Having been in the rack business for over 20 years, I want to give you my best guess as to where I think warehouse racking freight classification in the shipping industry is going in the coming years and how that will affect pallet rack freight class.
With the arrival of new LTL freight rate hike for pallet racking (see post below dated Nov. 6) I come to you with a prognostication. One of which is already starting to take hold in the logistics and transportation industry.
I believe that in 2-3 years freight carriers will scrap the freight classes and classify all material and loads by PCF (or pounds per Square foot). There are already companies doing it this way including the big boys UPS and Conway.
The problem with current freight classification system is you can look at many products in different classes because of there different characteristics and that can cause confusion. A candy dish to one person could be a glass bowl to another.
To simplify shipping classifications ALL loads would be judged by length x width x height divided by weight = Pounds per square foot. This just seems to make the best sense.
