subject: What Is A Freight Class? [print this page] There are a lot of numbers and classifications that courier companies use to come up with the amount that they eventually quote or charge their clients. The average courier in Atlanta though will be able to tell you that the most important of these is the freight class, which is the basic assessment of the size of the package that they are going to carry.
Size and weight are actually both part of the freight class. Sometimes people aren't sure why both of these are used instead of only one of them. This is because of the limitations that are present in all vehicles in terms of how many packages a courier can fit on a single load.
The size is important because every vehicle out there that is used for shipping products of any kind has a literal size footprint and maximum volume capacity. Regardless of how much the packages weigh, if they are too large you will not be able to fit any more in the vehicle. However, just because there is more room in a vehicle, does not mean that you can still fit more packages in that shipment.
That is because all vehicles have a weight limitation as to how much they can carry. This is chiefly a safety measure, although it also helps control costs as the heavier a load on a vehicle, the more fuel they consumer. There are laws in place which regulate shipping weights, which is why you see so many weigh stations on major highways. Therefore, the size and weight are both important figures in calculating how many packages will go in a single vehicle, which is why they are both part of the freight class.
The freight class can still be adjusted based on factors other than just the physical specifications of the package. These adjustments are made when there is anything out of the ordinary about the package which will require that it be handled in a special way, or require any special equipment.
Things like the requirement of special trailers or refrigerated transportation would adjust the freight class. The class essentially is meant to assess a reasonable amount for the courier to bill you for your shipment. The freight class is used with other numbers like the distance that your package has to be shipped to come up with the final amount that you will be billed for.
