What is freight class 65?

Freight class 65 is the NMFC rating for freight with a density of 22.5 - 30 pounds per cubic foot under the current density scale (Docket 2025-1, effective July 2025). Typical examples: bottled drinks, boxed car parts, packaged food.

What density is class 65?

Class 65 covers 22.5 - 30 lb per cubic foot. Bands are inclusive at the lower edge and exclusive at the upper edge.

Is class 65 expensive to ship?

Lower classes are cheaper per pound. Class 65 is position 4 of 13 on the current scale, so it prices toward the cheap, dense end of LTL freight.

Freight Class 65: Density Range, Typical Freight & Cost Position

What ships at class 65

Class 65 covers the 22.5 - 30 pcf band, which catches a lot of everyday industrial freight: bottled beverages, boxed automotive parts, dense packaged food. The band is wide at 7.5 pcf, so most shipments sit comfortably inside it rather than on an edge.

Worked example. A standard pallet: 48 × 40 × 40 in, 1150 lb. That is 44.4 cu ft and 1150 lb → 25.88 pcf → class 65. Open this example in the calculator →

Where the edges are. On that same 48 × 40 × 40 in pallet (44.4 cu ft), class 65 covers every weight from 1,000 lb up to 1,333 lb; at 1,334 lb it rates class 60 and at 999 lb it rates class 70. 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 22.5 pcf is class 65, but just below it the class gets more expensive — 22.49 pcf rates class 70. A few pounds of packaging or an inch of pallet height can move a borderline shipment across that line.

Commodities that commonly rate class 65

Freight quoted in this band, with the density logic and a worked example for each: auto parts · batteries · books · food · machinery · printed material.

Where class 65 sits on the scale

Freight class runs from 50 (densest, cheapest per pound) to 400 on the current density scale. Class 65 is band 4 of 13.

Either side of this band: denser freight (30 - 35 pcf) rates class 60, which is cheaper; lighter freight (15 - 22.5 pcf) rates class 70, 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.