What is freight class 50?

Freight class 50 is the NMFC rating for freight with a density of 50 pounds per cubic foot or greater under the current density scale (Docket 2025-1, effective July 2025). Typical examples: bricks, steel bar stock, dense castings.

What density is class 50?

Class 50 covers 50 lb per cubic foot or greater. Bands are inclusive at the lower edge and exclusive at the upper edge.

Is class 50 expensive to ship?

Lower classes are cheaper per pound. Class 50 is position 1 of 13 on the current scale, so it prices toward the cheap, dense end of LTL freight.

Freight Class 50: Density Range, Typical Freight & Cost Position

What ships at class 50

Class 50 is the cheapest rating on the scale, and it is new: NMFTA added it as sub 13 of the density scale in Docket 2025-1, for densities of 50 pcf or greater. Before July 2025 the scale topped out at sub 11 - 30 pcf or more, class 60 - so very dense freight had nowhere cheaper to go. If you ship steel, brick, ingots or dense castings and your broker still quotes 60 as the floor, they are rating off the 11-sub scale.

Worked example. A standard pallet: 48 × 40 × 24 in, 1500 lb. That is 26.7 cu ft and 1500 lb → 56.25 pcf → class 50. Run your own numbers →

Band edges are inclusive at the bottom, exclusive at the top: exactly 50 pcf is class 50, but just below it the class gets more expensive — 49.99 pcf rates class 55. A few pounds of packaging or an inch of pallet height can move a borderline shipment across that line.

Where class 50 sits on the scale

Freight class runs from 50 (densest, cheapest per pound) to 400 on the current density scale. Class 50 is band 1 of 13.

Either side of this band: lighter freight (35 - 50 pcf) rates class 55, 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.