An NMFC number is not a class. It is the address of your commodity inside the National Motor Freight Classification, and the class is what sits at that address. A quote asks for both, because the number is the evidence and the class is the claim.
The item number is what a carrier checks when it disagrees with the class you wrote.
An item number identifies a commodity group inside a published classification. It is not a carrier rate, not a product code from your own catalogue, and not something derivable from a UPC. Two products that look nothing alike can sit under one item.
Items commonly carry sub numbers, and the sub is where the density brackets live. The accessorial reference Old Dominion publishes notes that abbreviated descriptions are permitted provided the NMFC item number and the appropriate sub number appear on the bill of lading, which shows how much work the sub is doing.
The classification is published by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association and amended through its dockets and its Freight Classification Development Center. A number a customer gave you three years ago is a number worth checking against the current book.
The NMFTA publishes the classification and the tools around it. These are the routes to an item number, and to a change in one, as listed on nmfta.org, read 2026-07-28.
| Resource | What it is for |
|---|---|
| ClassIT+ | The NMFTA platform for searching item numbers, working out density and settling a class before the shipment moves |
| The NMFC book | The classification itself, sold as a publication |
| Freight Classification Development Center | The body through which classification standards are developed and updated |
| Public dockets and disposition bulletins | The filed record of proposed changes, and of what was approved |
| Classification interpretation and SKU assistance | NMFTA support for deciding how a specific product should be classified |
There is no open public index of every item number, which is the honest answer to why so many shipping pages will not hand you one. The carrier quoting you has access. Ask it to confirm the item and sub it intends to bill against, then put both on the bill of lading.
Old Dominion states in its published accessorial reference that the customer or shipper is required to acquaint themselves with the proper description of articles in accordance with the NMFC. Getting the right item onto the document is not the carrier errand it is often treated as.
Carriers reserve the right to inspect packages and weigh a shipment against the description and weight recorded on the bill of lading, and to bill the customer on the corrected figures. That correction lands after delivery, on an invoice, when the goods are long gone.
Corrected bills of lading appear as a flat accessorial under item 365 of tariff ODFL 100-Q, effective January 7, 2026. Fixing a number before pickup is cheaper than fixing it afterwards, and considerably cheaper than having the terminal fix it for you.
Since the docket effective July 19, 2025 moved most commodities onto a density scale, a wrong item number matters slightly less often and a wrong measurement matters more. Both still end up on the same invoice.
We sell US domestic parcel labels, and we route pallet and LTL requests to a person. If you do not know your item number, say so when you send the details rather than guessing one; a description a carrier can work with beats a number nobody can support.
Describe the commodity to a person Read what the class does See where the number is recorded
It is the item number the National Motor Freight Classification assigns to a commodity group. The item, and usually a sub number under it, is what tells a carrier which class applies to your goods.
There is no open index of every item. The NMFTA publishes the classification through its ClassIT+ platform and the NMFC book, and the carrier quoting you can confirm the item and sub it will bill against.
It is the subdivision under an item, and it is usually where the density brackets sit. Carriers accept an abbreviated description on a bill of lading when the item number and the appropriate sub number are shown.
The NMFTA, through public dockets and its Freight Classification Development Center, with approved changes published in disposition bulletins. The docket effective July 19, 2025 moved most commodities onto a density scale.