Operations
NMFC Freight Class: Why LTL Cares What Number You Print on the BOL
NMFC freight class tells the LTL carrier how much cube you buy relative to pounds. Wrong class is not a rounding error; it is a rebill.
Updated 2026-08-20 · NMFC freight class
NMFC freight class is the National Motor Freight Classification number that LTL carriers use to price how much trailer you occupy for the pounds you tender. Classes typically run from 50 (dense, hard to damage) toward 500 (light, bulky, or fragile). Printing “class 70” because a coworker always did is how a reclass fee shows up after the terminal measures the pallet.
COL Freight Solutions quotes LTL with the class you can defend—or we calculate density with you when you do not have an item number. Licensed property broker, USDOT 4427559, MC-1741651. Put class on the checklist: shipping@colfreightsolutions.com · 561-880-9808.
How NMFC freight class gets assigned
Some commodities have a specific NMFC item. Many others class by density: pounds per cubic foot maps to a class band. Packaging matters; the same widgets loose in a crate can class differently than nested and palletized. If you ship to the U.S. from Mexico, the U.S. LTL tariff still wants a class even if your plant never printed one.
Exception ratings and carrier-specific rules exist. The quote should name the class assumed. If it does not, you are buying an argument.
Reclass and reweigh are the enforcement mechanism
Terminals scale and cube. If the BOL said 1,200 lb class 70 and the freight is 1,200 lb at a density that maps to 125, the bill changes. That delta often dwarfs the “savings” from the pretty original quote. Photograph and measure before you tender.
Class versus FTL
Standard exclusive-use FTL does not price by NMFC freight class. That is why a dual quote matters: if class is punishing you, the whole truck may be cheaper. Do not stay in LTL out of habit when the class table is eating the margin.
- Look up the NMFC item when the commodity is named.
- If density-based, calculate PCF from measured L×W×H and scale weight.
- Print the class on the BOL the driver actually signs.
Put class on the COL Freight RFQ
Send commodity, dims, and weight. We will price LTL with a stated class assumption and tell you if FTL is the escape hatch. Recurring LTL on honest class is also cleaner spend if you later review the Transportation Cost Recovery Program™. Offices in Saint Petersburg, FL and Los Gatos, CA.
