewhere safe to park a 53-foot trailer, and your own forklift. If you have both, ask about it. It typically takes 15–25% out of the freight line, and that is before any backhaul pairing.
05What to actually do on Monday
- Ask your supplier to itemise freight separately from the pallet price. If they will not, that tells you something.
- Find out how many pallets are on your typical load. Most buyers do not know.
- Model what happens if you order 40% less often and 60% more each time.
- Tell your supplier about your outbound empties.
- Ask whether a trailer drop is possible at your site.
None of that requires a negotiation, a new supplier or a contract. It is arithmetic that was always available. More detail on how we quote lanes is on the freight and delivery page, and the wider cost picture is in the pricing guide.
