On our freight desk the single busiest week of 2025 was not peak season. It was the week of July 19, when the National Motor Freight Classification switched thousands of commodities from commodity-based codes to density-based ones. NMFTA Half my inbox that week was shippers asking why a pallet that shipped at class 85 all year suddenly rated at class 100, and the other half was shippers who had quietly saved money without touching a thing. If you tender less-than-truckload freight, this reform reset your rate baseline whether you noticed it or not. Here is what changed and why it matters to your invoice, plus the exact steps I run when I reclassify a shipment now.
What actually changed on July 19, 2025
The NMFC is maintained by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, and it has anchored LTL pricing in the United States since it was established in 1936. NMFTA For most of that history it used 18 classes running from class 50 (dense, cheap to move) up to class 500 (light, bulky, expensive to move), and a commodity could land in a class because of what it was rather than how it packed. C.H. Robinson A "commodity" listing might specify a class based on value or handling convention rather than physical size, so two boxes with identical weight and dimensions could rate differently purely because of their described contents.
Docket 2025-1 tore up a big chunk of that logic. Effective July 19, 2025, the NMFTA moved to density as the primary factor, and for many commodities the only factor, that determines your class. NMFTA The association consolidated roughly 2,000 commodity listings in that first docket, folding legacy sub-provisions into a single standardized density approach. Green Worldwide Green Worldwide called it the most significant overhaul to LTL classification in nearly a hundred years, and from where I sit that is not marketing hyperbole. Green Worldwide
The practical translation is simple. Your class is now driven by pounds per cubic foot far more often than it used to be. If your freight is genuinely dense and well packed, the reform tends to reward you. If it is light and takes up a full pallet footprint, the reform tends to cost you.
How density-based classification actually works
Density is weight divided by volume, expressed in pounds per cubic foot (pcf). The formula I use on every reclass has not changed, only its importance has:
- Measure all three outer dimensions of the packaged unit in inches (round up to the outermost point, including the pallet and any overhang).
- Multiply the three dimensions to get cubic inches.
- Divide by 1,728 to convert to cubic feet.
- Divide the total weight by cubic feet to get your pcf.
Here is a worked example straight off my desk. A machined-parts pallet measured 48 by 40 by 45 inches, which is 86,400 cubic inches, or exactly 50 cubic feet after dividing by 1,728. It weighed 1,850 pounds, so its density came out to 37 pcf. Under the old scale that shipment bottomed out at class 60, because the densest tier simply covered anything at 30 pcf or above. Under the new scale, 37 pcf now qualifies for class 55, which trimmed the rate on a lane I run weekly. That is a real dollar move that happened without renegotiating a single contract.
Now flip it. A pallet of molded plastic housings measured 48 by 40 by 48 inches, which works out to 53.3 cubic feet, and it weighed only 160 pounds. That is a density of 3 pcf, which lands at class 250. When that item had previously carried a commodity-based class in the low-to-mid range, the density reality pushed it several classes higher and the cost jumped accordingly. Light and bulky is where shippers get hurt under the new regime.
The new 13-tier density scale
The most concrete change is the scale itself. The Freight Classification Development Center expanded the standard density scale from 11 subprovisions to 13, adding fresh breaks at 35 pcf and 50 pcf that assign classes 55 and 50 to very dense freight. NMFTA Previously the scale collapsed everything at 30 pcf or higher into class 60, so genuinely heavy freight had nowhere lower to go. The two new tiers open that floor. Here is the standardized density-to-class breakdown in effect since July 19, 2025. DTS
| Density (pounds per cubic foot) | NMFC class |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 | 400 |
| 1 but less than 2 | 300 |
| 2 but less than 4 | 250 |
| 4 but less than 6 | 175 |
| 6 but less than 8 | 125 |
| 8 but less than 10 | 100 |
| 10 but less than 12 | 92.5 |
| 12 but less than 15 | 85 |
| 15 but less than 22.5 | 70 |
| 22.5 but less than 30 | 65 |
| 30 but less than 35 | 60 |
| 35 but less than 50 | 55 |
| 50 or greater | 50 |
Print this and keep it near your dock scale. The two rows at the bottom, class 55 and class 50, did not exist as density outcomes before the reform. NMFTA They are the reason some heavy freight now rates cheaper, and they are the first place I check when a shipper tells me their dense pallets feel overpriced.
Where you win and where you lose on rate
I sort every account into two buckets when I audit their book after the reform. The winners are shippers moving compact, heavy freight: bar stock, fasteners, engine parts, filled drums, anything that used to hit the old 30-pcf ceiling and stop. Those loads can now reach class 55 or class 50, and I have seen line-haul charges fall on lanes where nothing else changed. NMFTA
The losers are shippers who over-package. If you ship a 20-pound item inside a carton sized for a 100-pound item, you are paying for air. Under commodity-based codes you sometimes got away with a favorable class regardless of the void space. Under density-based codes that void space drags your pcf down and your class up. C.H. Robinson has framed the whole reform as a push toward cost predictability, and predictability cuts both ways: it removes the lucky misclassifications that used to save light shippers money. C.H. Robinson
A few patterns I now watch for on every reclass:
- Full-pallet freight under 15 pcf almost always moved up a class and needs a rate re-check.
- Dense freight above 30 pcf should be re-rated against the new class 55 and class 50 tiers before you accept any quote.
- Mixed pallets get classed on total density, so consolidating heavy and light items onto one skid can pull your blended pcf into a cheaper tier.
- Reused oversized cartons quietly inflate your dimensions and your class. Right-size the box.
If a freight broker tenders your loads, ask them directly whether they re-rated your top 20 SKUs against the July 2025 scale. Many operators did not, and stale class assumptions in a routing guide are pure margin leakage. Our read is that reclassification is the highest-return hour of freight admin work available right now.
What Docket 2025-2 and ClassIT+ mean going into 2026
Docket 2025-1 was not the finish line. The NMFTA announced Docket 2025-2 on August 28, 2025, a smaller follow-up round of changes, and it took effect on December 6, 2025. NMFTA That second docket refined item language and handling flags rather than rebuilding the scale, but it still moves individual commodities, so a class you verified in August is worth spot-checking again in the new year.
Alongside the dockets, the NMFTA rolled out ClassIT+, the official digital version of the NMFC with real-time updates and modern search. NMFTA ClassIT+ updated automatically on December 6, 2025 to reflect the second docket. NMFTA If your team still classifies from a printed book or a spreadsheet copied years ago, that habit is now a liability. The whole point of the reform was to standardize on density and keep the reference current, and a static copy cannot do either. I treat ClassIT+ or a carrier tool synced to it as the source of truth and everything else as a guess.
My reclassification checklist for LTL shippers
When a shipper hands me their freight book after the reform, this is the sequence I run. It takes an afternoon for a mid-sized catalog and it usually pays for itself on the first month of invoices.
- Pull your top 20 SKUs by shipment volume. These drive most of your spend, so start where the money is.
- Physically measure and weigh a packaged unit of each. Do not trust the spec sheet, because packaging and pallet choice change the real dimensions.
- Calculate pcf and read the class off the 13-tier table above.
- Compare the density class to whatever class is currently on your bills of lading. Flag every mismatch.
- Re-rate the mismatches with two or three carriers to see the dollar delta, then correct your BOL templates and your routing guide.
- Repeat for seasonal or promotional SKUs before they ship in volume.
One caution from experience: the class on the BOL must match the freight, or you invite a carrier reweigh and reclass, which triggers back-charges and admin fees. Getting your density right protects you from that adjustment, so accuracy here is defensive as well as cost-saving. When LTL feeds a port or rail ramp, the same accurate dimensions carry into your drayage planning, so measuring once cleanly pays off downstream too.
There is a useful parallel for anyone shipping internationally. Domestically the NMFC number is the code the whole rate is built on, exactly the way an HS code anchors duty and clearance on cross-border freight. You verify one before every shipment, and after this reform you should verify the other with the same discipline.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need a commodity description if everything is density-based now?
Yes. Density is the primary factor for most commodities under Docket 2025-1, but the NMFC still applies handling and stowability flags to specific items, and a small set of commodities keep dedicated listings. You classify on density and then check whether a flag or exception applies to your product. NMFTA
Why did my class go up even though my product did not change?
Because the reform re-rated it on real density. If your item is light for its cubic footprint, the commodity-based class you enjoyed before July 19, 2025 may have been more favorable than its actual pounds per cubic foot warrants, and the new scale corrects that. C.H. Robinson
What is ClassIT+ and do I have to pay for it?
ClassIT+ is the NMFTA's official digital version of the classification, offering real-time updates and modern search, and it updated automatically on December 6, 2025 to reflect Docket 2025-2. Access is through the NMFTA, and many carriers and TMS platforms surface the same synced data inside your own tools. NMFTA
How many freight classes are there and which is cheapest?
There are 18 classes running from 50 to 500, and class 50 is the cheapest because it represents the densest, easiest-to-handle freight. After the reform, density of 50 pounds per cubic foot or greater reaches class 50, while anything under 1 pcf sits at class 400. DTS
If you have re-measured your freight and want to see what the new classes actually do to your rate, put the numbers to work. On GetTransport.com you can compare LTL carriers and quotes side by side across your lanes, so the class you just corrected turns into the price you actually pay rather than a line item you hope your freight broker got right.