FedEx Freight prices an LTL shipment on its total weight, its freight class, the distance, the service you pick and a fuel surcharge, with extra services such as a liftgate on top. This guide walks through each one, works an example, and covers the charges that most often change a FedEx Freight bill.
What sets a FedEx Freight rate
1. Total weight
LTL rates are quoted per hundred pounds and drop as a shipment crosses each weight break, so a heavier shipment pays less per pound. Small shipments pay at least a minimum charge.
2. Freight class
Freight class reflects how easy a shipment is to handle, carry and protect,[1] and a lower class pays a lower rate. For most freight the class comes from density: the weight in pounds divided by the size in cubic feet. The National Motor Freight Classification's density scale changed on July 19, 2025.[2] It now runs from class 50, at 50 lb per cubic foot and up, to class 400, under 1 lb per cubic foot. Some commodities still carry a class of their own for handling or value reasons.
LTL doesn't use parcel-style dimensional weight. A shipment's size counts through its density, and through the trailer-space rules further down.
3. Distance
The pickup and delivery ZIP codes set the lane. Longer lanes cost more, though not in proportion to the miles.
4. Service
Priority, with delivery typically in 1 to 3 days, costs more than Economy, which typically takes 3 to 6 days.[3] What FedEx Freight Priority and Economy are covers the difference.
5. Fuel surcharge
FedEx Freight adds a fuel surcharge that it adjusts weekly, calculated from the published US on-highway average price of diesel.[4] The fuel surcharge calculator shows how a percentage surcharge adds up on a freight charge.
A worked example
One pallet, 48 x 40 inches and 48 inches tall, weighing 500 lb:
- Cubic feet: 48 x 40 x 48 = 92,160 cubic inches, divided by 1,728 = 53.33 cubic feet
- Density: 500 lb ÷ 53.33 cubic feet = 9.38 lb per cubic foot
- Class: 8 to under 10 lb per cubic foot is class 100
Build the same 500 lb to 40 inches tall instead, and it's 44.44 cubic feet, 11.25 lb per cubic foot: class 92.5. The same freight on a shorter, denser pallet ships at a lower class. The freight class estimator runs this math for any shipment, and the freight class guide has the full scale.
Extra charges that change a FedEx Freight bill
These come from FedEx Freight's rules tariff, FXF 100-Y. The amounts change when FedEx Freight reissues it, so they aren't printed here. Your quote prices liftgate and residential delivery from the services you pick, and overlength from the dimensions you enter, so enter each piece's real size.
- Liftgate: charged per hundred pounds, with a minimum and a maximum, when the pickup or delivery needs one because there's no dock (Item 890).
- Residential delivery: a flat charge per shipment, delivered to the front or back door or the garage, with a liftgate charged separately (Item 750-2).
- Overlength: any piece 8 feet or longer on its longest side pays an overlength charge, which steps up at 12, 15, 18 and 20 feet. FedEx Freight may refuse a piece 12 feet or longer (Items 525 and 530).
- Trailer space: a shipment that takes 15 linear feet of trailer and is 5 feet or wider (or can't have identical freight loaded beside it) is priced by the space it takes, not by weight and class (Item 390).
FedEx Freight size and weight limits has these limits in one table.
Carriers also inspect and reweigh freight. When the weight or class found at the dock differs from the bill of lading, the shipment is rerated.
The FedEx Freight Box
FedEx Freight introduced a flat-rate box for smaller LTL shipments in 2016: up to 1,200 lb, priced by zone with no freight class, in a standard size that sits on a pallet and a smaller size with a pallet built in.[5] The most recent rate table we found is FedEx's for 2025, so check with FedEx Freight that it's still offered. It's bought directly from FedEx Freight, so it isn't one of the options our quote books.
Ways to keep a FedEx Freight shipment's cost down
- Measure and weigh before you quote. A rerate after pickup costs more than an accurate quote.
- Build dense, stable pallets. Higher density means a lower class, and freight that stays inside the pallet's edges arrives in better shape.
- Ship from and to a dock when you can. A dock saves the liftgate charge.
- Keep pieces under 8 feet on their longest side, where the freight allows it.
- Choose Economy when the delivery date isn't tight.
- Compare carriers on the lane. Another LTL carrier can price the same shipment lower. Our LTL quote compares FedEx Freight with other carriers, and the LTL shipping cost guide shows typical ranges. The FedEx Freight carrier page covers quoting and booking FedEx Freight through us.
FedEx Freight size and weight limits covers packing a shipment so it ships at the class and size you quoted.
Ready to price a FedEx Freight shipment?
Get a FedEx Freight quote or compare every carrier on your lane, chat with Allison, or call (877) 345-3838.
Sources
- FedEx Freight, “Calculate freight shipping costs,” accessed October 26, 2026.
- NMFTA, “NMFTA Implements Historic NMFC Changes, Launches ClassIT+,” 2025-07-21.
- FedEx Freight, “LTL shipping services,” accessed October 26, 2026.
- FedEx Freight, “FedEx Freight fuel surcharges,” accessed October 26, 2026.
- FedEx, “FedEx Freight Greatly Simplifies Shipping with New FedEx Freight Box,” July 5, 2016.
