Misclassify an LTL shipment and one of two things happens. The carrier reweighs and reclasses it at the dock, sends a correction invoice, and your margin on that lane evaporates. Or you quoted a higher class than needed and lost the booking to someone who ran the density first.
Density is what drives the class for most freight, so that is where the calculator starts. Enter the pallet and the weight.
CargoEZ stores your rate cards, auto-calculates density and class, and turns a shipment into a branded quote in seconds. Built for freight forwarders.
How freight class is worked out
LTL carriers in the US price on NMFC freight class, and for density-based commodities the class comes straight from how many pounds each cubic foot holds.
Density (lb/ft³) = Total weight (lb) ÷ Total volume (ft³)
Volume (ft³) = Length × Width × Height (inches) ÷ 1,728
A 48 by 40 inch pallet stacked to 48 inches is 92,160 cubic inches, which is 53.33 cubic feet. Load it to 500 lb and the density is 9.38 lb per cubic foot. That puts it in class 100. Add weight without adding size and the density climbs, the class drops, and the shipment gets cheaper to move. That inverse relationship catches people out: a lower class number is the cheaper one.
The density to class scale
The 18 standard classes map to density bands. Denser freight sits in the low classes.
| Density (lb/ft³) | Class |
|---|---|
| 50 and over | 50 |
| 35 to 50 | 55 |
| 30 to 35 | 60 |
| 22.5 to 30 | 65 |
| 15 to 22.5 | 70 |
| 13.5 to 15 | 77.5 |
| 12 to 13.5 | 85 |
| 10.5 to 12 | 92.5 |
| 9 to 10.5 | 100 |
| 8 to 9 | 110 |
| 7 to 8 | 125 |
| 6 to 7 | 150 |
| 5 to 6 | 175 |
| 4 to 5 | 200 |
| 3 to 4 | 250 |
| 2 to 3 | 300 |
| 1 to 2 | 400 |
| Under 1 | 500 |
Where density is not the whole story
Density gives the estimate, and for a lot of palletized freight it is the actual class. It is not the full rule. The NMFC system also weighs stowability, ease of handling, and liability to damage or theft, and many commodities carry a fixed class regardless of how dense the pallet is. Electronics, hazardous materials, and anything fragile or high-value often classes higher than its density alone suggests.
Treat the number here as the starting point for a quote, then confirm against the commodity’s NMFC code before it goes on the bill of lading. Getting it wrong is what triggers the dock reweigh and the correction invoice.
Need volume and chargeable weight for ocean or air instead of LTL class? Use the CBM calculator. More tools are in the freight forwarding calculators section.