Freight shipping cost estimator: a rough range from your inputs

How the estimate works

• Low and high = miles × your low and high rate per mile, or the minimum charge if that's higher.
• Plus fuel per mile × miles, if your rates don't include fuel, and any accessorials.
• Per hundredweight = the range ÷ (weight ÷ 100). Per pallet = the range ÷ pallets.
• Density = weight ÷ cubic feet, where cubic feet = pallets × length × width × height in inches ÷ 1,728.

Everything rests on the rate range you enter, which the tool labels as your assumption. We don't supply a market rate, because a number without a source and a date would only look precise. Use quotes you've received, a dated market report, or a range from a carrier or broker you trust. Totals are rounded to the nearest $25.

A worked example

EXAMPLE: 18 pallets, 30,000 lb, each pallet 48 × 40 × 60 inches, moving 800 miles as a full truckload. You've seen all-in quotes on similar lanes between $2.00 and $2.60 a mile.

The range is wide because the assumption is wide, and that's honest: the same lane can price very differently on a Monday in a busy season and a Thursday in a slow one. Narrow it by getting real quotes for your dates.

Full truckload, LTL and freight class

This estimator is built around full truckload pricing, where you pay for the truck and the rate per mile drives the cost. Smaller shipments often move LTL, sharing a trailer with other freight, and LTL pricing uses weight, distance and freight class instead. Class comes from the National Motor Freight Classification, and density now plays a larger role in setting it 470686. The estimator shows your density so you can check the class with the current NMFC or your carrier; it doesn't assign one, because handling and liability factors can change the answer.

For per-pound and per-hundredweight comparisons between quotes, the freight rate per cwt and per pound calculator goes further.

Reading the result

The range

Treat the middle of the range as a planning number, not a price. If a quote comes in far outside it, ask why: a tight pickup window, heavy weight, special equipment, or a lane trucks avoid can all justify a higher price. A quote far below the range deserves a question too: check who will actually haul it, whether the price includes fuel, and what happens to the price if the truck waits at your dock.

Per hundredweight and per pallet

These help you compare a truckload price with LTL quotes, or split the cost across products or customers. A full truck of light freight can cost far more per pound than heavy, dense freight on the same lane.

Density

Low density means the freight takes space without much weight, which usually costs more per pound in LTL. Measure carefully; a few inches of height on every pallet can move a shipment into a different class.

What changes a truckload price

• Lane balance. Freight into an area with little going back out costs more, because the truck may leave empty.
• Lead time. Same-day loads cost more than loads booked days ahead.
• Appointments and waits. Tight windows and long dock times reduce how many carriers want the load.
• Equipment and handling. Reefer, flatbed with tarps, oversize or hazmat cost more than standard dry van.
• Fuel. When diesel rises, all-in rates and surcharges follow.

Getting a real quote: what to have ready

A carrier or broker can only price what they know. Have these ready and you'll get faster, firmer answers:

• Pickup and delivery addresses with ZIP codes, and whether each is a business dock, a residence or a job site.
• Ready date, delivery deadline, and whether appointments are fixed or flexible.
• Commodity, total weight, piece or pallet count, and dimensions.
• Equipment needed: dry van, reefer with temperature, flatbed with or without tarps, liftgate.
• Loading and unloading: live or drop, dock or ground level, who loads.
• Anything special: hazmat, high value, stackable or not, extra stops.

Measuring freight correctly

Measure each pallet at its longest, widest and tallest points, including the pallet itself and anything that overhangs. Round up to the next inch. If pallets differ, measure each one and add up the cubic feet rather than using one size for all. Weigh on a certified scale when you can; estimated weights that turn out wrong are a common reason for a changed invoice after delivery, especially in LTL where density sets the class.

Where we sit in the chain

Shippers pay brokers or carriers; brokers pay carriers; carriers pay their costs. We work only on the carrier's side as a dispatch service. We don't take shipper freight, set shipper rates, or collect freight payments. If you're a carrier, the rate per mile calculator is the tool for judging what a load pays you, and our dispatch service negotiates loads for your truck. If you're building a brokerage, see how freight brokers find shippers. Carriers can apply here; more tools are on the tools page.