Consolidated load
One vehicle carrying goods from several orders or several suppliers, so each pays part of a full load rather than the whole of a small one.
Also called: mixed load, groupage
Freight below a full trailer is priced badly: a quarter-load rarely costs a quarter. Consolidation is how that is avoided — the forwarder combines consignments travelling the same route and each shipper pays for the space it uses.
For packaging it matters most below about eight pallets per specification, where part-load freight can move the landed cost more than the price per kilo does. Whether it is available depends on the plant’s despatch schedule and the forwarder’s lanes, so it is a question for the quotation rather than an assumption.