---
title: "Pincode-to-pincode transit in India: how many days distance really takes · SSL"
description: "Measured on 142,270 delivered road consignments, a full truck covered about 300 km per calendar day door to door, while a part-truckload parcel averaged…"
url: https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/
canonical: https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/
updated: 2026-11-11
lang: en-IN
publisher: Safe & Secure Logistics Private Limited
---

SSL Research · September 2026

# Pincode-to-pincode transit in India: how many days distance really takes

Measured on 142,270 delivered road consignments, a full truck covered about 300 km per calendar day door to door, while a part-truckload parcel averaged 110-150 km per day on long lanes because of hub consolidation.

**By**: SSL Research Desk

**Published**: September 2026

**Charts**: 3, each with its table

## The numbers

- A **full truck** covered about **270-335 km per calendar day**, door to door, on lanes over 500 km. The median was 2 days for 500-999 km, 4 days for 1,000-1,499 km and 6 days for 1,500-1,999 km.
- A **part-truckload** consignment on 1,000-1,999 km lanes had a median of **11-12 days**, an effective **110-150 km per day**. Only about 25% arrived within 7 days.

“How long will it take?” is the first question on every freight enquiry. The honest answer depends on distance, on whether you book a whole truck or a share of one. This note turns those variables into benchmarks, using 142,270 road consignments that Safe & Secure Logistics (SSL) booked in FY2025-26 and recorded as delivered.

## Transit by distance

| Mode | Lane length | Delivered CNs | Median km | Median days | p75 days | p90 days | Effective km/day |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FTL | 0-49 km | 18,280 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | n/a |
| FTL | 50-249 km | 12,072 | 177 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 177 |
| FTL | 250-499 km | 22,958 | 286 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 286 |
| FTL | 500-999 km | 14,520 | 619 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 310 |
| FTL | 1,000-1,499 km | 7,477 | 1,341 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 335 |
| FTL | 1,500-1,999 km | 7,852 | 1,640 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 273 |
| FTL | 2,000 km + | 914 | 2,098 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 300 |
| PTL | 50-249 km | 408 | 246 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 246 |
| PTL | 250-499 km | 1,054 | 346 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 173 |
| PTL | 500-999 km | 172 | 822 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 117 |
| PTL | 1,000-1,499 km | 30,400 | 1,324 | 12 | 20 | 33 | 110 |
| PTL | 1,500-1,999 km | 25,857 | 1,627 | 11 | 19 | 33 | 148 |

Chart 1 Median transit days by lane length

- FTL · Median days
- PTL · Median days

**Show the data table (13 rows)**

| Mode | Km band | Median km | Median days |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FTL | 0-49 | 7 | 1 |
| FTL | 50-249 | 177 | 1 |
| FTL | 250-499 | 286 | 1 |
| FTL | 500-999 | 619 | 2 |
| FTL | 1000-1499 | 1,341 | 4 |
| FTL | 1500-1999 | 1,640 | 6 |
| FTL | 2000+ | 2,098 | 7 |
| PTL | 0-49 | 35 | 2 |
| PTL | 50-249 | 246 | 1 |
| PTL | 250-499 | 346 | 2 |
| PTL | 500-999 | 822 | 7 |
| PTL | 1000-1499 | 1,324 | 12 |
| PTL | 1500-1999 | 1,627 | 11 |

Source: SSL Research Desk, Safe & Secure Logistics operating data. [Download CSV (13 rows)](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/by_distance.csv)

## Finding 1: a truck does about 300 km a day; a parcel does about 130

The FTL rows give a clean rule of thumb. Once lanes pass 500 km, door-to-door transit settles at **about 300 km per calendar day**. That covers loading, driving, rest stops, border and toll queues, and unloading. It sits well below the 500 km/day a truck can drive on a good highway day, and it is the right planning number for Indian road freight.

Part-truckload moves at less than half that speed on long lanes. It needs a pickup, a first-mile hub, consolidation until a line-haul truck is full, a destination hub and a last-mile delivery. Each touch adds a day or more. On 1,000-1,999 km lanes the median PTL consignment took 11-12 days. At the 90th percentile it took 33 days, which in part reflects parcels waiting at a destination godown for the consignee to collect them.

**Share of PTL consignments delivered within:**

| Lane length | 2 days | 4 days | 7 days | Over 10 days |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0-49 km | 53.0% | 77.0% | 86.1% | 10.1% |
| 50-249 km | 68.1% | 86.8% | 90.9% | 5.6% |
| 250-499 km | 66.2% | 88.0% | 96.2% | 1.6% |
| 500-999 km | 13.4% | 32.0% | 52.9% | 32.0% |
| 1,000-1,499 km | 0.2% | 4.6% | 25.6% | 55.7% |
| 1,500-1,999 km | 0.0% | 1.3% | 24.5% | 53.6% |

The break sits at about 500 km. Below it, PTL behaves like a next-day or two-day service. Above it, PTL transit is set by consolidation cycles, not by distance.

Chart 2 Part-load delivery speed by lane length

**Show the data table (6 rows)**

| Km band | Within 2d % | Within 4d % | Within 7d % | Over 10d % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 0-49 | 53 | 77 | 86.1 | 10.1 |
| 50-249 | 68.1 | 86.8 | 90.9 | 5.6 |
| 250-499 | 66.2 | 88 | 96.2 | 1.6 |
| 500-999 | 13.4 | 32 | 52.9 | 32 |
| 1000-1499 | 0.2 | 4.6 | 25.6 | 55.7 |
| 1500-1999 | 0 | 1.3 | 24.5 | 53.6 |

Source: SSL Research Desk, Safe & Secure Logistics operating data. [Download CSV (6 rows)](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/ptl_days_distribution.csv)

## Busiest pincode-to-pincode pairs (PTL)

| Pickup pincode | Delivery pincode | Lane | Est. km | Delivered CNs | Median days | p90 days | Median kg |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 410501 | 226001 | Pune → Lucknow | 1,411 | 3,752 | 10 | 30 | 200 |
| 121003 | 831007 | Faridabad → Jamshedpur | 1,295 | 3,187 | 12 | 33 | 191 |
| 410501 | 831001 | Pune → Jamshedpur (Jugsalai) | 1,627 | 2,987 | 9 | 32 | 258 |
| 410501 | 832108 | Pune → Jamshedpur area | 1,627 | 2,482 | 9 | 32 | 275 |
| 412216 | 831001 | Pune → Jamshedpur (Jugsalai) | 1,627 | 1,794 | 13 | 27 | 380 |
| 121102 | 831007 | Faridabad → Jamshedpur | 1,295 | 1,659 | 14 | 43 | 191 |
| 141003 | 831010 | Ludhiana → Jamshedpur | 1,622 | 1,027 | 15 | 43 | 280 |
| 396191 | 831001 | Vapi → Jamshedpur (Jugsalai) | 1,665 | 526 | 10 | 26 | 285 |
| 600001 | 560001 | Chennai → Bangalore | 346 | 439 | 1 | 3 | 1,500 |
| 400003 | 831001 | Mumbai → Jamshedpur (Jugsalai) | 1,715 | 353 | 9 | 15 | 225 |

Thirty pairs with at least 100 delivered consignments each are in the chart data. The same distance can carry very different service: Faridabad → Jamshedpur lanes run at a p90 of 33-43 days, while Mumbai → Jugsalai, at 1,715 km, runs at a p90 of 15 days. Lane-level service, not distance, is what a shipper should ask a carrier to prove.

Chart 3 Busiest pincode pairs: transit and cost

**The table (30 rows)**

| Pickup pincode | Delivery pincode | Origin city | Destination city | Origin state | Destination state | Road km est | Delivered consignments | Median days | P90 days | Median kg |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 410501 | 226001 | Pune | Lucknow | MAHARASHTRA | UTTAR PRADESH | 1,411 | 3,752 | 10 | 30 | 200 |
| 121003 | 831007 | Faridabad | Jamshedpur | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,295 | 3,187 | 12 | 33 | 191 |
| 410501 | 831001 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 2,987 | 9 | 32 | 258 |
| 410501 | 832108 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 2,482 | 9 | 32 | 275 |
| 412216 | 831001 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 1,794 | 13 | 27 | 380 |
| 412216 | 832108 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 1,737 | 11 | 20 | 412 |
| 121102 | 831007 | Faridabad | Jamshedpur | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,295 | 1,659 | 14 | 43 | 191 |
| 121004 | 831004 | Faridabad | Jamshedpur | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,293 | 1,196 | 14 | 44 | 95 |
| 410501 | 832109 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 1,131 | 14 | 33 | 238 |
| 412216 | 226001 | Pune | Lucknow | MAHARASHTRA | UTTAR PRADESH | 1,411 | 1,061 | 10 | 24 | 200 |
| 141003 | 831010 | Ludhiana | Jamshedpur | PUNJAB | JHARKHAND | 1,622 | 1,027 | 15 | 43 | 280 |
| 121004 | 831010 | Faridabad | Jamshedpur | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,293 | 853 | 11 | 35 | 920 |
| 411001 | 831001 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 840 | 9 | 24 | 420 |
| 411001 | 832109 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 766 | 19 | 40 | 258 |
| 141003 | 831006 | Ludhiana | Jugsalai | PUNJAB | JHARKHAND | 1,624 | 763 | 10 | 38 | 332 |
| 121004 | 832109 | Faridabad | Jugsalai | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,295 | 712 | 7 | 11 | 150 |
| 121004 | 831007 | Faridabad | Jamshedpur | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,293 | 558 | 14 | 34 | 140 |
| 396191 | 831001 | Vapi | Jugsalai | GUJARAT | JHARKHAND | 1,665 | 526 | 10 | 26 | 285 |
| 600001 | 560001 | Chennai | Bangalore | TAMIL NADU | KARNATAKA | 346 | 439 | 1 | 3 | 1,500 |
| 226019 | 121105 | Lucknow | Palwal | UTTAR PRADESH | HARYANA | 467 | 361 | 2 | 5 | 600 |
| 400003 | 831001 | Mumbai | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,715 | 353 | 9 | 15 | 225 |
| 410203 | 831001 | Bhiwandi | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,685 | 347 | 25 | 49 | 440 |
| 121004 | 831007 | Faridabad | Jugsalai | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,295 | 340 | 13 | 42 | 166 |
| 411001 | 226001 | Pune | Lucknow | MAHARASHTRA | UTTAR PRADESH | 1,411 | 337 | 11 | 33 | 221 |
| 121004 | 831010 | Faridabad | Jugsalai | HARYANA | JHARKHAND | 1,295 | 331 | 14 | 41 | 250 |
| 410501 | 831006 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 302 | 32 | 52 | 309 |
| 410506 | 226001 | Pune | Lucknow | MAHARASHTRA | UTTAR PRADESH | 1,411 | 281 | 16 | 26 | 80 |
| 141003 | 832109 | Ludhiana | Jugsalai | PUNJAB | JHARKHAND | 1,624 | 280 | 7 | 11 | 1,318 |
| 410203 | 832108 | Pune | Jugsalai | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,627 | 280 | 16 | 40 | 600 |
| 410203 | 831001 | Bhiwandi | Jamshedpur | MAHARASHTRA | JHARKHAND | 1,685 | 258 | 23 | 47 | 750 |

Source: SSL Research Desk, Safe & Secure Logistics operating data. [Download CSV (30 rows)](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/pincode_pairs.csv)

## What this means

- **Planning rule:** for FTL, allow 1 day per 300 km plus a day. For PTL over 500 km, plan on about 2 weeks and ask for the lane’s p90, not its median.
- **For analysts:** India’s PTL speed problem is a hub and consolidation problem, not a highway problem. Trucks already move at about 300 km/day. Parcels do not.

## Quotable findings

Free to quote with attribution to Safe & Secure Logistics (SSL Research Desk).

1. > Full-truckload road freight in India covered about 300 km per calendar day door to door on lanes over 500 km in FY2025-26, according to 142,270 delivered consignments analysed by the Safe & Secure Logistics Research Desk.
2. > Part-truckload consignments on Indian road lanes of 1,000-1,999 km took a median 11-12 days in FY2025-26, and only about 25% arrived within a week (Safe & Secure Logistics, 2026).

## Methodology and limitations

### Data

SSL consignment register FY2025-26: 142,270 consignments with status DELIVERED, a recorded delivery date within 60 days of booking and a resolved lane distance (84,073 FTL, 58,193 PTL); 128,200 of them have both pickup and delivery pincodes. Chart data: data/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost.json

### Method

Transit = recorded delivery date minus booking date, in calendar days. Distance = booking-branch city to destination city, great-circle km × 1.19. Pincode pairs use the 6-digit pickup and delivery pincodes, PTL only, with at least 100 delivered CNs.

### Limitations

Only 31% of consignments have a recorded delivery date, and the delivered PTL sample is concentrated on industrial lanes into Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, so it is not a random sample of all parcels. The recorded delivery date may include time waiting at a destination godown for consignee collection, which inflates the long tail (p90). Distance is estimated from city centroids, not routed.

**Full data-quality notes**

- **Sample.** Of 513,216 consignments (de-duplicated), 158,348 have status DELIVERED with a delivery date. 3,783 of those had transit over 60 days and are excluded as probable late data entry, and a few more lack a resolvable city. That leaves 142,270. PTL delivery-date capture is far lower than FTL, and it is concentrated on engineering-parcel lanes into Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
- **Transit.** Calendar days from booking to the recorded delivery date. It includes weekends, festival closures and godown dwell before collection.
- **Distance.** City-level (booking branch to destination), not true pincode-to-pincode road distance. Pincodes are used to define pairs, not to measure distance.
- No shipper, consignee, vehicle or driver information is used. Pincodes are published only as area codes for pairs with at least 100 consignments.

Full SQL: available to researchers on request. Chart data: [`data/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost.json`](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/data.json).

Privacy: no customer, consignor, consignee, supplier, broker, driver or vehicle is identified. Places are city-level.

## Download the data

- [Everything, JSON chart specs + 4 datasets](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/data.json)
- [scope.csv 1 rows](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/scope.csv)
- [by\_distance.csv 13 rows](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/by_distance.csv)
- [ptl\_days\_distribution.csv 6 rows](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/ptl_days_distribution.csv)
- [pincode\_pairs.csv 30 rows](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/pincode_pairs.csv)

Licence: free to quote and chart with attribution to Safe & Secure Logistics (SSL Research Desk).

## How to cite

**APA:** SSL Research Desk. (2026, September). *Pincode-to-pincode transit in India: How many days distance really takes* (Research note). Safe & Secure Logistics. [https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/](https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/)

**Plain:** Source: Safe & Secure Logistics (SSL Research Desk), transit by distance, 142,270 delivered road consignments, FY2025-26.

Need a cut of this data for your lanes?

The Research Desk shares lane-level cuts on request, under the same privacy rules.

[Ask the Research Desk](https://safeandsecure.in/contact/) [Get a freight quote](https://safeandsecure.in/ship/quote/)

---

Source: https://safeandsecure.in/research/pincode-to-pincode-transit-distance-cost/ (the HTML page is the record; this markdown twin was generated from it on 2026-11-11). Publisher: Safe & Secure Logistics Private Limited, https://safeandsecure.in/. Figures and their periods: https://safeandsecure.in/facts/