If you ship freight in the US, the price of a pallet depends on its freight class — and freight class depends on density. In July 2025 the rules underneath that system changed: the NMFC moved to a new density scale (Docket 2025-1, effective July 19, 2025) with 13 classes running from 50 to 400. Under the new scale, freight under 1 pound per cubic foot is class 400; at 50 pounds per cubic foot and above, it is class 50.
The catch is that a class change is a price change. The same pallet, at the same density, can land in a different class under the new scale than the old one — and a surprising number of online calculators quietly kept using the old scale after July, so shippers have been quoting with numbers the carriers no longer use.
CheckFreightClass is a small free tool built on the current scale: enter a shipment's weight and dimensions and it returns the density and the class under the 2025 rules, with the full 13-class table published on the site for anyone who wants to check the working. One honest limit, stated on the site: a density-based class is the starting point for a quote, not a guarantee — carriers can still reclassify freight on inspection, and individual NMFC items can carry their own rules.