Some Important Basics When Shipping Between Canada and the United States or Mexico:
Freight Classes
When you're shipping goods between Canada and the U.S. or Mexico, it is important to know your product's "class"- how your product is defined by the trucking industry.
How Freight Classes are Determined
In the world of international shipping, different types of products-chemicals, machine parts, or toaster ovens-are defined according to their makeup. Each product "definition" is called a classification. The class of your freight plays a prominent role in calculating how much your carrier will charge you for transporting it.
There are eighteen possible freight classes, ranging from class 50 to class 500. Several elements, including the value and density of your product, determine its classification.
Ping-pong balls, for example, are class 500 (the most expensive class) because of their density-or the lack of it! Because ping-pong balls aren't very dense, you can fill an entire trailer with them without having much weight loaded.
Since international rates are partially based on weight and density, the rate per hundred pounds for transporting ping-pong balls across the border would be higher than for something like machine parts, which are heavy but take up less space.
The NMFC
Freight classes are catalogued in the National Motor Freight Classification tariff, commonly referred to as the NMFC.
The NMFC is a publication for motor carriers containing rules, descriptions, and ratings of all commodities moving in commerce. The publication is used to classify freight for rating (cost) purposes. Reimer Express is a participating member of the National Motor Freight Classification.
With page after page of item numbers, commodity descriptions, and freight classes, the NMFC is an excellent reference book for the transportation professional. It describes both shippers' and carriers' responsibilities. The NMFC includes:
- A list of carriers who participate in the NMFC.
- Descriptions of each item or commodity.
- Rules specifically for shippers.
- Packaging requirements.
- Rules for freight loss and damage claims.
In addition to defining the various classes of shipping commodities, the NMFC also assigns item numbers to each type of commodity. The item number is related not only to the commodity itself, but to its packaging, the material from which the commodity is made, and other considerations. Commodity classifications and item numbers are both factors in assigning transportation rates.
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