subject: Freight Classes Deciphered [print this page] When you get a breakdown of the charges you're paying for your courier shipment, you are usually going to see something called the freight class. This is one of the most important figures that your messenger WI company is going to use to figure out how much to charge you for their services. The freight class is usually the starting point from which a quote is arrived at. The freight class used with the distance that the package is going to be shipped are the two most important numbers which allow the courier to come up with the correct rate to quote you, although that there are several other adjustments that are made to your rate after this initial fee is calculated. After the freight rate and distance are plugged into the company's pricing formula, all the fees and surcharges will be added on for things like the rental of extra equipment, special rush deliveries, and for requests that fall under their fee structure like placing shipments after hours or on weekends.
Whenever you contact a courier company to either place an order with them or to receive a shipping quote, you are immediately going to be asked for three pieces of information above all else. The first is going to be how far your shipment is going, but then they are going to need to know how large and how heavy your shipment is. These are the two primary figures that are going to be used to calculate your freight rate. There is another adjustment that is made to come to the final freight rate though, and that is if there are any peculiarities about your order which are going to make it harder to ship than normal. This would include any very large shipments which need special equipment to load, or that need specialized trailers. Also these adjustments to the freight rate could include something like extremely fragile packages which need to be handled very carefully.
Understanding freight class is important as it gives you a good tool for being able to accurately predict your companies shipping costs before you actually have to place your orders. Remember that both the size and the weight are important parts of the freight class. Also, knowing that this is how your prices are arrived at should make you aware that, if you want accurate quotes, you have to be sure to represent the weight and size of your shipments as accurately as possible.
