Negotiating Freight All Kinds

The process of receiving an LTL freight shipping quote begins when the shipper states the NMFC (National Motor Freight Classification) class of their cargo. The NMFC freight classes vary based on the specific commodity – from class 50 to class 500. Usually, the higher the class results in a higher cost for shipping by truck. If the shipper has freight shipments from many different NMFC classes, then receiving a quote as a freight class listed as FAK (Freight All Kinds) might be the solution.

When listed with Freight All Kinds, the shipper’s LTL cargo will have the same shipping class for all of the items. For example, if a shipper’s freight includes items from NMFC classes 70-150, then a Freight All Kinds class can be used with a negotiated shipping rate. Many carriers will suggest using Freight All Kinds in this case to save time and eliminate unnecessary communication for determining different trucking rates. It is a great practice to use for businesses that ship trucking freight at multiple NMFC classes. It usually applies only to LTL shipping. Another related term in consolidated shipping.

In a way, the shipper will be pooling their freight together and be granted an waiver for their higher classes. That is why shippers should speak to a trusted freight forwarder and work on negotiating a fair rate based on their lowest freight class or the average of their freight classes. Shipping Freight All Kinds is not for every shipper, but for those shippers who constantly ship freight at many different classes, it is a nice option.