Overview

Amazon has introduced a less‑than‑truckload (LTL) inbound option for sellers who ship palletized stock to its German fulfillment centers. The service, now live for collection points within 200 km of the DTM8 hub, lets merchants share truck space instead of paying for a full‑truckload or expensive parcel rates. Sellers aiming to cut inbound freight costs and improve inventory flow in Europe should assess the new tool immediately.

Key Points

• Geographic eligibility — Only collection sites located up to 200 km from the DTM8 warehouse in North Rhine‑Westphalia can book LTL shipments.
• Fast pickup window — Orders placed before 2 p.m. are eligible for next‑business‑day truck collection, giving a turnaround of roughly 24 hours.
• Multiple destination hubs — The LTL service routes pallets to four major German fulfillment centers: PRG2, DTM1, DTM2 and HAJ1.
• Unified carrier dashboard — LTL bookings appear alongside full‑truckload (FTL) orders in the existing Amazon carrier‑booking interface, so sellers use a single screen for all inbound freight.
• Late‑stage edit window — Weight, pallet count, or packaging type can be altered up to two hours before the scheduled pickup without canceling the order.
• Pilot‑phase rollout — Amazon is limiting the program to the DTM8 radius as a controlled test before potentially expanding across Germany and the wider EU network.

How LTL Shipping Works

1. Create a shipment request — In the carrier‑booking portal, the seller selects “LTL” as the mode, enters the pallet dimensions and weight, and chooses one of the supported destination centers. Example: A seller with 12 pallets of 250 kg each selects PRG2 as the destination.
2. Amazon matches shared‑truck capacity – The system groups the request with other nearby sellers’ loads that fit the same route, forming a partially‑filled trailer. Example: The seller’s 12 pallets are combined with another vendor’s 8 pallets to create a 20‑pallet load.