FedEx Freight Begins Enforcing NMFC Updates
Enforcement Starts After 150-Day Delay
Key Takeaways:
- The NMFC changes are intended to reflect the cost of shipping freight more closely by shifting the LTL segment of the freight market from commodity-based to density-based classifications.
- Freight market watchers considered it the biggest change in the LTL sector since perhaps deregulation of the entire trucking industry in 1980.
- The earlier 11-tier system was replaced by a 13-subprovision density scale. The changes reclassify more than 2,000 NMFC items.
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FedEx Freight began enforcing National Motor Freight Classification updates Dec. 1 after a 150-day delay.
The less-than-truckload unit of FedEx Corp. ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest LTL carriers in North America. FedEx Corp. ranks No. 2 on TT’s Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America.
“After giving our customers additional time to prepare, FedEx Freight will begin enforcing the NMFC changes on Dec. 1. We delayed enforcement to help our customers adapt and ensure a smooth transition to the new, streamlined NMFC classes,” a spokesman told TT ahead of the start of enforcement.
Shipments with incomplete or inaccurate information on the bill of lading could now be subject to an inspection surcharge, according to the carrier.
The introduced the changes to the NMFC on July 19.
NMFTA also introduced a revamped digital classification platform, , to aid industry participants’ transition.
Today’s the day. The 2025 changes are NOW LIVE, and Docket 2025-1 is officially in effect.
Check what's changed;
Update your teams; and
Explore + for real-time data.
— National Motor Freight Traffic Association (@NMFTA)
NMFC is a standardized format for comparing LTL freight between states or internationally.
Each NMFC freight class helps determine the shipping cost based on how tricky it is to transport.
Changes Introduced in July
The changes are intended to reflect the cost of shipping freight more closely by shifting the LTL segment of the freight market from commodity-based to density-based classifications.
July’s updates were tabbed earlier in 2025 by freight market watchers as the biggest change in the LTL sector since deregulation of the entire trucking industry in 1980.
FedEx Freight offered the penalty postponement in the days after the introduction of the changes.
“Customers who want to begin using the new classes now are welcome and encouraged to do so; there is no requirement to wait until Dec. 1,” it said in July.
The earlier 11-tier system was replaced by a 13-subprovision density scale. The changes reclassify more than 2,000 NMFC items.
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Prior to the update, Clete Cordero, NMFTA chairman and vice president of pricing and traffic for Southeastern Freight Lines, said, “As a carrier, we see firsthand how misclassifications and outdated interpretations can create inefficiencies for everyone involved.”
Southeastern ranks No. 24 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 10 among LTL carriers.
The most efficient LTL carriers post lower operating ratios. OR provides insight on how well a company is balancing its costs and revenue generation. The lower the ratio, the better a company’s performance.
Top-ranked FedEx Freight said it was delaying enforcement to ensure customers had ample time to fully adopt processes and pricing for the new classifications.
After the changes, FedEx Freight said shippers could expect:
- Standardized density scales for LTL freight with no handling, stowability and liability issues
- Unique identifiers for commodities with special handling, stowability and liability needs
- Condensed and modernized commodity listings
A Y2K Moment?
A couple of months after the changes were introduced, Cordero’s fellow fleet executives said the LTL sector had yet to fully digest the updates but that progress had been smoother than anticipated.
Are you ready for the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) changes? On July 19, freight density will become the primary classification factor for LTL. Download our playbook to learn what the new tiers mean for LTL shippers and how to prepare: — Uber Freight (@UberFreight)
How long digesting the changes takes would depend on how quickly and strictly players in the segment enforced reclassification fees, attendees at the 2025 FTR Transportation Conference in Indianapolis heard Sept. 9.
On a panel at the conference, when asked how the reclassification was progressing, Echo Global Logistics Senior Vice President Marty Martin said, “I’d put it in the TBD category.”
Echo ranks No. 21 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies in North America and No. 5 among freight brokers.
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Fellow panelist and Pitt Ohio Vice President of Pricing Shawn Galloway characterized the July 19 changes as “LTL’s Y2K moment, where we thought the whole world was going to fall apart and it didn’t.”
The biggest change was for shippers previously only shipping under a single class item, Martin said, adding that now those companies must consider the density of their freight.
Mid-Atlantic regional carrier Pitt Ohio ranks No. 45 on the for-hire TT100 and No. 14 among LTL players.
“I think we’re far from seeing the final result of this change,” Martin said. “There’s going to be a point — and it may be years down the road — where we look back at this as just the first step in many towards what everyone, or what a lot of people have said for a long time what they want, which is to simply work on dimension-based pricing. And to eventually move away from class-based rating.”
On Sept. 3, the NMFTA sought industry feedback on further NMFC changes: Docket 2025-2.
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