- Huyett Marketing Department
- 07/15/2021
LTL, or Less‑Than‑Truckload, is a freight term used when goods are too large for standard parcel delivery services but too small to take up an entire truckload. In this article, we will cover some common questions about how LTL costs are estimated and some of the factors that influence those costs.
How are LTL costs calculated?
LTL costs are calculated using a variety of factors including freight class, density, distance, and weight. While some LTL carriers follow different guidelines for calculating costs, these four are the most dominant factors.
What is freight class?
The National Motor Freight Classification, or NMFC, is a standard developed by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association used to group commodities according to transportability. There are 18 MNFC classes ranging from Class 50 to Class 500. The transportability of each class is determined by the following shipping characteristics: Density, Handling, Stowing, and Liability.
High‑density items like steel bars have a lower class whereas lower density items such as ping pong balls have a higher class. The higher the class, the higher the shipping rate for that commodity will be.
All commodities that are shipped interstate, intrastate, and international fall into one of these classes. The below chart outlines the different freight classes from least to most expensive.
Freight Density
Freight density is the space an item occupies in relation to its weight, and it is the primary factor for determining freight class. The less dense a shipment is, the higher the cost per pound it will be to ship due to the space the item will occupy in a container.
The ability to calculate freight density will help determine into which freight class a shipment will be classified.
How to Calculate Freight Density:
- Measure the height, width, and depth of the shipment in inches. If all cargo is end to end and uniform in size, then the overall dimensions of the shipment can be used. Otherwise, measure each piece separately.
- Multiply the three measurements (height x width x depth) to determine the volume of the shipment in cubic inches. If measuring each piece, determine the volume of each piece first, then add them together.
- Divide the result in Step 2 by 1,728 to convert the shipment volume into cubic feet.
- Divide the weight (in pounds) of all the packages by the total cubic measurement of the shipment.
Handling, Stowing, and Liability
If the Handling, Stowing, or Liability characteristics of a commodity are significant or unusual, they will be evaluated when determining the freight class in addition to density.
- Handling refers to any special care a commodity may require due to its unusual size, weight, fragility, or some other consideration that results in handling difficulties for the carrier. This may include loading, unloading, or standard cross‑dock operations.
- Stowing refers to how an article is loaded and secured in the carriers' equipment. This may include considerations such as loading restrictions to comply with government regulations, restrictions arising from oversized or excessively wide loads, and difficulty loading freight around the article due to its abnormal structure.
- Liability refers to any potential liability the carrier may incur due to loss or damage associated with the risks of transporting the article. This may include the likelihood the article may sustain damage in transit (fragility), damage adjacent freight, or perish.
How does distance impact LTL costs?
The effect of distance on LTL shipping costs is as straightforward as it gets. The farther the distance an item is from its destination, the higher the fuel, driver, and equipment costs will be.
How does weight impact LTL costs?
The more your shipment weighs, the less cost per hundred pounds (hundred‑weight) to ship. Often, carriers will refer to a chart that lists costs per hundred‑weight, also called centum weight (CW) which contains weight breaks. As shipment weight increases, the shipment will move to the next weight category on the scale.
Huyett's LTL Shipments
Huyett is dedicated to getting products to our customers on time and undamaged. LTL shipments always go out the next day as long as they are received by 5:00pm Central Standard Time. If you have special shipping requirements or have questions,
call our friendly and experienced Sales Team today!
