Freight class 55
Enter length, width, height, and weight to see the density and the density-based class.
Freight class
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- Volume
- — ft³
- Density
- — lb/ft³
- Subprovision
- —
This is a density-based estimate using the 13-subprovision density scale from NMFC Docket NMFC-2025-1. Actual classification is also affected by handling, stowability, and liability characteristics, and the density scale applies only when those issues are absent. Your carrier makes the final call.
| Sub | Density (lb/ft³), as published | Class |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Less than 1 | 400 |
| 2 | 1 but less than 2 | 300 |
| 3 | 2 but less than 4 | 250 |
| 4 | 4 but less than 6 | 175 |
| 5 | 6 but less than 8 | 125 |
| 6 | 8 but less than 10 | 100 |
| 7 | 10 but less than 12 | 92.5 |
| 8 | 12 but less than 15 | 85 |
| 9 | 15 but less than 22.5 | 70 |
| 10 | 22.5 but less than 30 | 65 |
| 11 | 30 but less than 35 | 60 |
| 12 | 35 but less than 50 | 55 |
| 13 | 50 or greater | 50 |
Class 55 covers freight from 35 lb/ft³ up to but not including 50 lb/ft³, a span of fifteen pounds per cubic foot. That makes it the widest band in the scale, twice the width of the next widest, and it is one of the two bands that the Docket 2025-1 expansion added at the top.
Class 55 by the numbers
Class 55 is subprovision 12 of 13 in the current scale, and NMFTA's published wording for it is "35 but less than 50".
The band one step lighter is class 60 (30.00 ≤ density < 35.00 lb/ft³). The band one step denser is class 50 (density ≥ 50.00 lb/ft³).
It spans 15.00 lb/ft³, the widest of the 10 bounded bands in the scale.
In a handling unit measuring 40 × 48 × 48 in — about 53.33 ft³, an illustrative size rather than a standard pallet specification — class 55 covers shipments weighing 1866.67 lb or more but less than 2666.67 lb.
The widest band, and one of the two new ones
A fifteen-pound window is wide enough that the class is almost insensitive to packing inside it. Freight at 36 lb/ft³ and freight at 49 lb/ft³ are both class 55, while a difference of that size would have spanned several classes in the middle of the scale.
This band did not exist before the 2025 expansion. The scale grew from eleven subprovisions to thirteen, with the two new bands sitting above 35 lb/ft³. Everything at or above that density previously fell into a single top band, so dense freight now separates into three classes where it once had one.
Frequently asked
Is 50.00 lb/ft³ class 55 or class 50?
Class 50. The interval for class 55 ends below 50, so a density of exactly 50 lb/ft³ is the first density in the top band.
What changed at the top of the scale in 2025?
The scale was expanded from eleven subprovisions to thirteen, adding two bands above 35 lb/ft³. The top of the scale now separates into class 60, class 55 and class 50 instead of a single band.