Shipping Printed Materials Freight Class Guide
Printed Materials typically classify around Class 60, in the 25-35 lb/ft³ density range. Boxed catalogs, brochures, and printed goods.
Calculate Printed Materials Freight Class
Enter your actual shipment dimensions and weight below. Typical printed materials run 1,200-1,800/pallet lb, but your exact class depends on your specific shipment's measured density.
Measure the full footprint including packaging, and include pallet weight in your total. Carriers will re-measure at the terminal.
Shipping Printed Materials the Right Way
Moisture Is the Biggest Threat
Printed materials absorb moisture readily and warp or stick together when exposed to humidity or a wet trailer floor, so shrink wrap and a dry, sealed trailer matter more for this commodity than for almost any other in the category.
Weight Adds Up Fast on Small Pallets
A standard pallet of printed catalogs or brochures can approach the practical weight limit for hand-stacking well before it reaches a typical pallet height, so forklift handling is standard even though the freight itself isn't unusually bulky.
Banding Prevents Sheet Shift
Loose stacks of printed material can shift and fan out under normal transit vibration, so banded or shrink-wrapped bundles that keep sheets pressed together prevent the bent corners and creased covers that generate claims on print runs.
Printed Materials: What Carriers and Shippers Look For
Printed materials, catalogs, brochures, and similar bulk printed goods, are dense and heavy for their size, since tightly stacked paper leaves almost no air gap between sheets. A typical density of 25 to 35 pounds per cubic foot lands most shipments around Class 60, one of the cheaper classes on the table. The main handling concerns here are moisture protection and pallet weight limits rather than the cube-out planning that dominates lighter paper and packaging freight.
Why Printed Materials Classify Around Class 60
Palletized printed materials typically run 25 to 35 pounds per cubic foot, a high density reflecting how tightly stacked paper packs relative to its weight. That places most shipments around Class 60, among the cheaper classes on the table and notably lower than most other paper and packaging commodities. Glossy, coated stock tends to run denser than uncoated paper, which can pull an individual shipment's class toward the lower end of that range.
Packaging Tips That Protect the Class
Banding or shrink wrapping printed material into tight bundles before palletizing keeps sheets pressed together, which protects density and prevents the fanning and shifting that damages covers and edges during transit.
Corner boards under the shrink wrap add stacking strength without meaningfully affecting the pallet's measured footprint, which helps on multi-pallet shipments stacked two high in the trailer.
Moisture and Handling Notes
Dry van is standard for printed materials, and moisture protection deserves more attention here than on denser building materials, since paper absorbs humidity readily and can warp or block together if the trailer isn't sealed and dry. Pallets should be kept off a wet dock floor during loading and unloading, not just protected during transit.
Common Shipping Mistakes
Loading printed material pallets onto a damp trailer floor or leaving them exposed on an open dock during a wait is the most common source of moisture damage, even on shipments that never see rain directly.
The second mistake is under-banding tall pallets, which lets the top layers shift and lean during transit and can compromise the stability of a double-stacked load.
Related Paper & Packaging
Carriers Hauling Printed Materials
“Printed material freight is heavier than people expect for how flat it looks. I always confirm the pallet weight before I stack anything else against it.”
“I've seen a whole pallet of catalogs ruined by sitting on a wet dock overnight. Now I keep this freight off the ground whenever I can.”