What is freight class 60?

Freight class 60 is the NMFC rating for freight with a density of 30 - 35 pounds per cubic foot under the current density scale (Docket 2025-1, effective July 2025). Typical examples: books, hardwood flooring, lead-acid batteries.

What density is class 60?

Class 60 covers 30 - 35 lb per cubic foot. Bands are inclusive at the lower edge and exclusive at the upper edge.

Is class 60 expensive to ship?

Lower classes are cheaper per pound. Class 60 is position 3 of 13 on the current scale, so it prices toward the cheap, dense end of LTL freight.

Freight Class 60: Density Range, Typical Freight & Cost Position

What ships at class 60

Under the previous 11-sub scale, class 60 was the best rating density alone could earn: sub 11 applied to anything 30 pcf or greater. Docket 2025-1 narrowed sub 11 to 30 - 35 pcf and put two cheaper classes below it, so dense freight that has been quoted at 60 for years is worth re-measuring. At 30 - 35 pcf you are still in solidly cheap territory: think full pallets of books, flooring, or lead-acid batteries.

Worked example. A standard pallet: 48 × 40 × 36 in, 1290 lb. That is 40.0 cu ft and 1290 lb → 32.25 pcf → class 60. Open this example in the calculator →

Where the edges are. On that same 48 × 40 × 36 in pallet (40.0 cu ft), class 60 covers every weight from 1,200 lb up to 1,399 lb; at 1,400 lb it rates class 55 and at 1,199 lb it rates class 65. Enter your own shipment in the calculator and it tells you how far you are from either edge.

Band edges are inclusive at the bottom, exclusive at the top: exactly 30 pcf is class 60, but just below it the class gets more expensive — 29.99 pcf rates class 65. A few pounds of packaging or an inch of pallet height can move a borderline shipment across that line.

Commodities that commonly rate class 60

Freight quoted in this band, with the density logic and a worked example for each: aluminum · batteries · books · glass · lumber · plastic · printed material · steel.

Where class 60 sits on the scale

Freight class runs from 50 (densest, cheapest per pound) to 400 on the current density scale. Class 60 is band 3 of 13.

Either side of this band: denser freight (35 - 50 pcf) rates class 55, which is cheaper; lighter freight (22.5 - 30 pcf) rates class 65, which costs more.

The full table is on the freight class chart, and the calculator works out density and class from your dimensions, including multi-pallet shipments.

Density is the default, not the whole rule. Since Docket 2025-1 most commodities class by density, but items with unusual stowability, handling or liability characteristics can class differently. Confirm the NMFC item before the BOL goes out.