Tools
Freight density calculator, and where class comes from
Independent site, not a government agency or a customs broker. General information, not legal advice or customs advice.
Enter a shipment’s weight and dimensions: its density in pounds per cubic foot, which you can give your carrier when you ask for the class.
Freight density
Density
9.4 lb/ft³
| Volume | 53.3 ft³ |
Density only. The class itself comes from the NMFC, a licensed publication we could not read: ask your carrier for the class.
Density is weight divided by volume. To find it for freight, divide the weight in pounds by the volume in cubic feet, and the volume is length times width times height in inches, divided by 1,728. A pallet of 500 pounds measuring 48 by 40 by 48 inches is 53.3 cubic feet, so about 9.4 pounds per cubic foot. This tool stops at density and gives no freight class, and that is deliberate. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association, which publishes the National Motor Freight Classification, refused our reader on November 2, 2026. So we could not read its current tables or its terms, and any class chart we printed would be unverified. Give your carrier the density and the description of the goods, and ask for the class and item number in writing. Then use the same figures in your other quotes, so that you compare like with like, and keep the carrier’s answer with your shipment file in case of a dispute.
Chargeable weight
You pay for
16 kg
| Actual weight | 12 kg |
| Volume weight | 16 kg |
| Which one counts | volume |
The divisor is an input: carriers set their own, and we could not read UPS’s or FedEx’s published page on 2 November 2026.
Rates read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
By hand
Multiply length, width and height in inches, and divide by 1,728 for cubic feet. Divide the weight by that number. For several pieces, add the weights and add the volumes, then divide one by the other.
What we will not print
We could not check a class chart at its source, so we give you a figure you can verify, and a clear question to put to your carrier.
Other figures
If your carrier bills by volume weight and a divisor, that is the second tool on this page. A federal rule on minimum trailer lengths is covered on the trailer page.