Groupage suits 1 to 3 standard pallets that can pass through a platform: it is priced online in 30 seconds and is the cheapest way to move them between the United Kingdom and France. A dedicated vehicle, from a part load to a full trailer, takes over for larger volumes or for fragile, heavy, out-of-gauge or date-critical goods, on quotation.
In one minute: groupage, part load and full load
Groupage and a dedicated vehicle are not two prices for the same thing; they are two ways of organising transport between the United Kingdom and France. Groupage shares a trailer between several shippers through a network of platforms. A part or full load reserves space on one vehicle for one consignment. Volume, goods, deadline and sites decide.
How groupage works from the UK to France
A collection vehicle lifts your pallets and takes them to a regional platform. They are sorted, loaded onto a trunk trailer, taken across the Channel by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel, sorted again at a platform in France and delivered by a local vehicle. Each pallet is handled by a forklift several times.
That design explains both the strengths and the limits: frequent departures, a shared price, coverage of every French postcode, but also size limits, repeated handling and a delivery time set by the network’s timetable. European networks such as DSV, GEODIS and DHL Freight all run on this principle.
Groupage at the online price: 1 to 3 pallets in 30 seconds
For 1 to 3 pallets, groupage is priced online in 30 seconds, ex VAT, in both directions between France and 35 European countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland included. Each pallet can weigh up to 800 kg and stand up to 200 cm high on up to 400 × 240 cm of floor space, within 2,500 kg of taxable weight.
What a full load gives you
With a full load, a trailer and a driver are booked for your consignment alone: loaded at your premises, driven straight to the consignee and unloaded, with no platform in between. The trailer may be a curtainsider, a box or a reefer. Dates are agreed with you, and the goods are touched only twice: once on, once off.
A full load suits everything groupage refuses or handles badly: heavy or tall pallets, fragile goods, machinery on skids, urgent consignments and deliveries at a fixed time. In return, the load must be ready when the vehicle arrives and both sites must be able to take an articulated lorry.
Part loads: the middle ground
A part load reserves part of a trailer that also carries one or two other compatible consignments on the same route. The goods travel direct, with no platform, at a price below a full trailer. For a handful to around sixteen pallets, or long items on a long journey, it is often the best answer, if the dates can flex.
Capacity of a standard trailer
A standard articulated trailer has a floor about 13.6 m long and 2.45 m wide, giving 33 Euro pallets or 26 standard pallets on the floor in a single layer, with a payload of around 24 tonnes. Knowing this helps you judge where your consignment sits: three pallets is under a tenth of the floor, sixteen close to half.
| Trailer | Euro pallets (1,200 × 800) | Standard pallets (1,200 × 1,000) | Typical payload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full artic, 13.6 m curtainsider | 33 | 26 | Around 24 tonnes |
| Half trailer, about 6.8 m | 16 to 17 | 13 | Around 12 tonnes |
| Rigid vehicle with tail lift | 8 to 18 | 6 to 14 | 3 to 10 tonnes |
| Reefer trailer | 33 | 26 | Slightly less than a curtainsider |
Decision table: pallets, weight, dimensions, urgency, sensitivity
The pallet count is the first filter, but rarely the last. Weight per pallet, the longest item, the deadline and how the goods tolerate handling all push a consignment one way or the other. Use the table as a starting point: the online price settles small shipments, and a quote request settles the borderline cases.
| Criterion | Groupage at the online price | Part load | Full load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pallets | 1 to 3 | A few to about 16, on quotation | From about a third of the trailer, on quotation |
| Weight | Up to 800 kg per pallet, 2,500 kg taxable in total | Heavier possible with the right equipment | Up to the payload |
| Dimensions | Up to 400 × 240 cm of floor space, 200 cm high | Longer or taller items possible | Anything that fits the trailer |
| Deadline | Network timetable | Agreed within a window | Fixed collection and delivery dates |
| Handling tolerance | Must survive forklifts at several platforms | Loaded and unloaded once | Loaded and unloaded once |
When groupage is the wrong choice
Groupage is wrong whenever repeated handling is itself the risk. A pallet of glass, an unstable machine on a skid, a crate of high-value electronics, a consignment that must be on site at eight on Monday morning: each justifies a dedicated vehicle, because every extra forklift movement is a chance of damage or delay.
- Fragile or unstable: dedicated vehicle, to avoid transhipment.
- Out of gauge: beyond the online limits, on quotation.
- High value: dedicated vehicle plus ad valorem insurance.
- Hazardous or temperature-controlled goods: on quotation, with the right equipment.
- Standard and stackable: groupage at the online price.
When a full load is a waste of money
A full trailer for three standard pallets with a week’s lead time is paying for eleven metres of empty floor. If the goods are robust, the sites have docks and the deadline is realistic, groupage moves them for a fraction of the cost. The same goes for a rigid vehicle booked out of habit when a tail lift would do.
Timing compared: network timetable versus the road
Groupage follows a transport plan: collection, platform, crossing, platform, then delivery, with a delivery time that depends on the region and is never guaranteed. A dedicated vehicle follows the road: its timing comes from the distance, the crossing and the driver’s legal rest periods. For a fixed date and hour, only a dedicated vehicle gives real control.
Chilled and frozen goods: on quotation
Food that must travel chilled or frozen is not covered by the online price. It moves either in temperature-controlled groupage, which shares a reefer between shippers with compatible ranges, or in a dedicated reefer for larger consignments or mixed temperatures. Describe the goods and the temperature range in a quote request: a reply follows in under 2 working hours.
Construction, joinery and long loads
Prefabricated panels, timber frames, windows, doors and steel sections often go beyond what pallet networks accept. Up to 400 × 240 cm of floor space, 200 cm high and 800 kg, a unit can still be priced online; beyond that, it travels on a part load or a full curtainsider, priced on quotation.
How to describe a consignment so the price matches the service
Describe the consignment, not the service you think you want. For the online price, give the size, height and weight of each pallet; for a quote request, add the longest and heaviest item, the goods, the deadline and the access at both sites, and say whether the dates can move. The right service then follows.
- Three pallets of machine parts to an industrial customer near Lyon, no fixed date: groupage at the online price.
- Two crates of 5 m profiles for a building site: part load on quotation, as they exceed the online limits.
- Ten pallets of finished goods to a warehouse in the south of France: part load or full load, quoted side by side.
- A two-tonne machine on a skid delivered at a fixed hour: dedicated vehicle with a crane or reinforced tail lift.
Get a price for groupage or a dedicated vehicle
For 1 to 3 pallets within the limits, the calculator gives the ex-VAT groupage price in 30 seconds, in both directions. For anything larger, the quote request takes pallets or overall dimensions, weight, goods, dates and site constraints, and a member of our team replies in under 2 working hours with a firm price and the service chosen.
Compare groupage and a dedicated vehicle for my shipment
FAQ
- How many pallets before a full load is cheaper than groupage?
- There is no fixed threshold, but from roughly a third of a trailer, or ten to twelve standard pallets, a dedicated vehicle or a part load is often cheaper, and it avoids handling at the platforms. For 1 to 3 pallets, the online groupage price nearly always wins. In between, describe the load in a quote request and both services are priced.
- Can groupage take a 3-metre-long item?
- At the online price, yes, as long as the unit fits within 400 × 240 cm of floor space, stands no more than 200 cm high and weighs no more than 800 kg. Longer, taller or heavier items go on a part load or a dedicated vehicle, priced on quotation, where they are loaded once and unloaded once.
- Is a dedicated vehicle faster from the UK to France?
- Generally yes, because the goods skip the platforms and travel on one vehicle from collection to delivery, with dates agreed with you rather than set by a network timetable. The crossing and customs clearance still apply, so the gain comes mainly from removing the sorting stages and from being able to fix the delivery slot.
- What is a part load?
- A part load takes part of a trailer, with the remaining space filled by one or two other compatible consignments going the same way. The goods go direct, without passing through a platform, at a price below a full trailer. It suits a handful to around sixteen pallets, long items and fragile loads, provided the dates can flex slightly.
- Can I book a full load from Ireland or Malta to France?
- Yes, on quotation. From Ireland, a full or part load crosses on a direct sailing to France and stays inside the EU, with no customs formalities. From Malta, it leaves by ro-ro for Sicily or Genoa and continues by road into France. Describe the loading site, the goods and the date required, and you get a firm price in under 2 working hours.