Shipping Tires Freight Class Guide
Tires typically classify around Class 92.5, in the 9-14 lb/ft³ density range. Passenger and light-truck tires, stacked.
Calculate Tires Freight Class
Enter your actual shipment dimensions and weight below. Typical tires run 20-25 each 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 Tires the Right Way
Stacking Technique Prevents Toppled Loads
Tires stacked too high or without banding can topple during hard braking or turns, so most carriers stack tires in bound bundles or use pallet boxes that keep the stack rigid and secure for the entire trip.
Sidewalls Are Easy to Damage in Transit
A cut, puncture, or crushed sidewall can make a tire unsellable even though the tread looks perfect, so tire freight needs to be loaded and blocked in a way that keeps stacks from rubbing or shifting against trailer walls and other freight.
Bundle Dimensions Drive the Actual Class
Freight class is based on the bundled or palletized footprint of stacked tires, not a single tire's dimensions, so shippers should measure the completed stack including any banding or pallet box rather than working from a spec sheet.
Tires: What Carriers and Shippers Look For
Tires are bulky, round, and awkward to palletize, which makes stacking technique the biggest factor in how well a tire shipment survives transit. Density lands them in a mid tier freight class, but the real challenges are keeping stacks from toppling, protecting sidewalls from punctures or cuts, and building loads that use trailer space efficiently despite the tire's naturally round, hard to cube shape.
Why Tires Classify Around Class 92.5
Passenger and light truck tires typically run 9 to 14 pounds per cubic foot once stacked, which puts most shipments in the Class 92.5 range under the standard density table. Tires are an interesting case because their round shape wastes trailer space even when stacked efficiently, so the density calculation accounts for a fair amount of unavoidable void space between and around each tire in the stack.
Stacking and Packaging Tips
Tires shipped loose without banding or a pallet box are far more prone to shifting and toppling than tires secured in bundles. Most shippers who move tire freight regularly use banded stacks or purpose built tire pallets that keep the load rigid and give forklift operators a stable, predictable unit to move.
Sidewall protection matters as much as stack stability. Stacks positioned against trailer walls or other freight without padding risk rub damage over a long haul, and even minor sidewall cuts can be enough for a tire to fail inspection and get rejected at delivery.
Equipment and Handling Notes
Dry van is standard for tire freight, and no temperature control is needed for most passenger and light truck tires under normal shipping conditions. Drivers should block and brace tire stacks carefully, since round, stacked freight has less natural resistance to shifting than square boxed freight and can roll or topple more easily if load bars are skipped.
Common Shipping Mistakes
The most common mistake is loading loose, unbanded tire stacks that shift or topple in transit, leading to damaged sidewalls and a messy, time consuming reload at the destination. The second is measuring freight class from a single tire's dimensions rather than the actual bundled or palletized stack, which almost always understates the void space and results in an inaccurate class.
Related Automotive
Carriers Hauling Tires
“Tire loads roll if you let them. I've learned to check every stack's banding before I leave the dock, because a loose stack is a mess waiting to happen.”
“Sidewall damage is the complaint I hear most from receivers. A little padding between stacks and the trailer wall saves a lot of rejected freight.”