subject: Explaining Freight Class For First Time Shippers [print this page] Many Atlanta courier services regularly help businesses in moving goods and machines from one location to another destination. Businesses need their raw material transported to them, their output transported to their customers, other markets within the country or exported to other nations, or their capital equipment moved for maintenance and repair. The haulage, shipping or courier companies are used to carry these items to their destinations if the business does not operate its own proper trucking department.
Therefore moving items from one place to another has costs associated with it and these costs vary according to the type of the item being moved. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) has classified products that are shipped or hauled in to various categories according to their weight, storability, handling and liability. This standardization was necessarily brought into the freight movements to bring predictability and confirmation of freight charges, other expenses and insurance coverage that would be required when items are being transported.
Businesses and individuals can now easily estimate the cost of transporting the item they require moved based on NMFTA's classification of products. It is this classification of products that is called Freight Class; there are 18 freight classes, 50 being the least costly while 500 representing the most expensive class. These codes or freight classes represent the risks and costs associated with the type of goods being represented by the class. Atlanta courier, shipping or haulage services all require that the business or individuals select the correct freight class for domestic or international transport of the goods.
Every carrier or shipping company picks up or collects the goods from a certain place, be it the port's yard or company's warehouse, weighs it at designated terminals and verifies the weight and freight class provided by the business or individual at the Bill of Landing document. Most shipping or hauling companies impose charges on their customers if they bear additional expenses due to incorrect freight declaration. Similarly, customers are also charged for extra efforts needed to facilitate the goods' transport.
Pertaining to each freight class, NMFTA has also prescribed its rules and requirements for packing and transportation of that class of goods. It is therefore very important for any business or individual to correctly identify and mark the class of their item being transported because failing to do so will lead to the business or individual being charged higher than necessary and hurdles in case a situation arises where an insurance claim has to be made.
