Linehaul is the core revenue-generating movement for carriers — the miles between city pairs where freight travels at highway speed. In truckload shipping, linehaul and the total move are essentially the same thing: a driver picks up, drives the lane, and delivers. In LTL, linehaul is the terminal-to-terminal leg, sandwiched between local pickup and delivery operations.
The linehaul rate is the dominant cost component in most freight invoices. For truckload, the all-in load rate is sometimes broken out by shippers as an effective per-mile rate (total rate divided by miles), but carriers quote it as a flat load rate. For LTL, carriers publish linehaul rates as a percentage of a base rate tariff, modified by weight breaks and class discounts.
Linehaul capacity is constrained by the Hours of Service regulations that govern how many hours a commercial driver may drive without mandatory rest. A driver may drive up to 11 hours in a 14-hour on-duty window, then must take a 10-consecutive-hour off-duty break. For lanes over approximately 500 miles, a single driver typically cannot complete the move in one shift, making transit time a function of both mileage and HOS constraints.
Team drivers — two drivers sharing a cab in rotating shifts — allow trucks to run essentially around the clock, reducing transit on long-haul lanes by eliminating mandatory rest stops. Team freight commands a premium rate.
Linehaul efficiency is measured by loaded miles as a percentage of total miles. Carriers optimize their networks to maximize loaded miles and minimize deadhead. Shippers with consistent volume on lanes that fit naturally into a carrier's network gain capacity and pricing advantages as a result.