LTL (Less Than Truckload) APIs
Determine the carrier ship method that meets your LTL shipping needs and compare costs with Shipium's LTL APIs.
About the Less Than Truckload APIs
Shipium's LTL APIs provide a convenient method for your organization to plan for the transport of LTL shipments.
LTL Shipment Cost API
The LTL Shipment Cost API enables you to determine the best carrier and service method for an LTL shipment. You can use this API to:
LTL Shipment Cost Compare API
The LTL Shipment Cost Compare API helps you determine if transporting a shipment via small package shipping or LTL shipping would be more cost effective. With this API you can:
- Compare LTL and small package shipping costs
- Retrieve existing LTL and small package shipment cost comparison information
LTL accessorial codes
LTL accessorial codes let you request additional services alongside an LTL shipment quote, such as liftgate delivery, residential pickup, or hazmat handling. You'll pass supported codes in the accessorialCodes field on your LTL request.
Pickup vs. destination applicability
Many LTL accessorial services apply at either pickup or destination, but not both. These services are represented as distinct codes in Shipium's LTL APIs. For example, airport service has separate codes for pickup (AIRP) and delivery (AIRD). If a shipment needs a service at both ends, you'll need to request both codes.
Carrier support
Accessorial codes are universal across Shipium's LTL carriers, but individual carriers may not support every code. When you request an accessorial a carrier doesn't support, that carrier is excluded from the rate comparison.
Supported accessorial codes
| Code | Service | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| AIRD | Airport Delivery | Destination |
| AIRP | Airport Pickup | Pickup |
| APTD | Appointment Required at Delivery | Destination |
| APTP | Appointment Required at Pickup | Pickup |
| CFSD | Container Freight Station Delivery | Destination |
| CFSP | Container Freight Station Pickup | Pickup |
| COD | Collect on Delivery | Destination |
| FSC | Fuel Surcharge. Calculated by the carrier based on current fuel index and shipment weight/distance. Customers do not need to request FSC manually to see it in the rate breakdown. | Both |
| GTD | Guaranteed Service | Both |
| HAZ | Hazardous Material | Both |
| HCDA | High Cost Delivery Area | Destination |
| HCPA | High Cost Pickup Area | Pickup |
| INS | Additional Insurance Excess Value | Both |
| LTDAD | Limited Access Delivery | Destination |
| LTDAP | Limited Access Pickup | Pickup |
| MISC | Miscellaneous Charge. A catch-all for carrier-specific surcharges that do not map to a standard accessorial code, such as ferry fees or unique security clearing fees. | Both |
| MNC | Must Notify Consignee | Destination |
| OVR | Over Dimension or Excessive Length | Both |
| PPD | Perishables Food | Both |
| PSN | Poisonous Material | Both |
| REP | Residential Pickup | Pickup |
| RES | Residential Delivery | Destination |
| SLTDAD | Secured Limited Access Delivery | Destination |
| SLTDAP | Secured Limited Access Pickup | Pickup |
| SS | Single Shipment | Both |
| WGDL | White Glove Delivery | Destination |
| WGDU | White Glove Pickup | Pickup |
Accessorials with additional request requirements
Some accessorial codes require additional fields on the LTL request:
- HAZ (Hazardous Material). When requesting HAZ, include a
hazmatContactin the request to identify the emergency contact for the hazmat shipment. - COD (Collect on Delivery). When requesting COD, include a
collectOnDeliverycurrency amount in the shipment parameters to specify the amount to collect.
How accessorial codes affect carrier selection
When you request one or more accessorial codes on an LTL Shipment Cost or LTL Shipment Cost Compare request, Shipium uses those codes as a filter against the eligible carrier set before rating. Carriers that don't support every requested accessorial are excluded from rating and won't appear in the response.
Filtering happens before rating
Shipium builds the eligible carrier set from your contracts and fulfillment context, then applies accessorial filtering. Only carriers that support all requested accessorial codes proceed to rating. Carriers excluded at this stage are not surfaced in the response, even when includeEvaluatedServiceMethodsInResponse is set to true. That flag returns carriers that reached rating but were not selected; it does not include carriers that were filtered out before rating.
When all carriers are excluded
If accessorial filtering excludes every eligible carrier, the request returns an HTTP error (400 or 500) rather than a successful response with empty LTL details. This applies to both endpoints:
- On the LTL Shipment Cost API, the request fails.
- On the LTL Shipment Cost Compare API, the request fails even if parcel pricing would have succeeded. A Cost Compare request requires at least one eligible LTL carrier to complete; if filtering removes all of them, the request errors out regardless of parcel availability.
Troubleshooting unexpected exclusions
If you receive an HTTP error from an LTL request and suspect accessorial filtering as the cause:
- Verify that your requested accessorial codes are supported by at least one of your LTL carriers. Accessorial codes are standardized across Shipium's LTL carriers, but individual carriers may not support every code. The full list of supported codes is provided in the table above.
- Remove the accessorial code and retry to confirm whether it's the cause of the exclusion. If the request succeeds without the code, the carrier set you have configured does not support that accessorial.
- Contact your Shipium team member if you need a specific accessorial supported and are unsure which carriers in your account offer it.
Resources
Your Shipium team member is available to help along the way. However, you might find these resources helpful: