Commodity Classifications Released

Feb. 20, 2008
The successor of the National Classification Committee held its first meeting since being reorganized under a Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruling

The successor of the National Classification Committee held its first meeting since being reorganized under a Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruling that abolished all antitrust immunity for the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA). That ruling last May went into effect in December.

The new procedures that followed the reorganization allow for the continued development and maintenance of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) without the need for antitrust immunity while facilitating continued input from carriers, shippers and third parties, said the NMFTA.

In attendance at both the Open Meeting of the Commodity Classification Standards Board (CCSB) and Open Meeting of the Classification Resource Committee (CRC) was antitrust counsel Charles E. Buffon, a partner at the nationally recognized law firm of Covington and Burling, Chair of the firm’s Antitrust and International Trade Umbrella Group, to ensure that meeting procedures and processes were in compliance with antitrust regulations and requirements.

“This was a very successful meeting in all accounts,” stated Larry Kerr, NMFTA’s chairman and president and the CEO of Shippers Express, Inc., Jackson, MS. “The meetings were well attended and represented by carriers, shippers and third parties. It was also the first meetings of the CCSB and CRC established in full compliance of antitrust regulations to ensure that the Classification continues to be meaningful and relevant.”

The CCSB discussed 19 classification proposals of which shipper appearances were present at 4 proposals being considered. Dispositions are published and available for viewing on NMFTA’s Website (www.nmfta.org).

The next meeting of the NMFTA/CCSB/CRC will take place June 1–3, 2008 at the Old Town Crowne Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia.

On behalf of participating member motor carriers, NMFTA’s autonomous CCSB maintains the NMFC. NMFTA also assigns and publishes the Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCAC),a unique two-to-four-letter code used to identify transportation companies worldwide, and the Standard Point Location Codes (SPLC), a nine-digit numeric code designed to provide each point originating freight and each point receiving freight in North America with a unique number so constructed as to identify the point with its geographic location.

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