Moving into late 2025, the NMFTA has started to make significant changes to its freight classification system. While this has always been the case, with occasional changes every year, these new ones are a considerable overhaul, impacting many areas of freight management by changing classifications and impacting the rates that many companies will pay for shipping. So, how do you stay up-to-date with these new LTL freight class classifications and ensure that you can optimize your freight strategy moving forward?

Below, we discuss some of the details to help you understand the system now in play, assisting you when it comes to shipping smarter and saving on outgoings. Discover how Morris Trucking can help you keep your fleet aligned with these classes to give you the best offer possible on each shipment.

 

LTL Freight Class Basics

 

The freight class is the code used by less-than-truckload (LTL) companies to define various aspects of their freight. These codes, as mentioned, are what the NMFTA issues, ensuring that all companies keep to the same standard. Due to the updated changes as of July 19, 2025, you can expect that many of your processes could change for every shipment, including billing and future shipment quotes.

Every commodity that you ship receives an NMFC code and freight class number.

The freight class is a system of classification that groups different freight types into 18 different freight classes, each with a 2-3 digit code. The main things that impact this class are:

  • Density
  • Stowability
  • Handling requirements
  • Liability issues

These class codes run from 50-500, with 50 meaning the most dense and durable items with minimal handling requirements, such as bricks, and 500 being high-value, low-density items such as high-end electronics.

The NMFC code is a short string of numbers, of which there are too many to list. They require a lookup tool linked to an NMFC database to search for keywords and find the most recent classification relevant to your shipment.

So, for example, you might need NMFC code 64022 for a plastic container, and freight class 200 if the container is large enough. However, you should check with others along the shipment line to ensure that all parts of the chain are using the same category to avoid auditing issues.

 

Understanding Freight Rates and Key Cost Drivers

 

While class tends to set the rate for any freight you ship, there may be several other extra details that affect this total, such as:

  • Land distance
  • Fuel requirements
  • Demand for the product
  • Other fees

As carriers scan each pallet for the accuracy of each of these details, you must ensure your records are as up-to-date as possible. A few extra inches of boxes or overhanging cartons could impact size and stackability scores. You may then receive fees, delays, and many other issues, impacting your overheads.

As such, make sure to use accurate measuring tools to save on time and money, and ensure that you train your team on how best to record the data accurately.

Other factors to be aware of may include:

  • Busy seasons
  • Fuel surcharges
  • Use of volume LTL
  • Delivery guarantee services

As such, try to audit your shipments regularly, scoring each of your teams by how well they match your requirements. Over time, these can often detect hidden logistics savings, allowing you to feed these savings into bonuses for said teams as a reward for reducing LTL shipping costs.

Of course, partnering with the right logistics service means that you can always have a professional team working with you who can perform all the essential checks for you, offering you guarantees regarding your processes and pushing fees to a third party.

 

Improving Your Freight Strategy to Cut LTL Costs

 

If you are taking on the LTL world, the following steps should help you avoid some of the most egregious shipping issues.

Start by ensuring that you know how to tightly pack your shipments. Avoiding as much wasted space as possible means that each consignment is worth it, giving you extra SKUs in each round trip. Similarly, try to design stackable loads, no matter what you are shipping, to fill trailer space much more effectively and give you more options when sending out freight.

To help with this tight packing, you may also want to consider corner boards or top caps, securing your pallets further and helping you avoid spills.

At the same time, where possible, combine orders into bigger shipments. Doing this can often reduce the per-pallet outgoings you need to pay due to bulk spending.

 

How Morris Trucking Helps with Capacity and Savings

 

Our family-owned fleet covers many services, including LTL and truckload shipping, giving you a one-stop solution, no matter your needs. With our own vehicles, we can also offer personal service without the red tape that a mega-fleet of rented trucks brings.

At the same time, our in-house maintenance efforts mean that we can keep our uptime extremely high. We inspect our trucks regularly, reducing the number of roadside events and keeping your shipments moving when they need to the most. If necessary, you can even keep track of our vehicles, following them through our secure portal to give you the peace of mind that you need.

Finally, we work closely with our team. We don’t just provide our drivers with trucks, but work with them by offering them lease-to-own contracts, helping them pay off the purchase cost so that they can both have a sense of pride in their own vehicle and greater working morale. You can expect them to take great care in their work, offering you a more professional outcome with every shipment.

 

Ship Smarter and Save With Morris Trucking

 

Ensuring you choose the right LTL freight class and shipping it as densely as possible can help reduce your billing and help you avoid delays with your freight. However, the new NMFC codes might make this tough in the short term.

If you want someone else to handle the whole thing, Morris Trucking can take it off your hands. We can haul truckloads to 48 states of the U.S., consolidating your freight or reloading and delivering it in the most cost-effective way possible. For more information, get in contact and talk to us about a custom LTL and driver plan today.