Road is the backbone of European distribution and the first/last mile of almost every sea and air shipment. This guide covers the essentials, and Nexport Logistics arranges your road transport — national and European — managed in the Nexportal portal alongside customs and warehousing.
FTL or LTL / groupage
- FTL (Full Truck Load) — a dedicated truck for your cargo. Fastest and most direct; best when you fill (or nearly fill) a trailer.
- LTL / groupage (Less than Truck Load) — a part-load: you pay for the space you use and share the truck with other shippers. "Groupage" is the European word for LTL — consolidated part-loads grouped per lane, usually routed through a hub/cross-dock. (A direct LTL run can skip the hub; groupage typically consolidates there — but commercially it's the same part-load model.)
The right choice is a balance of volume, speed and cost — and it shifts as your flows grow. Part-loads are priced on loading metres (below).
Loading metres, truck sizes and weight limits
Loading metre (LDM, laadmeter) is the unit part-loads are priced on. One LDM is 1 metre of trailer floor length across the full width (~2.4 m) — about 2.4 m² of floor. A standard 13.6 m trailer is 13.6 LDM. Pallets convert roughly: a Euro pallet (0.8 × 1.2 m) ≈ 0.4 LDM, a block/industrial pallet (1.0 × 1.2 m) ≈ 0.5 LDM. Carriers also apply a weight-to-LDM ratio (often ~1,750 kg per LDM), so a heavy-but-small load isn't carried "for free".
Truck sizes — the standard EU semi-trailer (tautliner/box) is roughly 13.6 m long, 2.45 m wide, 2.7 m interior height, holds 33–34 Euro pallets on the floor and carries about 24–26 t payload. Smaller rigid trucks (7.5 t, 12 t) and vans cover lighter or city work.
Maximum weight on the road (total laden combination, GVW) differs by country:
| Country | Max gross combination weight |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 50 t (combinations with 5+ axles; LZV/ecocombi up to 60 t) |
| Belgium | 44 t |
| Germany | 40 t (44 t in combined/intermodal transport) |
| EU standard | 40 t (44 t for combined transport) |
So the same trailer can run at 50 t in the Netherlands but must stay at 40 t in Germany — the route decides the payload.
How it's measured across modes
The same cargo is measured differently per mode, which is why a quote shifts with the transport choice:
- Road (LTL / groupage) — loading metres (LDM), as above.
- Sea (LCL) — W/M ("weight or measure"): you pay on whichever is greater, 1 CBM or 1,000 kg (the revenue ton). The road pre-/on-carriage of that LCL is still charged on loading metres. See Sea Freight.
- Air — chargeable weight = the greater of the actual kg and the volumetric kg. In practice everyone just works it out as volume in CBM × 167 (1 m³ = 167 kg) — the same result as L × W × H (cm) ÷ 6,000. So a light, bulky air shipment is billed on its volume, not its scale weight. See Air Freight.
The CMR — the road consignment note
International road transport runs under the CMR convention; the CMR waybill is the transport contract and the proof of carriage (sender, consignee, goods, conditions). It's the road equivalent of the bill of lading.
Dangerous goods by road (ADR)
Hazardous cargo by road follows ADR, with its own documents, labelling and the road-only 1000-point rule (a partial exemption). Lithium batteries, flammable liquids and the like need the right paperwork and, often, an ADR-equipped truck. See Dangerous Goods.
Costs are changing: the Dutch truck toll
From 1 July 2026 the Netherlands introduces a per-kilometre truck toll (vrachtwagenheffing) that feeds into road-transport rates — see our news item on the truck toll. We keep this in the market-rate pricing so your quote reflects the real cost.
Customs on the road
Within the EU there's no customs on the road leg. For non-EU movements, goods travel under T1 transit and are cleared on arrival — handled together with your Customs declaration.
How Nexport Logistics moves it
Nexport Logistics is a freight forwarder under the FENEX conditions, with its own transport and partners across Europe. We book FTL, LTL and groupage, handle the CMR, the ADR paperwork and the Customs — and deliver to the door. You track it in the Nexportal portal. Need a European road move? Email info@nexportlogistics.nl.
Related: Sea Freight · Air Freight · Dangerous Goods · Customs