LTL revenue per shipment measures the average less-than-truckload revenue earned for each shipment.
A simplified calculation is:
revenue per shipment = applicable LTL revenue ÷ LTL shipments
Revenue per shipment combines yield and shipment size
The metric is useful because it links two important freight variables:
revenue per shipment ≈ revenue per hundredweight × pounds per shipment ÷ 100
If revenue per hundredweight stays at $30 while average shipment weight rises from 1,300 to 1,400 pounds, the simplified revenue per shipment rises from $390 to $420.
That increase would come from heavier freight, not necessarily from a price increase.
Fuel treatment can materially change the number
Saia reported second-quarter 2026 LTL revenue per shipment of $393.56, while revenue per shipment excluding fuel surcharge was $303.12.
Both measures can be useful, but they answer different questions.
Including fuel shows reported shipment-level revenue. Excluding fuel can make underlying freight-yield trends easier to compare when fuel prices or surcharge mechanisms move sharply.
Revenue per shipment is not average selling price
LTL shipments are not standardized units.
Revenue can differ because of:
- shipment weight;
- length of haul;
- freight class and commodity;
- customer and lane mix;
- accessorial services;
- fuel surcharges; and
- contractual rate changes.
That makes LTL revenue per shipment narrower and more operationally specific than the generic Average Selling Price concept.
Use it with shipment count
A simplified revenue bridge is:
LTL revenue ≈ shipments × revenue per shipment
A carrier can therefore grow revenue with fewer shipments if revenue per shipment rises enough, or report more shipments without much revenue growth if shipment-level revenue falls.
Investors should then ask what drove the change in LTL Revenue per Hundredweight, weight per shipment, and fuel.
Primary-source examples
LTL revenue per shipment is most useful as the shipment-level revenue bridge between freight volume and yield, not as a stand-alone measure of pricing power.
Part of the LTL Freight Operating Model
See It in Company Research
These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.
Continue Research
Continue from the concept into the Grizzly Bulls research surface that best matches the next question. These links are research continuations, not recommendations or required steps.
Compare freight companies
Continue into stock comparison for shipment-level revenue, freight mix, yield, volume, margins, and valuation context.
Explore more topics in the Financial Research Encyclopedia.