LTL Freight Pricing Demystified: Strategies to Cut Costs and Improve Efficiency

In the second session of SMC3’s 2025 LTL Online Education Hybrid Series, Jenni McCammon, Senior Sales Director for Truckload at Ascend, offered an inside look at how less-than-truckload (LTL) freight operations turn a profit—or lose one.

McCammon drew on her extensive experience to break down the often-overlooked complexities of LTL, from freight classification to pricing strategies, as well as the role technology is playing in shaping the future of the industry.

A Winding Road into LTL

McCammon’s career in transportation wasn’t the result of a lifelong plan, but rather a chance discovery during college. Initially pursuing a career in marketing, she found herself drawn into logistics—a world that quickly clicked for her.

Jenni McCammon, Senior Sales Director for Truckload at Ascend:

“Logistics and transportation have just always felt like home to me. It just makes sense.”

Decoding Freight Classification

For newcomers to LTL, freight classification can feel like a foreign language. McCammon stressed that understanding how products are classified is a foundational skill for anyone working in the industry.

“Unfortunately, you do have to know the class right now. It is something you need to understand, because it’s how the billing gets done.”

She explained that freight classification ties directly to density—how much space an item takes up relative to its weight. Knowing the class helps determine the shipping rate and getting it wrong can lead to billing disputes or inflated costs.

The Pricing Challenge

LTL pricing isn’t as simple as looking up a rate in a table. McCammon described the process as “incredibly complicated and convoluted.”

After all, there are thousands of lanes, fluctuating discounts, and special contract terms that are constantly changing how prices get calculated. McCammon spoke to the importance of asking carriers for spot quotes, as well as understanding the factors that