The National Motor Freight Classification changes for LTL shipments will go live July 19, 2025 and carriers such as A. Duie Pyle have been preparing for it.
The industry has had ample time to adjust to the upcoming changes from the National Motor Freight Traffic Association’s overhaul, as they’ve been working on it for several years. The changes will focus on density, so denser shipments will become cheaper while less dense ones will become more expensive.
“I believe the carriers are ready for the change to the extent they can,” John Luciani, A. Duie Pyle COO of LTL solutions, told Trucking Dive in an interview.
How A. Duie Pyle prepared for the LTL classification shift
To prepare for the upcoming changes this month from the NMFTA, Luciani said A. Duie Pyle has been very active by participating in the association’s meetings and adding more dimensioners in anticipation of the classification changes.
A. Duie Pyle is using the Cubiscan 1200 model. The device hangs on the ceiling, a shipment is placed into a box and the dimensioner scans and takes a picture of the freight. The picture is able to help calculate the cube of the shipments and loads the figure onto the company's ERP system, Luciani said.
The Pennsylvania-headquartered company was already using these devices in its largest service centers but they did invest more in anticipation to the NMFC changes. The carrier is adding 12 more dimensioners to 22 currently in its network, Luciani told Trucking Dive. It also added second units in its larger service centers to reduce delay and travel time in its dock operations, he noted.
Although not new, the company also has a research department that will aid in the upcoming changes.
“We have experts as it relates to understanding classification, the current classification system. Whether it’s an item that’s class 55 that has a sub item, we have a number of freight inspectors in the company that are experts in that area,” Luciani said.
The members in that department handle weights and inspections. The company weighs about 85% of every outbound shipment and does dimensions to about 50% of every outbound shipment that moves in the company on a nightly basis.
The expected impact to the wider industry
The impact to the industry may vary but Luciani doesn’t expect any significant hangups during the first round of changes from the NMFTA.
A. Duie Pyle has advised its customers that the NMFC changes are going to be a revenue-neutral event, he said.
“I don't expect a customer to tell me, ‘Hey, you know, with this change, my freight bill is going to go down $40 a shipment,’” Luciani said. Or conversely, he doesn’t expect to call customers and tell them their freight bills are going up $40 a shipment.
“We're a privately held, family-owned business. We have had the same family ownership all 101 years. Our pricing strategy, it's always been to charge, provide a very super competitive service, an industry leading service,” Luciani said.
“I don't expect these changes to be to be very significant, at least initially,” he added.
