Part Load & Groupage Software: Fill Every Truck and Still Know the Margin per Load

Definition: Part load (LTL) and groupage software plans several shipments on one vehicle — multiple pickups, multiple drops, several customers — while keeping each shipment's own price, documents and invoice, and splitting the shared truck or subcontractor cost fairly across them.

The spreadsheet problem with part loads

Carriers that run full loads only can live with "one order = one truck". Everyone else cannot: a forwarder combining three customers' pallets, a carrier topping up a half-empty trailer on the way home, a warehouse consolidating inbound stock into one outbound run. In Excel the shared cost ends up on one order (fake profit on the others, a fake loss on that one), the driver gets three separate messages, and nobody knows how much space is actually left on the truck tonight.

Connected trips: several orders, one truck, one set of finances

• Group 2–4 orders into one trip with the 🔗 icon: the group gets a combined load, combined kilometres and combined finances, while each order keeps its own customer, price and invoice.
• Equal-margin cost split — when a subcontractor drives the chain, the agreed total cost is distributed across the legs in proportion to each leg's sell price, so every order shows the same margin percentage instead of random ±30 % swings.
• One combined transport order for the subcontractor: all loadings → all deliveries in the right sequence, total rate, one PDF — not three.
• Drag-reorder stops in the chain editor; the sequence drives the PDF, the driver message and the live ETA.
• Real-km ledger per order — kilometres are stepped by odometer or GPS between stops, so each order in the chain carries its real share of distance for cost per km and driver pay.

Free space per truck run — pallets, kilograms, loading metres

Before you look for a part load you need to know what fits. CargoMind's warehouse runs and connected trips show, per truck, how many more EUR pallets, how many kilograms and how many loading metres are still free against the real truck or trailer size (or a standard 13.6 m tautliner), what is already on board, which limit binds and where the next drop is. The same question — "which truck has room tonight?" — can be asked of the AI dispatcher in plain language.

Part loads on the way: your own orders first, then the exchanges

1. Pick the order or truck — "what can I add to order 1234?" or the Berlin → Sofia truck.
2. CargoMind searches your own unassigned orders first — pickups and deliveries along the route, loading around the order's date, small detour, never making the main order late.
3. Then the freight exchanges — TIMOCOM loads via Load Scout and loads sent to you on Trans.eu, ranked by fit against the free space.
4. Act in one click — e-mail the poster, quote on the exchange, or create the order from the load and drop it into the connected trip.

Own-order matches are free. For exchange loads, AI Scout charges a small fee only when a load is actually won — 1 % of the freight — with the first three matches free and no monthly subscription.

Groupage from the warehouse

With the warehouse add-on, inbound stock from different orders is consolidated at the warehouse into one outbound run; generating the run creates a groupage order with its legs visible in the orders list, chip by chip — which carrier drives which leg, and where it stands. Drivers and warehouse staff see the same chain on their phones.

Frequently asked questions

How is the subcontractor cost split across part loads?

Proportionally to each order's sell price, so every leg shows the same margin percentage. The rounding cent lands on the largest leg so the shares add up exactly to the agreed total. Legs already assigned or delivered are left untouched.

Can I find part loads for a truck that is already on the road?

Yes. Scouting along an order checks your own unassigned orders first, then TIMOCOM (with your API access) and loads sent to you on Trans.eu, keeping the detour small and the main order on time.

Does each customer still get their own invoice?

Yes. Orders in a connected trip keep their own customer, price, CMR and invoice. Only the trip, the kilometres and the shared cost are combined.

Is groupage the same as a connected trip?

A connected trip groups existing transport orders on one truck. A groupage order is created by the warehouse module when inbound stock from several orders is consolidated into one outbound run. Both show legs and margins the same way.