It is not an easy task to become consistent to classify freight in a manner to satisfy the customer and also saves costs. You can save your cost by knowing various freight classes and developing trustworthy relationships in the freight industry. For this, you have to develop an understanding of how to choose your freight class and reduce the cost accordingly, try to take online help and use the FedEx Freight Class Calculator for finding the freight rate for various materials.
In this article, we are discussing what freight class is and how we can choose the best freight class at the minimum cost.
What is a Freight Class?
The freight class is also known to be NMFC(National Motors Freight Classification). The NMFC(National Motors Freight Classification) is considered the standardization for shipping any material across the world. These principles are used for interstate, Intrastat, and foreign commerce movement of LTL(Less than truckload) Shipments. If you are not familiar with all these terms and captions, just use the Freight Class Calculator and find the best freight rate for your shipping equipment.
Purpose of NMFC:
The main purpose of the NMFC is to establish a standard comparison of commodities for freight identification. It is essential to distinguish between billions of products shipped globally. When we are able to define common shipping principles for the shipper. Then it is easy to decide the smooth and productive freight rate for various products. A freight class chart is developed to determine the price of all the products which we intend to ship, and the FedEx freight class calculator calculates shipment on that ground.
What is LTL?
The NMFC rules are specific for LTL shipment and it includes billions of varieties of products. We establish transportation metrics on the basis of certain variables, and these variables are used to find the cost of various LTL shipping materials.
These variables are as follows:
- Density
- Ease of Handling
- Liability
- Slowbility
1: Density:
The density of the material is defined as the space an item occupies in relation to its weight. Class 50 is considered the lowest class for freight, 90 lbs per cubic foot and, on the other hand, 500 is considered a top class and has a density of 1 lb per cubic foot (Golds, Flakes, etc). We determine the freight rate according to the freight class of an item. The FedEx freight class calculator predefines the freight on the basis of their freight class. The freight density calculator decides the proportional comparison of freight class and the density of the material.
2: Ease of Handling:
Some shipping materials do require special care due to irregularity, weight, and excessive fragility, like crockery or expensive painting.The shipping companies do grade these shopping materials to expensive categories despite their lower weight.
3: Liability:
The costly material has a heightened level of theft or accidental damage.This also includes perishable items or dangerous chemicals. Companies do have variable class rates for such items.
Slowability:
The hazardous materials are subjected to slowability and being hard to move or it’s just too difficult to handle them when carrying them in shipment. Like combustion materials or chemicals which need to keep stationary to maintain their concentration etc.
The classes:
There are 18 freight classes ranging from 50 to 500 for the LTL materials. These classes are found on the basis of density, ease of handling, and liability factors.
We are presenting the freight class chart:
The freight class chart
| Class | Cost | Weight range (per cubic foot) |
| Class 55 | Lowest | over 50 pounds |
| Class 60 | 30-35 pounds | |
| Class 65 | 22.5-30 pounds | |
| Class 70 | 15-22.5 pounds | |
| Class 77.5 | 13.5-15 pounds | |
| Class 85 | 12-13.5 pounds | |
| Class 92.5 | 10.5-12 pounds | |
| Class 100 | 9-10.5 pounds | |
| Class 110 | 8-9 pounds | |
| Class 125 | 7-8 pounds | |
| Class 150 | 6-7 pounds | |
| Class 175 | 5-6 pounds | |
| Class 200 | 4-5 pounds | |
| Class 250 | 3-4 pounds | |
| Class 300 | 2-3 pounds | |
| Class 400 | 1-2 pounds | |
| Class 500 – (Low Density /High Value) | Highest | Less than 1 lbs. |
Conclusion:
The Freight Class is determined on the basis of the rules and regulations defined in the articles. It can be quite convenient to define your specific rate on the basis of the parameters given in the FedEx freight class calculator.
