Talking Supply Chain: Big changes come to LTL shipping

The National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) system, which has provided a standardized method of identifying and classifying freight for over 70 years, is undergoing its most significant overhaul in decades. Keith Peterson, director of operations at the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA), joined the Talking Supply Chain podcast to explain the rationale and impact of these changes, which officially take effect on July 19, 2025. The revised system emphasizes density-based classification, streamlining the number of commodity codes and modernizing how freight is categorized for today’s shipping environment.

Peterson explained that this shift from a commodity-based to a density-based approach was driven by the evolving nature of goods and how they’re transported. “Let’s just put it on a full-scale density system,” he said, noting that the goal is to improve simplicity, uniformity, and accuracy. In this new system, if a commodity does not present handling, storability, or liability concerns, it is moved to a density scale that applies consistent classes across different freight types.

The changes are extensive—99 proposals impacting more than 2,000 items were consolidated into the largest docket in NMFTA history. To ease the transition, NMFTA is providing training webinars, online tools, and even launched a new website, ClassIT+, with APIs and enhanced system integration options.

Peterson walks listeners through the changes, and how they can educate themselves to improve their LTL shipping process.

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