Fill out the Form Below to Get the Flyer to Calculate Freight Class Emailed To You
In this article we are covering what is freight class and how to calculate freight class for one of the 18 traditional freight classes or the 11 density-based freight classes further in the page below.
You may download a printable freight class flyer & Shipment Density Calculator Tool by filling out the form to the left to have handy at your desk as you prepare your shipments for pick up and need to create a bill of lading.
Role of Freight Class in LTL Shipping
Determining your shipment’s freight class is a vital step to effectively managing LTL freight as it is a big factor in determining your freight hard costs, but also is a very important factor when it comes to dealing with any possible freight claims.
Additionally, the most common problems we hear in the consultation portion of sales calls at Cerasis are often related to not understanding what freight class to choose. As a 3PL, we often hear things like, “Well I just pick Class 55 for all my freight. It’s just what I have always done.” What the customer is not understanding is hurting them in the long run. The shipper may save money on the freight shipment by picking a lower class, but then time is wasted when the carrier reclasses and the invoice doesn’t match the expected costs, making a traffic manager seem ineffective.
A little education, especially when it comes to freight class, can really help you save not only money but time, resources, and, most importantly, avoid delays in getting freight inbound or outbound to your customer.
What is a Freight Class?
Freight classes are designed to help you get common standardized freight pricing for your shipment when working with different carriers, warehouses and brokers. Freight classes are defined by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) and made available through the NMFC or National Motor Freight Classification.
Looking to Reduce Costs on LTL Freight Shipping?
In the United States, each commodity or type of product is assigned a National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) and corresponding class for less than truckload (LTL) freight shipments. The (NMFC) system is a standardized method designed to give consumers a uniform pricing structure when transporting freight. There are 11 classes that a shipped package may fall under with class 60 being the least expensive, to class 400 as the most expensive. The number assigned to an item is important to LTL carriers in determining the tariffs, which in turn determine the price charged to the customer.
Factors on How to Calculate Freight Class
Before you determine your freight class for your shipment, you must identify certain factors about your specific freight. Freight class is based on weight, length and height, density, ease of handling, value and liability from things like theft, damage, break-ability and spoilage.. The definitions for each are as follows:
- (Weight, Length, Height) Density and Value: Density guidelines assign classification 50 to freight that weighs 50 pounds per cubic foot. The Commodity Classification Standards Board (CCSB) assigns classifications 70, 92.5, 175 and 400 to freight with densities of 15, 10.5, 5, and 1 pound per cubic foot, respectively. Freight less dense than 1 pound per cubic foot is classified as 500. The density is the space the item occupies in relation to its weight. The density is calculated by dividing the weight of the item in pounds by its volume in cubic feet. Your item’s volume in cubic feet is Length x Width x Height/1,728, where all dimensions are measured in inches. The density of your item = Weight/Volume, where Weight is measured in pounds and Volume is measured in cubic feet.
- Stow-ability: Most freight stows well in trucks, trains and boats, but some articles are regulated by the government or carrier policies. Some items cannot be loaded together. Hazardous materials are transported in specific manners. Excessive weight, length or protrusions can make freight impossible to load with other freight. The absence of load-bearing surfaces makes freight impossible to stack. A quantifiable stow-ability classification represents the difficulty in loading and carrying these items.
- Handling: Most freight is loaded with mechanical equipment and poses no handling difficulties, but some freight, due to weight, shape, fragility or hazardous properties, requires special attention. A classification that represents ease or difficulty of loading and carrying the freight is assigned to the items.
- Liability: Liability is probability of freight theft or damage, or damage to adjacent freight. Perishable cargo or cargo prone to spontaneous combustion or explosion is classified based on liability and assigned a value per pound, which is a fraction of the carrier’s liability. When classification is based on liability, density must also be considered.
What are the 18 Different Types of Freight Class?
| Class Name | Cost | Notes, Examples | Weight Range Per Cubic Foot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class 50 – Clean Freight | Lowest Cost | Fits on standard shrink-wrapped 4X4 pallet, very durable | over 50 lbs |
| Class 55 | Bricks, cement, mortar, hardwood flooring | 35-50 pounds | |
| Class 60 | Car accessories & car parts | 30-35 pounds | |
| Class 65 | Car accessories & car parts, bottled beverages, books in boxes | 22.5-30 pounds | |
| Class 70 | Car accessories & car parts, food items, automobile engines | 15 to 22.5 pounds | |
| Class 77.5 | Tires, bathroom fixtures | 13.5 to 15 pounds | |
| Class 85 | Crated machinery, cast iron stoves | 12-13.5 pounds | |
| Class 92.5 | Computers, monitors, refrigerators | 10.5-12 pounds | |
| Class 100 | boat covers, car covers, canvas, wine cases, caskets | 9-10.5 pounds | |
| Class 110 | cabinets, framed artwork, table saw | 8-9 pounds | |
| Class 125 | Small Household appliances | 7-8 pounds | |
| Class 150 | Auto sheet metal parts, bookcases, | 6-7 pounds | |
| Class 175 | Clothing, couches stuffed furniture | 5-6 pounds | |
| Class 200 | Auto sheet metal parts, aircraft parts, aluminum table, packaged mattresses, | 4-5 pounds | |
| Class 250 | Bamboo furniture, mattress and box spring, plasma TV | 3-4 pounds | |
| Class 300 | wood cabinets, tables, chairs setup, model boats | 2-3 pounds | |
| Class 400 | Deer antlers | 1-2 pounds | |
| Class 500 – Low Density or High Value | Highest Cost | Bags of gold dust, ping pong balls | Less than 1 lbs. |
How about True Density Based Class?
The NMFTA, on 8/5/2017 changed classification for true density based items.
Absent any unusual or significant handling, stowability or liability characteristics, density is of prime importance in the assignment of classes. The CCSB has developed density guidelines that are based on the precedent of pertinent administrative as well as classification decisions. The present guidelines are attached hereto.
The density guidelines are used in the assignment of classes where the average density of a particular commodity or group of commodities is representative or reflective of the range of densities exhibited by that commodity or commodity group. Furthermore, the density/class relationships set forth in the guidelines presume that there are no unusual or significant handling, stowability or liability characteristics, which would call for giving those characteristics additional or different “weight” in determining the appropriate class.
Commodities or commodity groups exhibiting a wide density range not accurately reflected by a single overall average density may be assigned density-based classes; especially where there are no unusual or significant handling, stowability or liability characteristics and where there is no other feasible means of effectively narrowing the range. And where densities are distributed throughout the range, commodities or commodity groups may be assigned classes predicated on a full density scale. In this regard, full-scale density classifications should generally provide the following standard progression:
| Class | Examples | Weight Per Cubic Foot |
|---|---|---|
| Class 60 | Fits on standard shrink-wrapped 4X4 pallet, very durable | Over 30 lbs |
| Class 65 | Car accessories & car parts, bottled beverages, books in boxes | 22.5 – 30 lbs |
| Class 70 | Car accessories & car parts, food items, automobile engines | 15 – 22.5 lbs |
| Class 85 | Crated machinery, cast iron stoves | 12 – 15 lbs |
| Class 92.5 | Computers, monitors, refridgerators | 10 – 12 lbs |
| Class 100 | Boat covers, car covers, canvase, wine cases, caskets | 8 – 10 lbs |
| Class 125 | Small Household appliances | 6 – 7 lbs |
| Class 175 | Clothing, couches stuffed furniture | 4 – 6 lbs |
| Class 250 | Auto sheetmetal parts, aircraft parts, aluminum table, packaged matresses, bamboo furniture, mattress and boxspring, plasma tv | 2 – 4 lbs |
| Class 300 | Deer antlers, Cans of food, Cutlery | 1 – 2 lbs |
| Class 400 | Bags of gold dust, ping pong balls | < 1 lbs |
A Practical Example to Calculate Freight Class
Shippers can calculate freight class for a commodity in different ways:
- Using the NMFC book available at http://www.nmfta.org/Pages/welcome.aspx
- Using a program such as ClassIT or Fast Class
As seen below, the NMFC for plastic hose or tubing is 51140.
Screenshot from SMC3 Fast Class Software
To properly freight class a shipment of 1 pallet of BO528112035PSL hose, we need to know the pallet dimension and weight. This product ships on a standard pallet that can be double stacked for shipment. The dimensions are 48”Lx40”Wx45.5”H and the weight including pallet is 243.2 lbs. Using the formula shown above (and repeated below with the numbers from our example) we derive a PCF of 4.8 PCF. Therefore using the table above our freight would be NMFC class 51140-4 rated at class 175 since this falls under the 11-tier new table from the NMFC.
- PCF calculation for a full pallet of 32 cartons of BO528112035PSL
- Length x width x height = cubic inches (48”x40”x45.5”=87,360 cubic inches)
- Cubic inches/1728 = cubic feet (87,360/1728 = 50.6 cubic feet)
- Divide weight of the packing unit by the volume. (243.2 lbs /50.6 cubic feet = 4.8 pounds per cubic foot)
If you don’t want to calculate the above, get access to our handy freight density calculator by filling out the form at the top of this post.
Again, it is VERY important as a shipper of freight you understand freight class. Getting it wrong will cost you. If you incorrectly classify your item to be shipped it can be reclassified by the freight carrier. Disputing this is difficult, time-consuming and you will be charged the difference (usually without a discount).