Freight class is the rating LTL carriers use to price a shipment, and for disposables it is now almost purely a function of density: pounds of product per cubic foot of trailer space. Cups, clamshells, and cutlery kits are mostly air, so they measure low density, land in the most expensive class tiers, and pick up more freight cost per dollar of product than almost anything else a foodservice operation buys. If you have ever wondered why a $37 case of cups showed up with $9 of freight on it, this is the mechanism.
This guide covers how classing works after the 2025 NMFC overhaul, the PCF math, the accessorial fees that surprise first-time LTL buyers, why delivered pricing exists, and when to pallet versus parcel.
How freight class works, and what changed in 2025
The National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC), maintained by the NMFTA, assigns every commodity a class from 50 to 400 based on four transportation characteristics: density, handling, stowability, and liability. Class 50 is the cheapest freight to move (dense, durable, stackable). Class 400 is the most expensive. Two shipments of identical weight can differ several-fold in price purely on class.
The big change: effective July 19, 2025, NMFC Docket 2025-1 moved a large block of commodity-based listings to straight density-based classification. Freight with no special handling, stowability, or liability issues is now classed on a standardized 13-tier density scale (expanded from the old 11 subprovisions, with new classes 50 and 55 added at the dense end). Before the change, many items carried a fixed class regardless of how they cubed out. After it, the dimensioner at the carrier terminal effectively sets your price: measured cube and scale weight go in, class comes out.
For packaging buyers this cuts both ways. Dense freight (foil rolls, cased aluminum pans, bulk cutlery) got access to cheaper classes. Light, bulky freight got nowhere to hide.
The density math: PCF
Density is pounds per cubic foot (PCF):
PCF = total shipment weight (lb) ÷ (length × width × height in inches ÷ 1728)
Measure the handling unit as it ships: pallet included, overhang included, to the top of the highest case. Here is the standardized density scale in effect since July 19, 2025 (confirm your specific commodity’s NMFC listing with your carrier, since handling, stowability, or liability issues can override density):
| Density (PCF) | Class |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 400 |
| 1 to under 2 | 300 |
| 2 to under 4 | 250 |
| 4 to under 6 | 175 |
| 6 to under 8 | 125 |
| 8 to under 10 | 100 |
| 10 to under 12 | 92.5 |
| 12 to under 15 | 85 |
| 15 to under 22.5 | 70 |
| 22.5 to under 30 | 65 |
| 30 to under 35 | 60 |
| 35 to under 50 | 55 |
| 50 and up | 50 |
Illustrative calculation (round numbers, not a rating for any specific product): a pallet of nested cold cups stacked to 48 × 40 × 60 inches is 115,200 cubic inches, or 66.7 cubic feet. If the loaded pallet weighs 240 pounds, density is 240 ÷ 66.7 = 3.6 PCF. On the scale above, that pallet prices in class 250 territory, and a fluffier load that cubes under 2 PCF prices at class 300 or 400. That is the whole story of disposables freight: the trailer is sold by the cubic foot, and a pallet of cups buys a lot of cubic feet with very few billable pounds.
PET Cold Cups: current case pricing
All 19 SKUs →| Product | Pack | Case | Per unit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 oz PET Clear Cold Cup — 78mm Rim — 1000ct | 1000ct | $20.23 | $0.020 | Volume quote → |
| 8 oz PET Clear Cold Cup — 78mm Rim — 1000ct | 1000ct | $20.29 | $0.020 | Volume quote → |
| 10 oz PET Clear Cold Cup — 78mm Rim — 1000ct | 1000ct | $23.37 | $0.023 | Volume quote → |
| 9 oz PET Clear Cold Cup — 92mm Rim — 1000ct | 1000ct | $23.37 | $0.023 | Volume quote → |
Public case pricing, freight quoted separately. Volume and contract pricing on request.
What low density does to landed cost
Work it through on a real case from our catalog. Our 16 oz PET clear cold cup (98mm rim, 1000 per case) runs $37.49 per case, which is $0.0375 per cup (catalog price, SKU 622663). Now add an illustrative freight allocation: if an LTL shipment works out to $180 across 20 cases, that is $9.00 per case, or $9.00 ÷ 1000 = $0.009 per cup. Landed cost becomes $0.0375 + $0.009 = $0.0465 per cup. Freight just added 24% on top of product cost ($0.009 ÷ $0.0375 = 0.24), and nobody touched the price of the cup.
The same freight dollars spread very differently across dense product. A case of 18-inch by 500-foot standard foil ($87.13 per roll case in our catalog) packs several times more product value into each cubic foot of trailer, so its freight percentage is a fraction of the cup’s. This is why quotes that look identical on product price can differ meaningfully on landed cost: the winner is usually whoever handled the freight better, not whoever shaved a dime off the case.
Two ways to fight the percentage. First, order quantity: freight has a large fixed component per shipment, so 20 cases on one pallet lands far cheaper per case than 5 cases four times. Second, density blending, covered below.
Accessorials: the fees that surprise first-time LTL buyers
The linehaul rate is only the starting point. Accessorial charges are added per service event, each per the carrier’s tariff, and they are where first invoices go sideways:
| Accessorial | What triggers it |
|---|---|
| Liftgate | Delivery address has no loading dock, so the trailer needs a powered gate to ground the pallet |
| Residential / limited access | Delivery to a home, church, school, storage unit, or anywhere without a commercial dock and open access |
| Redelivery | Nobody available to receive; the carrier returns another day and bills the second attempt |
| Reweigh / reclassification | Terminal dimensioner or scale disagrees with the bill of lading; shipment rebills at the corrected class |
| Detention | Driver waits beyond the allotted unload time |
| Inside delivery | Driver moves freight beyond the tailgate or threshold |
Two of these deserve special attention for packaging. Liftgate is nearly universal for restaurants, caterers, and small warehouses without docks, so it should be assumed in any quote you compare. And reclassification is the sleeper: under density classing, if your declared dimensions were optimistic, the dimensioner catches it and the corrected invoice arrives after delivery, sometimes weeks later.
FOB origin vs delivered pricing
Freight terms decide who owns all of the above. Under FOB origin (common in wholesale), you take ownership at the supplier’s dock: you pick the carrier or accept theirs, you pay the freight invoice directly, and every accessorial, fuel surcharge, and reclass adjustment is your problem. Under delivered pricing, the seller quotes one number that includes freight to your door and owns the variance.
For large distributors with freight desks and negotiated carrier tariffs, FOB origin is fine and often preferable. For a small or mid-size buyer moving a few pallets at a time, delivered pricing is genuinely protective: you compare quotes on one all-in number, a surprise reweigh bill lands on the shipper instead of you, and the shipper’s negotiated LTL pricing (built on volume you do not have) is baked into the quote. This is why our quotes are delivered: the landed number you approve is the number you pay. Our freight calculator also gives ZIP-to-ZIP estimates before you ever talk to anyone.
The same logic applies to import-exposed categories, where tariffs stack on top of freight in the landed number. See the Section 301 tariff guide for how duty changes flow through case prices.
Fuel surcharges ride the diesel index
Nearly every LTL tariff adds a fuel surcharge (FSC), a percentage of linehaul indexed to the weekly published on-highway diesel price and adjusted as the index moves. When diesel runs up, every shipment in the country quietly gets more expensive with no rate change on paper. It floats week to week, which is one more variable FOB-origin buyers carry and delivered pricing absorbs.
Diesel matters enough to landed cost that we track it live: the market dashboard on our homepage shows the current Lower Atlantic diesel price daily, alongside the resin and commodity inputs that drive the product side of the price.
Mixed pallets vs parcel
Rules of thumb by order size:
- 1-2 cases: parcel. But know that parcel carriers bill light bulky boxes on dimensional weight (cube-based billing), so a large case of cups is billed as if it weighed far more than it does. Parcel is convenient at this size, not cheap.
- Several cases and up: a shrink-wrapped pallet on LTL. One handling unit, one rating, and dramatically less crush damage than loose cases riding parcel conveyors.
- Mixed orders: this is where small buyers leave the most money. Because the pallet is rated on its overall density, stacking dense product low (aluminum pans, foil, cased cutlery) and light product high (cups, clamshells, lids) raises the blended PCF of the handling unit compared to shipping the light items alone. A mixed pallet also spreads the fixed freight cost across your whole order instead of concentrating it on one SKU.
Practically: consolidate your disposables order (cups plus matching lids, containers, foil, bags) into one delivered shipment instead of ordering categories piecemeal. Fewer shipments, denser pallets, lower landed cost per case.