However, as shown above, there are fragile items, excessive weight items or hazardous materials that require special handling. Regarding the difficulty or the ease of handling of the items, the freight has further classifications.
Liability – Theft, damage or perishability
Another factor determining the freight class is the liability. It is a possibility of freight damage or freight theft.
For instance, the hazardous cargo, as well as the perishable cargo, are prone to combustion or explosion which are classified based on the liability factor.
Continually, the freight involves classification by value per pound and density, representing a fraction of the delivery liability.
Once you get to know the important factors describing the freight class, you may think is hard but it is not impossible to learn.
On the subject of this, it is not hard, there are only numbers to remember.
Looking at the freight classification – it is rather interesting. To put it differently, there is a freight that you never thought you will find together and yet belongs to the same category.
Why Is Freight Class Important?
The freight class the most crucial part of the LTL trucking industry and the one that customers think of it as mysterious and complicated. This is mostly due to its function.
With the freight class as a term, you standardize your shipment’s price when working with other brokerage companies or warehouse trucking companies.
The classification simplifies the elements of shipping. It determines the packing requirements while ensuring a safe cargo shipping.
In addition, the freight class also helps you determine the shipping cost by measuring the commodity’s class. In order to get the right freight class without any mistakes, it is best if you hire freight management or brokerage companies.
It is crucial to not make wrong freight pricing since it will cost you more than you can imagine. Getting a freight class incorrectly requires further reclassification and it is time and money consuming.
List of Freight Classes
Normally, the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) determines the freight class and is available with the help of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC).
To emphasize, the freight class goes like this: the lower the class number – the lower the freight charge.
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There is also a code in the pricing chart that helps you correct the consistent freight price.
As mentioned above, the freight classification involves several factors regarding the transportation industry.
There is the weight, length, height, density, ease of handling, value, and liability.
Every trucking company needs to determine its freight class based on several criteria. What is important to remember is that the classification needs completion before getting a shipment quote.
Although there are 18 freight classes, there are only 5 as the most common and they are the following:
- Class 60 (30 – 35 pounds per cubic foot)
- Class 70 (15 – 22.5 pounds per cubic foot)
- Class 85 (12 – 13.5 pounds per cubic foot)
- Class 92.5 (10.5 – 12 pounds)
- Class 100 (9 – 10.5 pounds)
To continue with, besides their common knowledge in the trucking industry, a trucking company owner needs to know to determines its freight class that is not available on the list.
Accordingly, the list is the following:
Why you need the list of freight class codes?
As you can see from the above classification, the classes range from 50 to 500. Additionally, each class has its own type of cargo.
Due to the different freight specifications, the classifications are crucial for every trucking company.
Why am I saying this?
For instance, if you do not own a professional knowledge of the trucking industry, you will not be able to recognize the freight types.
Believe me, you will need to know them before you decide what type of freight you will want to haul.
How can you start a trucking company if you are not familiar with the freight class codes?
In addition to this, if you do not want to learn them now, you will certainly need to know them later in your trucking career.
This is exactly the same as knowing which regulations you need to cope. For example, there are the NFPA, the PHMSA and the EPA rules and regulations for the hazardous cargo.
To continue with, there are the NHTSA, FMCSA, DOT, DOL, DMV etc. Although just part of the regulations of the United States, every human in the trucking industry needs to know these.
What is Freight Class Density Calculator
Determining the right freight class will definitely save you both time and your profit. Using a calculator to determine the freight class allows you to plan your shipment.
Why do you need to know the freight’s density?
Based on the cargo’s dimensions, density is the most influential factor in freight class.
Usually, the lower the density – the higher the freight classification. As explained previously, besides the density as the main factor in freight class, there are other characteristics as well:
- How your freight fits in the carrier truck
- The Handling of Freight
- How perishable, breakable or fragile is your freight
Practical Example How To Determine LTL Freight Class
As shown above, transportation determines the classification of freight class which is further including density, stowability, ease of handling and shipment’s liability.
Normally, freight brokers are classifying cargo. As a successful trucking company, you can hire the best brokers in the United States and do the job for you.
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On the other hand, if you are a small transportation company, you can do the freight class yourself.
Although some may think that might be easy to determine the LTL freight class, on the contrary, it is difficult. Having said this, there are some rules regarding the determination and calculation of it.
