See How Big an LTL Hub Your Parcel Can Take
Start from one LTL hub terminal that sizes itself to your parcel, with doors on both long sides, a large trailer yard and a perimeter truck loop. You see the building area and dock doors before you commit capital.
How Big an LTL Hub Will Fit My Site?
TestFit is real estate feasibility software that generates site plans on your parcel and calculates what they yield. For a single LTL hub terminal, the answer comes down to three things that are hard to judge from a parcel map.
Parcel length sets the size
With a single terminal, the question is how long it can run. Parcel length and setbacks set the building size and the dock doors that come with it.
How much yard to keep
Linehaul operations stage trailers and tractors between runs. The yard the operation needs comes out of the same land, so it caps how large the terminal and its door count can grow.
Loop on every side
A perimeter truck loop around one terminal and its yard has to clear setbacks on every side, which can trim the building more than a parcel map suggests.
From Your Parcel to a Deal You Can Underwrite
Start from the LTL hub your team would build, tune it to your standards, and finish with one model for the site, plan, tabulation and pro forma.
Your parcel and its constraints
- Site boundary: pick the parcel from built-in parcel data with current owner info, draw it, enter metes and bounds, or import a KML/KMZ file
- Setbacks and frontage: front, side and rear setbacks set to the parcel edges
- Zoning: FAR, building and impervious coverage, height limits and parking ratios, pulled in for your parcel so you don't have to dig through the zoning code
- Easements: areas the layout keeps buildings out of
- Site conditions: flood zones, wetlands and topography from Site Intelligence
Every layout starts inside your site's real constraints.
Your product, fine-tuned on the site
- Product: one 1-story LTL cross-dock terminal, 18 ft clear, flexible size from 120k to 160k sf
- Site layout: dock doors on both long sides, large trailer and tractor yard, perimeter truck loop
- Your edits: building size, docks, trailer yard, parking and circulation
You see the building your team would propose, on your parcel.
A source of truth for the deal
- Site plan geometry: buildings, courts, parking and drives drawn to the parcel
- Tabulation for this product: building sf, dock doors, trailer and car stalls against what's required, site coverage and FAR
- Earthwork: cut and fill for the layout
- Financials: the geometry turned into development costs, revenue and returns
- Shareable results: a link or PDF report for your team, partners and other stakeholders
You know whether the deal works, with numbers to back it.
TestFit is transformational. We've shaved days off of our analysis by using the AI capabilities of this software, which allows us to make smarter decisions faster.
LTL Hub Site Planning FAQ
What is an LTL regional hub?
A less-than-truckload terminal where a carrier transfers freight between regions. It is a long, narrow cross-dock with dock doors on both sides and a large yard for trailers and tractors.
Should I test one flexible hub or several fixed sizes?
This layout sizes one terminal between 120k and 160k sf to fit the site. The Mixed Sizes version tests five set sizes, which suits comparing standard building programs.
How much land does an LTL hub need?
Parcel length matters as much as acreage, since the terminal is long and narrow and the trailer yard and truck loop wrap around it. Load your parcel in TestFit with this layout to see what size hub fits.
How does a flexible building size work?
The layout holds one LTL hub terminal that sizes itself to the parcel, from 120k to 160k sf, with its trailer yard and perimeter truck loop. You can push the building larger after it generates.
Can I change the layout after it generates?
Yes. Start from this layout, then edit the terminal, docks, trailer yard, parking and circulation in TestFit. The site plan and yield recalculate as you go.
Find it in TestFit
Test This Layout on Your Next Industrial Site
Load your parcel and get the site plan, yield, and costs in one place.