Let’s Get Classy

Commonly Shipped Goods Throughout the USA and Their Shipping Class

We’ve put together some data from 2022 regarding our most commonly shipped goods classes. We’ll show you what you can expect when you ship some of our most commonly transported commodities.

Read on!

Before we begin

Okay, so before we begin, let’s clarify what freight class is and what it’s used for. If you’re new to the shipping industry or if you haven’t shipped to/from/within the USA before, this will be particularly helpful to you.

What is Freight Class?

Freight class is a system used by carriers in the USA to divide commodities into one of 18 classes. These classes play a big role in determining the pricing of your shipment. They range from 50 to 400 depending on the stowability, fragility, maneuverability, and density of the cargo. 

Basically, the sturdier and more “normal” your shipment is, the lower its class will be. If your shipment is fragile or unique (such as pieces of art), its class will be higher.

What the data says

The class our shippers most commonly use is 70. 

That means that the most commonly transported cargo (keep in mind that this list is not exhaustive) is packaged dry food and car parts. 

Again, please note that if you’re shipping dry food or car parts, your class may not be 70 as there are multiple factors that go into calculating freight class, as we noted earlier.

However, if you’re trying to get a ballpark estimate for a shipment that you’d like to move in a month or so, you may want to use the classes provided in this article to see where you might stand.

It’s a good idea to contact us closer to your actual shipping date for a correct and accurate class. The quickest way to check is to chat with us online.

The next most commonly used class is 125. 

This class includes, but is not limited to, small appliances  (such as kitchen, non-industrial blenders, microwaves, etc.), egg cartons, and more. There are many other commodities that fall into this category and neither do all appliances. 

Still, if you’re shipping home appliances and you need a ballpark estimate, you can expect your class to be 125 or near that.

The third most commonly used class is 175.

Commodities such as clothing and furniture fall into this category. As you can see, with the slight increase in class, you can already notice a trend. These are hollow, and slightly more fragile items. 

To reiterate, furniture on its own can range from 60 all the way up to 400 so, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, use this class only as an example, and when it’s time to actually ship — make sure to reach out to us and get an accurate class. This will save you both money and headaches. 

The rest

Following that, we have class 150, followed by 200, 92.5, 85, and 250. These are all slightly less used so we won’t get into them too specifically. 

As you can see, the distribution is colorful and the commodities are very diverse, as you can imagine. 

We hope that these examples can give you a rough idea of what you can expect your class to be, but we do have to reiterate that these are only examples. In order to get an accurate freight class for your product, make sure to contact us. We have a subscription to ClassIt, the database that provides a list of all product classes, and is the only accurate source of freight classes online.

If you need any additional information or help, please visit our more extensive freight class and NMFC page.