NCC density guidelines come under fire

By Ray Bohman -- Logistics Management, 4/1/1999

Are you familiar with the National Classification Committee's "Density Guidelines?" You don't hear very much about them, and if you looked through the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC), you wouldn't even find them. Yet for the first time in several years, they are very much in the spotlight.

First, a little background. The National Classification Committee (NCC) is charged with establishing a classification rating on every commodity listed in the NMFC. To do this, the NCC must consider four--and only four--of the commodity's transportation characteristics: density (weight per cubic foot), stowability, handling, and liability (mostly value per pound). If all other factors are within normal ranges, the controlling factor is density, which is based on an industrywide average for that commodity. Thus, to determine which of the NMFC's 18 classification ratings a commodity should be assigned, the NCC applies its Density Guidelines--a chart showing the density ranges for each class.

With one exception, these NCC Density Guidelines have remained essentially unchanged since 1945. Recently, however, NASSTRAC (the National Small Shipments Traffic Conference) filed an application with the NCC seeking a major revision of the Density Guidelines. The group argues that an update is needed to reflect what it claims is a 25-percent reduction in the average density of the commodities transported by the trucking industry over the past 54 years. This would be accomplished by lowering the minimum average density needed to qualify for a particular class. (See the accompanying chart.)

In this writer's opinion, NASSTRAC will have one tough job trying to sell its proposal to the full NCC membership. For one thing, the shippers' group will have to show just how it arrived at its calculation that the average density of commodities transported by truck has fallen by 25 percent. So far as this writer can determine, no meaningful study on this subject has ever been undertaken. It could be 14 percent, or maybe 32 percent, for all we know. The 25-percent figure appears to be nothing more than someone's guesstimate.

The group also will have to convince the NCC that the present guidelines are so far out of whack that a wholesale revision is in order. This would be particularly tough to prove, given that over the past 20 years, the NCC has, based on my observation, made a yeoman's effort to apply its current Density Guidelines fairly. When its research has shown that densities on particular commodities have decreased, it has proposed--and in many cases, approved--increased ratings. On the other hand, when shippers have proposed lower ratings, substantiated by heavier densities, the committee many times has approved reductions, again applying the current guidelines. It has been--and continues to be--a two-way street, with the NCC consistently applying the same ground rules.

You and I know full well that if NASSTRAC prevailed, the carriers participating in the NMFC would be unable to absorb such a major cut in their revenues. Freight rates would, without question, be increased commensurately. The final outcome would, in my view, clearly end up as a wash--making the entire effort a meaningless exercise.

Minimum Average Density Class Minimum Average Density

(Current) (Proposed)

30.00 - 34.99 60 23.00 - 25.99

12.00 - 13.49 85 9.00 - 9.99

9.00 - 10.49 100 7.00 - 7.99

7.00 - 7.99 125 5.00 - 5.99

6.00 - 6.99 150 4.50 - 4.99

4.00 - 4.99 200 3.00 - 3.99

Ray Bohman is a well-known consultant and author. Mr. Bohman is editor of several highly successful newsletters on transportation and is a consultant to a number of national trade associations. He is president of The Bohman Group, consultants and publishers in the freight-transportation field. His offices are located at 27 Bay Lane, Chatham, MA 02633. Phone: (508) 945-2272.