How do you calculate freight class for a shipment with multiple pallets?

For a multi-pallet shipment on one bill of lading, carriers rate the whole line on its aggregate density: add up the weight of every handling unit, add up the volume of every handling unit, and divide total weight by total volume once. That single density maps to one NMFC class for the entire shipment. You do not class each pallet separately and average the results.

Can you average the freight classes of each pallet?

No. Averaging the individual pallet classes gives the wrong number because density does not average linearly. The correct method is aggregate density — total weight divided by total volume for the whole shipment, computed once — which then determines a single class on the 2025 NMFTA scale.

Aggregate Class Calculator

Enter every pallet on the shipment and get the one shipment-level NMFC class carriers actually rate the line at — total weight over total volume, divided once. It’s the aggregate-density method single-input tools get wrong, and it’s the number that decides the bill on a mixed load.

Shipment aggregate density

0 lb total ÷ 0 cu ft total

0.00

lb / cu ft (PCF)

Shipment NMFC Class —

How each unit rates on its own

Unit	Size	Qty	Density (PCF)	Class
Shipment	—	0	0.00	—

Why a mixed shipment has one class

Put three different pallets on one bill of lading and the carrier doesn’t rate them one at a time, and it doesn’t average their classes. It rates the whole line on its aggregate density — every unit’s weight summed, every unit’s volume summed, then divided once. That single density lands the entire shipment in one NMFC class on the 2025 NMFTA scale.

The reason it isn’t an average is that density doesn’t average linearly. A heavy, dense pallet next to a light, bulky one pulls the combined density toward whichever one owns more of the total cube — not to the midpoint of their class numbers. Class each pallet on its own and average, and you’ll quote a number the bill won’t match.

The pallets each have a class. The shipment has a different one — and the shipment’s is the one you pay.

A worked example

Say a line has two handling units: one dense pallet and one light, oversized crate.

Unit	Weight	Volume	Own class
Dense pallet	1,200 lb	40 cu ft	Class 60
Light crate	600 lb	60 cu ft	Class 100
Aggregate	1,800 lb	100 cu ft	Class 70

Individually the units rate Class 60 and Class 100. Averaging those would suggest Class 80 — which isn’t even a real class. The honest method sums to 1,800 lb over 100 cu ft, or 18 PCF, which is Class 70 for the whole line. That’s the number the carrier rates and the number your quote should carry.

When to reach for this

Any time more than one handling unit ships on a single BOL line: mixed consolidations, an LTL line with several SKUs, a partial that combines a machine and its crated spares. Enter each unit above — with its own size, weight, and how many of it — and the tool returns both each unit’s standalone class and the aggregate class that actually bills.