Getting Freight Class Right

You’ll also see how a little mistake here or there can cause a big problem. We will walk through some real world billing adjustments.

Remember that the carrier will continuously measure and weigh all packages with sophisticated equipment and technology that makes them exact. They do not rely on what is provided by the shipper. And when it comes to billing, the carrier is the “source,” and the shipper will be charged according to what the carrier shows as the correct, accurate weight and measurements.

The images used in these examples are screen grabs of our freight class density calculator, using the measurements provided by the shippers and carriers. The density number shown is a measure of pounds per cubic foot.

Our first example demonstrates how estimating the dimensions of the packaged freight is always a mistake.

Here we see the density and recommended freight class generated by the density calculator using the dimensions provided by the shipper.

In the billing adjustment, the carrier reported that the actual dimensions were somewhat different.

Notice that the weight used for both calculations was 525 pounds. The only differences were a few inches in the package’s length, width and height. But, because those seemingly minor differences reduced the density of the freight, they also raised the freight class.

The billing adjustment in this case was $66.61 more than a third of the original shipping bill.

Some people figure if they can’t get the actual weight of their freight, they can guess high on it, which will have them covered. That might be true for shipping parcels, but it doesn’t work with freight. With freight shipping, when you guess high on weight, you’re thinking high on the density, which artificially lowers the freight class.

One option is to consider investing in a freight scale. The cost of investing in a scale that gives you the most accurate weight for your freight will help you avoid more billing adjustments and save you more money the more you ship.

It’s important to remember that the carrier will continuously measure and weigh shipments using their sophisticated tools. You could get hit with a billing adjustment when the carrier reports the actual weight, density, and freight class. Head spinning yet?

Here’s an example of how guessing the weight can cost you money, starting with the measurements provided by the shipper.

When we correct the length, width, and height to the actual measurements provided by the carrier, we see a decrease in density and a bump in freight class from 125 to 175.

But when we take the next step and correct the weight by subtracting 125 pounds, the freight class jumps to 250.

The difference in freight class from 125 to 250 is substantial. The billing adjustment for these corrections cost the shipper $151.03 on top of the original shipping fee of $406.08. It’s a good idea to invest in an industrial-size freight scale.

Letting you in on a little secret – not all pallets are “standard” size. For example, on the FreightCenter LTL quote form, Section 4 is for “Items to be Shipped.” There is a drop-down for the type of packaging you used for your shipment, and the first three listings in that dropdown are for “Standard” pallet sizes. Those three options can help create a guesstimate of shipping costs, but a shipper should always confirm whether or not their pallets are “standard” size. As a rule of thumb, the most common-sized pallets are:

Pallets should always be measured, and any measurement that includes a fraction of an inch should be rounded up to the next whole inch. After measuring and you determined that your pallet is not a standard size, in our example, the fourth item on the packaging dropdown should be selected—Pallets (enter dimensions)—and the accurate measurements should be entered in the total dimensions area.

In this example, a customer shipping a sophisticated piece of industrial equipment thought his pallet was a standard pallet.

Here’s how the item was shipped, based on the shipper’s input.

The carrier reported that the measurements were quite different in the billing adjustment.

In this unfortunate case, the billing adjustment exceeded the original shipping cost based on the shipper’s input. We suggest triple checking the measurements of your palletized shipment, and as we can see here, don’t just assume you have a standard pallet or don’t guess the size of your pallet, as this can be a costly mistake.