Magento 2 Freight Class for LTL Shipping: Complete Guide

If your Magento 2 store sells heavy, oversized or palletized products, standard parcel shipping through UPS or FedEx may not always be the best option.

Many B2B and industrial eCommerce stores need LTL (Less Than Truckload) freight shipping instead.

One of the most important pieces of information used when requesting an LTL freight quote is the freight class.

Incorrect freight class configuration can result in inaccurate shipping quotes, unexpected carrier charges or no freight rates appearing at Magento checkout.

In this guide, we’ll explain freight class, how it affects LTL rates and how Magento 2 stores can use product-level freight information to calculate more accurate shipping rates.

What Is LTL Freight Shipping?

LTL stands for Less Than Truckload.

It is generally used when a shipment is too large or heavy for normal parcel shipping but does not require an entire truck.

For example, a Magento store may sell:

• Commercial furniture
• Flooring
• Building materials
• Industrial equipment
• Machinery
• Automotive parts
• Restaurant equipment
• Electrical supplies
• Plumbing supplies
• Doors and windows
• Cabinets
• Large hardware
• Palletized products

Instead of shipping these products as ordinary FedEx or UPS parcels, the products can be placed on one or more pallets and transported by an LTL freight carrier.

What Is Freight Class?

Freight class is a classification used in LTL shipping to help determine how a commodity should be transported and priced.

Different commodities can have different freight classes.

The classification can be influenced by characteristics such as:

• Density
• Handling requirements
• Stowability
• Liability

The freight class used for a shipment can have a significant effect on the final LTL shipping rate.

That makes freight class particularly important for eCommerce stores that display real-time freight quotes during checkout.

Why Freight Class Matters in Magento 2

Consider a Magento store selling commercial furniture.

A customer purchases:

4 commercial chairs

Magento knows:

• Product price
• Quantity
• Product weight

But the freight carrier may need considerably more information.

For an accurate LTL quote, the carrier integration might need:

• Origin ZIP code
• Destination ZIP code
• Total weight
• Product dimensions
• Freight class
• Number of handling units
• Residential/commercial status
• Liftgate requirement
• Other accessorial services

Magento therefore needs to convert product and cart information into the format required by the freight carrier’s API.

A typical flow looks like:

Magento Product

↓

Product Weight + Dimensions + Freight Class

↓

Magento Shopping Cart

↓

LTL Shipping Extension

↓

Carrier REST API

↓

Real-Time Freight Quote

↓

Magento Checkout

If the freight information sent to the carrier is incorrect, the rate returned to the customer may also be incorrect.

Common Freight Classes

Freight classes commonly range from lower classifications such as:

Class 50

through higher classifications such as:

Class 500

Lower-density, fragile or difficult-to-handle products can generally result in higher classifications, while dense and easier-to-handle commodities may fall into lower classes.

However, merchants should not guess the freight class of their products.

The appropriate classification should be determined using the applicable freight classification information and your carrier or freight specialist when necessary.

Freight Class vs Product Weight

A common Magento shipping mistake is assuming that weight alone determines the LTL shipping cost.

It doesn’t.

Consider two products.

Product A

Weight:

500 lbs

Dimensions:

48 × 40 × 20 inches

Product B

Weight:

500 lbs

Dimensions:

96 × 48 × 72 inches

Both products weigh exactly 500 lbs.

But Product B occupies considerably more space inside a truck.

The freight rate therefore may not be the same.

This is why dimensions, density and freight classification can be important when calculating LTL shipping.

Understanding Freight Density

Density represents how much weight occupies a given amount of space.

At a basic level:

Density = Weight ÷ Cubic Volume

Suppose a pallet weighs:

600 lbs

and its dimensions are:

48 × 40 × 48 inches

First calculate cubic inches:

48 × 40 × 48 = 92,160 cubic inches

Convert cubic inches to cubic feet:

92,160 ÷ 1,728 = 53.33 cubic feet

Then calculate density:

600 ÷ 53.33 = approximately 11.25 lbs per cubic foot

This density information can be relevant when determining the appropriate classification and shipping rate.

Why Dimensions Matter

Dimensions are especially important for products such as:

• Furniture
• Mattresses
• Cabinets
• Flooring
• Machinery
• Large automotive components
• Building materials

A lightweight but very large product occupies valuable trailer space.

This can make it more expensive to transport than another product of the same weight.

For Magento stores selling these types of products, storing only a product weight may not provide enough information for sophisticated freight calculations.

Adding Freight Information to Magento Products

A custom Magento freight integration can store shipping information at the product level.

For example, a product could contain attributes for:

Freight Class

70

Length

48

Width

40

Height

36

Weight

350 lbs

The shipping extension can read these attributes when Magento collects shipping rates.

This allows the carrier request to be constructed using information associated with the actual products in the customer’s cart.

Example Magento Product Configuration

Imagine a store selling a commercial table.

The Magento product could contain:

The customer orders:

Qty: 4

The Magento shipping integration can then use the product information to determine how the shipment should be prepared for the LTL carrier API.

Depending on the integration, products may be:

• Combined
• Packed separately
• Grouped into pallets
• Grouped according to freight class

Multiple Freight Classes in One Magento Cart

Real-world B2B carts can contain products with different freight classes.

For example:

Product A → Class 50

Product B → Class 70

Product C → Class 125

A Magento LTL extension needs a strategy for handling these products.

Depending on the carrier API and business requirements, the integration may:

• Send separate freight line items
• Group products with the same freight class
• Build multiple handling units
• Calculate palletized shipment information

This is one area where custom LTL shipping integrations can be much more sophisticated than standard parcel shipping.

Combining Products by Freight Class

Consider this cart:

Product A

Freight Class: 70
Weight: 200 lbs

Product B

Freight Class: 70
Weight: 150 lbs

Product C

Freight Class: 125
Weight: 100 lbs

A custom Magento integration could group:

Class 70

Total weight:

350 lbs

and:

Class 125

Total weight:

100 lbs

The resulting freight request can then represent the different commodities appropriately.

The exact implementation depends on the requirements and API of the LTL carrier.

What Happens When Freight Class Is Wrong?

Incorrect freight classification can cause several problems.

1. Incorrect Checkout Rates

Magento may display a freight price that does not reflect the actual shipment.

2. Carrier Reclassification

A carrier may inspect the shipment and determine that a different classification applies.

3. Additional Charges

The merchant may receive a higher freight bill than the amount collected from the customer.

4. Lost Margin

For example:

Magento customer pays:

$280 shipping

Actual freight bill:

$390

The merchant loses:

$110

If this happens regularly, incorrect freight configuration can become a significant profitability problem.

Freight Class and NMFC

You may also encounter the term NMFC when working with LTL freight.

NMFC refers to the National Motor Freight Classification system.

A commodity can have an NMFC identification associated with its classification.

Depending on your carrier and shipping workflow, you may need information such as:

• NMFC number
• Commodity description
• Freight class

Magento does not automatically know this information for every product.

It may need to be stored as product attributes or supplied by a shipping integration.

Magento LTL Shipping Flow

A typical Magento LTL rate request might work like this:

Customer Adds Heavy Product

↓

Magento Reads Weight

↓

Magento Reads Dimensions

↓

Magento Reads Freight Class

↓

Customer Enters Shipping Address

↓

Determine Residential or Commercial

↓

Determine Accessorial Requirements

↓

Build Freight Shipment

↓

Send Request to LTL Carrier API

↓

Carrier Returns Freight Rate

↓

Display Rate at Magento Checkout

This process happens while the customer is shopping, so the integration also needs to be reliable and efficient.

Residential vs Commercial LTL Shipping

Another major factor in freight pricing is the destination type.

A delivery to:

Commercial warehouse with loading dock

can be very different from:

Residential home

Residential freight delivery may require additional services and charges.

Magento stores selling B2B and B2C products therefore need to determine whether a shipping destination is commercial or residential.

This can be handled through:

• Customer selection
• Magento customer data
• Automatic address validation
• Carrier address classification API

Automatic detection can reduce incorrect freight quotes.

What Is Liftgate Delivery?

A liftgate is used when the destination does not have equipment such as a loading dock or forklift to unload freight.

For example:

Warehouse with loading dock

may not need liftgate service.

But:

Home

Small office

Retail location without loading dock

may require one.

Liftgate service normally involves an additional carrier charge.

If your Magento store sells heavy products, you may need to provide a liftgate option during checkout or automatically apply it based on the destination.

Limited Access Locations

LTL carriers may also apply additional charges for certain delivery locations.

Examples can include:

• Schools
• Churches
• Construction sites
• Farms
• Government facilities
• Storage facilities
• Some commercial locations with restricted access

Your Magento freight integration may need to collect this information or apply appropriate accessorial services when requesting the rate.

Inside Delivery

Some customers need freight moved beyond the normal delivery point.

This may require an inside delivery service.

Because additional carrier charges may apply, Magento should include the service in the freight quote when the customer requests it.

Freight Shipping for B2B Magento Stores

LTL shipping is particularly important for Magento B2B stores.

A B2B customer might purchase:

20 chairs

10 tables

15 cartons of flooring

or:

1,500 lbs of industrial components

Trying to rate these shipments as individual parcel packages may be inefficient or expensive.

A Magento LTL integration can instead request a freight quote based on the complete shipment.

Popular LTL Carriers for Magento Stores

Magento can be integrated with many freight carriers and logistics providers.

Depending on API availability and merchant requirements, integrations may include carriers such as:

• Estes
• R+L Carriers
• XPO
• TForce Freight
• Central Transport
• FedEx Freight
• Echo Global Logistics
• GlobalTranz
• Other regional and national LTL providers

The objective is similar for each integration:

Magento Cart → Carrier API → Real-Time LTL Rate

Multi-Carrier LTL Rate Shopping

Some businesses use more than one LTL carrier.

For example:

Carrier A → $315

Carrier B → $287

Carrier C → $342

Depending on the integration, Magento can potentially retrieve multiple quotes and apply business logic to determine which options should be displayed.

Possible rules include:

• Lowest rate
• Preferred carrier
• Fastest transit
• Customer-specific carrier
• Warehouse-specific carrier
• Destination-specific carrier

This can be particularly valuable for high-volume B2B stores.

When Should Magento Switch From Parcel to LTL?

A store may need both parcel and freight shipping.

For example:

Cart under configured conditions

→ UPS/FedEx parcel

Heavy or freight-designated cart

→ LTL carrier

The decision should not necessarily be based on weight alone.

Business rules might consider:

• Individual product weight
• Total cart weight
• Dimensions
• Freight-only product attribute
• Pallet requirement
• Product category
• Shipping destination

A custom Magento shipping extension can automate this decision.

Magento Freight Shipping Checklist

Before enabling live LTL rates, verify:

• Product weights are accurate.
• Product dimensions are accurate where required.
• Freight classes are correctly assigned.
• Origin ZIP code is correct.
• Carrier credentials are valid.
• Residential/commercial logic is configured.
• Liftgate rules are configured.
• Freight-only products are identified.
• Multiple freight classes are handled correctly.
• Carrier API errors are logged.
• Rates have been tested against carrier quotes.
• Staging tests have been completed before production.

Need Magento 2 LTL Freight Shipping Integration?

EcomPlugins specializes in Magento 2 and Adobe Commerce shipping integrations for parcel and LTL freight carriers.

Our Magento shipping solutions support integrations for multiple freight carriers and can be customized for complex B2B shipping requirements.

Depending on the carrier and extension, functionality can include:

• Real-time freight rates
• Product-level freight classes
• Weight-based shipping
• REST API integration
• Residential/commercial delivery
• Liftgate options
• Address validation
• Custom price markups
• Free shipping rules
• Multi-carrier integrations

View Magento 2 Shipping Extensions

Explore Magento Shipping Integration Services

Contact EcomPlugins for Custom Magento LTL Integration

Frequently Asked Questions

What is freight class in Magento 2?

Freight class is shipping information used when calculating LTL freight rates. Magento can store freight class as product data and send it to a freight carrier through a custom or third-party shipping integration.

Does Magento 2 support LTL shipping by default?

Magento provides a shipping framework, but advanced LTL requirements such as freight classes, pallets, liftgate service and carrier-specific freight APIs generally require additional integration or customization.

Can every Magento product have a different freight class?

Yes. A Magento implementation can use a product attribute to store a different freight class for each product.

Can a Magento cart contain multiple freight classes?

Yes. The shipping integration can group or transmit products with different classifications according to the requirements of the carrier API.

Does product weight determine freight class?

Not by itself. Density, handling, stowability and liability can also be relevant to freight classification.

Can Magento automatically calculate freight density?

Yes. If accurate weight and dimensional information is available, custom Magento logic can calculate density and use it as part of the freight shipping workflow.

Can Magento automatically switch between UPS/FedEx and LTL?

Yes. Custom shipping logic can determine whether a cart should use parcel or LTL shipping based on weight, product attributes, dimensions or other business rules.

Does EcomPlugins support custom LTL carriers?

Yes. EcomPlugins provides Magento shipping integration services and can develop custom integrations when a carrier provides a suitable API.