Tennessee LTL Freight Rates & Quotes

Shipping less-than-truckload (LTL) freight to or from Tennessee? Rates depend on your specific route, freight class, and how close your pickup or delivery point is to the nearest LTL terminal. Tennessee is a crossroads state: about 7.3 million residents, 1,233 miles of interstate, and Memphis, home to the FedEx World Hub at the busiest cargo airport in North America, a Mississippi River port and five Class I railroads. I-40 crosses the whole state, I-24, I-65, I-75 and I-81 branch off it, and a single bridge crack at Memphis in 2021 cut I-40 across the Mississippi for almost three months. Here’s what actually affects your rate.

LTL trucking regulations in Tennessee

A standard LTL tractor-trailer within legal size and weight limits does not need a permit in Tennessee. Permits matter for oversize or overweight freight, and Tennessee’s rules include a few that surprise shippers:

• Permits come from TDOT. The Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Oversize and Overweight Permit Office issues them through its online system, and annual permits are issued per truck.
• Oversize fees are low. TDOT’s price table lists single-trip permits of $20 for excess width from 8 ft 6 in up to 14 ft, $30 from 14 ft 1 in up to 16 ft, and $30 plus $5 for each additional foot or fraction over 16 ft. Excess length and excess height are $20 each.
• Overweight fees scale with distance and weight. A single-trip overweight permit is $20 plus $0.06 per ton-mile, and annual overweight permits run from $750 for loads up to 100,000 lbs to $3,500 for loads up to 165,000 lbs.
• Most permits allow 24-hour movement. TDOT’s permit FAQ says permits allow movement 24/7 unless the load is a houseboat, mobile home, site-built home, commercial boat or a super load: over 165,000 lbs gross, over 16 ft wide or over 15 ft 6 in high.
• There is a rush-hour curfew in five counties. The FAQ bars oversize and overweight movement that requires escorts of any kind on the interstates from 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, in Davidson (Nashville), Rutherford, Hamilton (Chattanooga), Knox (Knoxville) and Shelby (Memphis) counties.
• Very wide loads need Highway Patrol escorts. Tennessee Highway Patrol escorts are required at 18 ft wide on interstates and federal-aid highways and at 18 ft high on any highway, priced at $65 an hour plus $0.13 a mile with a two-officer minimum.
• No toll roads today. Tennessee has none on its highway network; its first planned toll lanes are optional “Choice Lanes” on I-24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro, and existing lanes are to stay free.

Current permit fees and rules are public record:

TDOT Oversize & Overweight Permit Prices →

What affects your Tennessee LTL rate

• Freight class — density, handling, and liability determine your NMFC class, the single biggest factor in your rate. See our freight class guide.
• Distance — I-40 runs about 455 miles across Tennessee, from the Mississippi River at Memphis to the North Carolina line, so an in-state lane from one end to the other is a long haul.
• Metro vs. rural — Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville are well served by carriers, while the rural Cumberland Plateau, the Tennessee River valley and the far northeast typically see fewer terminals and options.
• Terminal proximity — the more carrier terminals near your pickup or delivery point, the more quotes you see.
• Accessorials — liftgate, residential, or inside delivery add to the base rate, same as anywhere else.

Did you know?From 6 real Tennessee lanes and 30 quotes

1. 5× the cost per mile

   A short, light shipment cost more per mile than a long, heavy one

   A 52 lb shipment moving 586 miles (Nashville, TN to New Kensington, PA) had a lowest quote of $523, or $0.89 a mile. A 300 lb shipment moving 1,878 miles (Union City, TN to Monrovia, CA) had a lowest quote of $348, or $0.19 a mile.

2. $488 to arrive 3 days sooner

   Speed has a price

   On Nashville, TN to New Kensington, PA (586 miles, 52 lb), the cheapest quote at $523 took 5 days. The fastest, at 2 days, cost $1,011. On Puyallup, WA to Nashville, TN, 4-day delivery cost $594 against $505 for 5 days.

3. 6 carriers had the lowest quote

   Six different carriers won six Tennessee lanes

   AAA Cooper, ABF Freight, Central Transport, Southeastern, Warp, and XPO each had the lowest quote on one lane. Across the lowest quotes on every lane, 13 different carriers appeared.

4. $572 from lowest to fifth-lowest

   Same shipment, quotes $572 apart

   For 52 lb from Nashville, TN to New Kensington, PA (586 miles), the lowest quote was $523 and the fifth-lowest was $1,095, a 109% gap. On Portland, TN to Fort Worth, TX, all five quotes landed within $41 of each other.

Get quotes for your lane →

Where freight moves in Tennessee

Tennessee’s freight geography follows its three grand divisions and its interstates:

• Memphis & West Tennessee — the FedEx World Hub, the Port of Memphis, five Class I railroads, and I-40, I-55 and the I-240 and I-269 loops.
• Nashville & Middle Tennessee — where I-24, I-40 and I-65 meet, with automotive plants including Nissan in Smyrna and General Motors in Spring Hill.
• Chattanooga & Southeast Tennessee — I-24 and I-75 near the Georgia line, and Volkswagen’s assembly plant.
• Knoxville & East Tennessee — the junction of I-40, I-75 and I-81, with I-40 running east to North Carolina and I-81 northeast toward Virginia.
• Rural Tennessee — the Cumberland Plateau and the northeast corner are reached by long runs from the metro terminals.

Weather and transit reliability

Tennessee’s reliability problems tend to come from bridges, rivers and ice. On May 11, 2021, inspectors found a crack in a steel beam of the I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis and closed it to all traffic; vehicles were sent to the I-55 bridge about three miles away, and the eastbound lanes reopened on July 31 and the westbound lanes on August 2, according to news reports. Winter weather can stop the state too: Gov. Bill Lee declared a state of emergency on January 22, 2026, ahead of a major winter storm, and the ice storm of January 24 to 25 was described as the most significant ice event in decades in Middle Tennessee. For LTL shippers the practical advice is simple: during winter weather, and any time a major river crossing is restricted, build extra transit time into anything headed to or through Tennessee.

Sample Tennessee LTL rates by route

Real quotes pulled from our platform for six different Tennessee lanes — same process, different carriers each time, spanning a range of weights and distances. Rates shift with capacity and fuel costs, so treat these as a snapshot rather than a guarantee for your shipment; get an instant quote for your exact route.

Rate, transit, and price-per-mile summary

Pulling the six lanes above together, a 52 lb shipment to Pennsylvania stands out from everything else in the data:

Route	Distance	Weight	Price range	Transit range	Price per mile
Nashville, TN → New Kensington, PA	586 mi	52 lb	$523–$1,095	2–5 days	$0.89–$1.87
Portland, TN → Fort Worth, TX	734 mi	118 lb	$438–$479	2–3 days	$0.60–$0.65
Saint Petersburg, FL → Columbia, TN	745 mi	35 lb	$532–$586	2–3 days	$0.71–$0.79
North Mankato, MN → Murfreesboro, TN	877 mi	670 lb	$338–$438	2–6 days	$0.39–$0.50
Union City, TN → Monrovia, CA	1,878 mi	300 lb	$348–$407	4–5 days	$0.19–$0.22
Puyallup, WA → Nashville, TN	2,401 mi	246 lb	$505–$645	4–5 days	$0.21–$0.27

Nashville to New Kensington, Pennsylvania (586 miles, 52 lb) is the outlier. ABF Freight quoted $522.74 on 5-day service, while the next four quotes, all 2-day service from Estes, R+L Carriers, XPO and Dayton Freight, ran $1,010.84–$1,094.85, so the next-lowest quote cost $488.10 (about 93%) more, or roughly $162.70 for each of the 3 days saved. That 109% spread is the widest in the set and pushes the lane to $0.89–$1.87 per mile. Weight did little to set the price. The 670 lb shipment from North Mankato, Minnesota to Murfreesboro (877 miles) quoted $338.20–$437.54, and even its most expensive quote was $94.70 below the cheapest quote on the 35 lb shipment from Saint Petersburg, Florida to Columbia ($532.24–$586.01 over 745 miles). On the heavy lane, Central Transport’s 2-day $338.20 was the lowest, and FedEx Freight Economy’s 6-day quote cost $89.77 more. Portland to Fort Worth was the tightest lane: all five quotes fell within $41.41 ($437.78–$479.19), with AAA Cooper Transportation and Roadrunner Freight just $3.30 apart. The two longest hauls were the cheapest per mile: Union City, Tennessee to Monrovia, California (1,878 miles) at $0.19–$0.22, and Puyallup, Washington to Nashville (2,401 miles) at $0.21–$0.27, where Warp’s 5-day $504.77 was $78.89 below the next 5-day quote, from Estes. The lesson is the same on every lane: compare several carriers before you book.

Major shipping hubs in Tennessee

Tennessee’s freight moves through an air-cargo superhub, a river port, five railroads and three other metro areas:

• Memphis International Airport and the FedEx World Hub — Airports Council International ranked Memphis third in the world for cargo in 2024, with about 3.75 million metric tons, and the busiest cargo airport in North America.
• Port of Memphis — the second-largest inland port on the shallow-draft Mississippi River and the sixth-largest in the U.S., with 68 waterfront facilities, 37 of them terminals, over 15 river miles, and ice-free year-round operation.
• Memphis rail — served by five Class I railroads: BNSF, CSX, Canadian National, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.
• Nashville — the meeting point of I-24, I-40 and I-65, with Middle Tennessee’s auto plants nearby.
• Chattanooga and Knoxville — I-24 and I-75 in the southeast, and I-40, I-75 and I-81 in the east.

Highway corridors serving Tennessee

I-40 (about 455 miles in Tennessee) is the state’s longest interstate, running from the Mississippi River at Memphis through Nashville and Knoxville to North Carolina. I-24 (about 180 miles) links Nashville and Chattanooga and continues toward Clarksville and Kentucky. I-75 (about 162 miles) runs from the Georgia line through Chattanooga and Knoxville to Kentucky, and I-65 (about 122 miles) crosses Middle Tennessee through Nashville. I-81 (about 76 miles) runs northeast from Knoxville toward Virginia, and I-55 (about 12 miles) covers the Memphis area on its way to Arkansas and Mississippi.

Memphis and its two Mississippi River bridges

Memphis is where I-40 and I-55 each cross the Mississippi River into Arkansas, so freight moving east and west through the middle of the country funnels through two bridges. The 2021 Hernando de Soto Bridge closure showed what happens when one is lost: vehicles were rerouted to the I-55 bridge about three miles away, with delays across the surrounding highway network.

What Tennessee shippers move

Tennessee’s freight is shaped by electronics, vehicles, chemicals and distribution. The state exported $37.8 billion of goods in 2025, the 19th-largest total among the states, led by $9.3 billion of computer and electronic products, followed by $5.1 billion of transportation equipment, $4.9 billion of miscellaneous manufactured commodities, $4.9 billion of chemicals and $2.6 billion of machinery. Canada was the biggest market at $6.5 billion, followed by Mexico at $6.1 billion, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Memphis’s role as a parcel and distribution hub adds a steady flow of e-commerce and replacement-parts freight. Much of this moves in full truckloads, by rail or by barge, but the parts, tools, supplies and finished goods around these industries are where LTL fits.

Tennessee LTL freight: frequently asked questions

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