Freight class 85
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 85 covers freight from 12 lb/ft³ up to but not including 15 lb/ft³. After five consecutive bands of exactly two pounds per cubic foot, this one widens to three, and the class step from the band below is only 7.5 points, the smallest change in the scale so far.
Class 85 by the numbers
Class 85 is subprovision 8 of 13 in the current scale, and NMFTA's published wording for it is "12 but less than 15".
The band one step lighter is class 92.5 (10.00 ≤ density < 12.00 lb/ft³). The band one step denser is class 70 (15.00 ≤ density < 22.50 lb/ft³).
It spans 3.00 lb/ft³, wider than 6 of the other 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 85 covers shipments weighing 640.00 lb or more but less than 800.00 lb.
Where the two-pound run ends
From subprovision 3 through subprovision 7 the bands are a uniform two pounds wide. This band breaks that pattern at three pounds, and the two above it are wider still, ending with a fifteen-pound span. The widening is a feature of the published scale rather than a quirk, and it means the density needed to gain a class keeps rising even as the class gained keeps falling.
The step into this band is small: moving from class 92.5 to class 85 is 7.5 points, the same size as the gap between the two class values themselves. For freight in this range the practical question is less often how to gain a class and more often whether the density scale applies to the shipment at all.
Frequently asked
How wide is this band compared with the ones before it?
Three pounds per cubic foot, against two for each of the five bands from 2 lb/ft³ to 12 lb/ft³. It is the first band in the scale to widen beyond the two-pound pattern.
When does the density scale stop applying to a shipment?
When the freight has unusual handling, stowability or liability characteristics. Those shipments are classified on those characteristics instead of on density, and density classification is also subject to NMFC Item (Rule) 170.