Freight Class Chart 2025: 13-Tier NMFC Density Scale

This freight class chart covers US LTL (less-than-truckload) shipping. It maps shipment density in pounds per cubic foot (pcf, or lb/ft³) to a freight class under the NMFC density scale that took effect on July 19, 2025, with Docket 2025-1. The same table is also called a freight classification chart.

A quick orientation before the numbers. The National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) has 18 freight classes, from class 50 to class 500. The lower the number, the easier the freight is to move, and the less it usually costs per pound. The class reflects four transportation characteristics: density, handling, stowability and liability. The density scale itself has 13 tiers (the NMFC calls them subprovisions, or "subs") and only runs from class 50 to class 400.

Docket 2025-1 switched the commodities it covered from commodity-based classification (a class fixed per product type) to density-based classification (a class set by how much the shipment weighs for the space it takes up). As a rule, dense freight lands in a low class and a low rate, and light, bulky freight in a high class and a higher rate.

Freight class chart: the 2025 NMFC density scale#

Work out your density, then find the band it falls into:

Each band includes its lower limit and stops just short of its upper one. A shipment at exactly 15 lb/ft³ is class 70, not 85. Exactly 12 is class 85, and exactly 8 is class 100.

To get the density, measure the handling unit (each pallet, crate or loose piece) at its longest, widest and highest points, as tendered, with anything that sticks out included:

Cubic feet = length × width × height (in) ÷ 1,728 Density (lb/ft³) = weight (lb) ÷ cubic feet

The weight is the gross weight, pallet included. For the full measuring procedure and the mistakes that throw density off, see how to calculate freight density. To skip the arithmetic, enter the dimensions, quantity and weight per piece in the freight class calculator and it returns the density and class.

Reading the steps: where the bands are narrow#

The scale isn’t evenly spaced. Below 15 pcf, each band is only 1 to 3 pcf wide. From 15 pcf up, the bands open out: 15 to 22.5 and 22.5 to 30 are 7.5 pcf each, 30 to 35 is 5 pcf, 35 to 50 is 15 pcf, and class 50 has no upper limit at all.

The uneven spacing is what matters for cost. Light, bulky freight sits on the left of the chart, where a small change in weight or dimensions can push a shipment across a break and into a different class. Dense freight sits on the right, where it takes a much bigger change to move a band.

Four shipments run through the chart#

Each example is a single handling unit:

The pallet of books lands exactly on 22.5 lb/ft³, the bottom edge of the class 65 band, so it rates as 65 rather than 70. You can check the books pallet in the calculator.

The lampshades show why weight alone tells you nothing about class. At 180 lb, that pallet weighs 15% as much as the books pallet, yet it rates at class 250 against the books’ class 65. It is light for the space it takes up, and LTL class follows density, not weight. Run the lampshade pallet to see the same result.

What changed in the 2025 NMFC update#

• Effective date. Docket 2025-1 took effect on July 19, 2025. The commodities it covered moved from commodity-based to density-based classification.
• From 11 subs to 13. The Freight Classification Development Council (FCDC) expanded the standard density scale from 11 subs to 13. Sub 11, which used to cover everything at 30 pcf and above, now covers only 30 to under 35 pcf (class 60). Two new subs sit above it: sub 12 for 35 to under 50 pcf (class 55) and sub 13 for 50 pcf and more (class 50). Subs 1 through 10 did not change.
• Five classes are off the scale. Classes 77.5, 110, 150, 200 and 500 are still part of the 18-class NMFC system, but none of them appears on the 13-sub density scale.
• Item-specific classes remain. The density scale is the standard for freight with no unusual handling, stowability or liability issues. Commodities that do have those issues keep their own fixed class, so you still need to check the NMFC item number for your product.

The NMFC is maintained by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA). Its ClassIT tool looks up commodities and their classes and includes a density calculator. When the NMFC item for your product gives a different class from the chart above, the item controls. The NMFC is also a voluntary standard: if a carrier has published its own tariff, that tariff can take priority.

How freight class feeds into your LTL rate#

LTL base rates are priced per hundredweight (CWT, per 100 lb), and the rate changes with the class. Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), for example, quotes charges per CWT in its rules tariff, the 100-Q (its published terms and accessorial rules), and refers to class-specific rates such as the "class 125 rate". In general, a higher class means a higher rate per hundredweight. The class is one of the main inputs to the price, alongside weight, lane and accessorial charges, but not the only one.

In practice that leads to three habits:

1. Don’t ship air. Empty space on the pallet counts toward the cubic feet, and it pulls the density down. A tighter box pattern can move a shipment into a lower class. For layer and box layouts, see how many boxes fit on a pallet.
2. Know where the breaks are. A shipment at 11.8 lb/ft³ is class 92.5. Get it to 12.0 and it’s class 85. The same goes for 8.0 (class 100) and 7.9 (class 125).
3. Declare what you actually tender. Carriers have the right to check. Under ODFL Item 367-1, if the information on the bill of lading looks incomplete or inaccurate, ODFL can reweigh the shipment, inspect it and verify the density. Estes Item 992-1 lets Estes weigh freight without notice on NTEP-certified scales.

How a reclass happens#

One way a reclass happens: the shipper measures the boxes rather than the handling unit. Under the NMFC rule, density is based on the whole unit as tendered: pallet deck, overhang and stretch wrap included. The weight on the bill of lading is the gross weight, pallet included.

Take a block of boxes measuring 48 × 40 × 24 in at 15.2 lb/ft³. That’s 405.3 lb, and on the chart it’s class 70, so class 70 goes on the bill of lading. Now measure what actually leaves the dock:

• The boxes overhang the pallet by 2 in on each side across the width, so 40 in becomes 44 in.
• The pallet deck adds 5.7 in of height.
• The stretch wrap domes up another 2 in on top.

The handling unit is now 48 × 44 × 31.7 in, or 38.74 ft³. Add a 37 lb pallet and the weight is 442.3 lb. That works out to 11.42 lb/ft³, which is class 92.5, not class 70.

The carrier then re-rates the shipment at class 92.5, issues a corrected invoice and may add a reweigh and reclassification fee (for inspecting, reweighing and changing the class). The fee varies by carrier:

• ODFL (Item 367-2): $25 per shipment reclassed after inspection, plus re-rated freight charges, fuel surcharge and accessorial charges.
• Saia (Item 850): $44 per shipment when an inspection or reweigh changes the line haul charges (the main terminal-to-terminal move).
• Estes (Items 993 and 993-10): $20 for an inspection and $20 for weighing.

To avoid this, measure the full handling unit before you book. The freight density guide goes through the steps.

When the density chart doesn’t apply#

• Item-specific classes. Freight with handling, stowability or liability issues keeps the class set in its NMFC item. Look up the item number before you use the chart.
• Right on a break. If your density sits just above a break, quote on the band below it (the higher class) until you have measured the unit as it will be tendered. The margin can be very small: on a 48-inch-tall pallet at 12.05 lb/ft³, one extra inch of height drops the density to 11.80, moving the shipment from class 85 to 92.5. Don’t count on dimensions being rounded in your favor.
• Overlength freight. Long freight can carry an overlength fee (for freight longer than the carrier’s limit) regardless of class. ODFL Item 670-5 charges $495 for 8 to under 12 ft, $1,000 for 12 to under 20 ft and $1,300 for 20 ft or more; above 27 ft 3 in, ODFL accepts the freight at its discretion. For freight not on a pallet, ODFL treats the longest side as the length. For pallet footprints other than 48 × 40 in, see standard pallet sizes.
• Linear feet and capacity loads. Some carrier rules bill on trailer space, outside the class calculation. ODFL Item 390, for example, treats a shipment as a capacity load at 20 linear feet or more of a pup trailer, or at 20,000 lb or more.
• Low-density minimums. Very light, bulky freight can hit a minimum charge (the lowest amount billed regardless of weight). Under ODFL Item 610-1, a shipment of 750 ft³ or more averaging under 6 pcf (or 350 to 750 ft³ under 3 pcf) is rated as if it weighed 6 lb per cubic foot, at the class 125 rate.
• FAK pricing. FAK (freight all kinds) is a negotiated rate that rolls several classes into one applied class. It doesn’t replace the description: ODFL Item 361 still requires the actual commodity on the bill of lading, and under ODFL Item 170-2 an incomplete description can be charged a minimum based on the class 100 rate.
• Carrier tariffs that differ. The chart follows the NMFC standard, and a carrier’s own tariff doesn’t always match it. Estes Item 645 still uses the older 11-sub table, where 30 pcf and above is class 60 and classes 55 and 50 don’t appear. Carriers also have their own rules for shipments with more than one handling unit. ODFL Item 640 rates each pallet separately when the bill of lading lists weights per pallet and the labels can be matched to them; otherwise ODFL may use the density of the whole shipment. The freight class calculator combines all rows into one density, which gives the same result as the examples above because each one is a single unit.