Crate Shipping: How to Ship a Crate and What It Costs

Crate shipping means building a wooden or metal crate around an item and sending it as LTL freight. It is the standard answer for freight that is heavy, fragile, valuable or an awkward shape: an engine, a machine, artwork, trade-show gear, an instrument. Most pages on the topic explain how to build a crate. Very few show what a crate does to the price, so we ran the numbers: 18 live LTL quote runs and 338 carrier prices for the same freight in a crate and on a pallet, plus 8-foot and 10-foot crates, on two lanes.

When to crate, and when a pallet is enough

A crate is a rigid box, usually plywood on a wood frame, that takes the knocks so the item does not. A pallet with stretch wrap, corner boards and straps holds stable, stackable goods together but gives little protection against crushing, vibration or a forklift tine. Packing guides, including FedEx’s freight packing guide for crates, point to crates for fragile, high-value, heavy or oddly shaped freight that needs extra protection.

If your freight already fits a standard pallet, read our pallet shipping guide first. A crate is worth the extra cost and weight when the item cannot take a bump, which is also what carriers’ liability limits imply: LTL carriers cap what they pay for damage, usually somewhere between $1 and $25 per pound, so protection is cheaper than a claim.

Crate vs. pallet: what we quoted

To see what a crate really adds, we quoted the same freight packed two ways. For each of three items (about 290 lb, 600 lb and 1,200 lb) we built a crate by adding 3 inches of wall and padding on every side and 15% to the weight (at least 40 lb), the same rule our engine and transmission guides use. The pallet version is a standard 48 x 40 inch pallet, 6 inches taller than the item and 45 lb heavier. Each was quoted on two lanes, with the freight class set by density.

“Typical” is the median of the carriers that quoted, 17 to 21 on each run. Comparing each carrier’s own crate and pallet quote tells the same story: where the class was the same, the crate averaged about 6% to 7% more (5.6% to 7.0% across the four runs). The extra is mostly the crate’s weight, about 135 lb more than the pallet on the heaviest item.

How crate size and length change the price

Size matters more than the crate itself. We quoted two long crates against a compact one: a 96 x 48 x 48 inch crate (8 feet long) weighing 1,000 lb, and a 120 x 48 x 48 inch crate (10 feet) weighing 1,200 lb. Both are lighter than the 1,380 lb compact crate, but both are far less dense, which puts them in class 125 instead of class 65.

Two things are working at once, and we cannot separate them in this test. Density drives the class (a bulky crate is class 125, a dense one class 65), and carriers have their own rules for long pieces: many add over-length charges at around 8 feet, and fewer carriers handle very long freight. Our 10-foot crate drew quotes from 16 carriers on one lane against 18 for the compact crate.

The cheapest quote moved too, from $442 to $807 on one lane and from $436 to $972 on the other, so shopping around does not remove the length effect. It does save more on a long crate: the typical quote sat $522 and $421 above the cheapest on the 10-foot crate, against $294 and $265 on the compact one. Learn how class pricing works in our freight class guide, and check density with the density calculator.

What delivery to a home adds

Crates often go to a house, a studio or a workshop. We re-quoted the 700 lb crate with residential delivery and a liftgate. Across the 17 carriers that quoted both versions (leaving out one outlier, Go2, whose price jumped by $2,745), the extra averaged $159, with a median of $167. The typical quote rose from $623 to $800, about 28%.

The spread is wide, from nothing to $312, so the cheapest carrier for a business-to-business delivery is not always the cheapest for a house. We cover liftgates in detail in our liftgate delivery guide and every other extra in our guide to LTL accessorial charges.

Crate planner: size, weight and class

Use the planner to turn an item’s size and weight into a crate’s outer size, packed weight, density and estimated freight class. It flags crates that reach the 8-foot mark, compares the crate with the same item on a pallet, and shows the closest real quotes from our test.

Crate planner: size, weight and freight class

Enter the item you want to crate. The planner adds crate walls and padding, estimates the packed weight, density and freight class, and shows the closest real quotes we collected.

How to crate freight for shipping

1. Size the crate to the item. Leave a few inches of padding on each side. Extra empty space adds cube and weight, and our tests show both raise the price. Our planner assumes 3 inches per side.
2. Use quality plywood and a solid frame. Crating guides, including FedEx’s, recommend quality lumber, ideally plywood, and caution against OSB, MDF and particleboard.
3. Brace it. Diagonal braces on panels add strength, and the heaviest parts go at the bottom.
4. Secure the item inside. Bolt, strap or block it so it cannot shift, and wrap loose parts. Fill empty space with padding.
5. Make it forkliftable. Build the crate on skids with openings for a forklift or pallet jack, or band it to a pallet, as FedEx’s guide advises.
6. Label it. Mark which end is up, mark fragile items, and attach the paperwork. Photograph the sealed crate before pickup, because the photos support a claim.
7. Weigh and measure the finished crate. Use the packed weight and outer size for your quote, then work out the class with our freight class calculator. Put the same numbers on the bill of lading.

If you cannot build a crate yourself, a crating company or a packing store can build one to fit. Ask for the finished outer size and weight so you can quote accurately.

International crate shipping and wood rules

If the crate leaves the country, the wood matters as much as the freight rate. Most countries require solid wood packaging to meet the ISPM 15 standard, which is meant to stop pests travelling in crates and pallets. In the United States, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) runs the programs that make this work. Its wood packaging page describes the main rules:

• Wood packaging is either made from lumber that was heat treated by an accredited agency, or the finished packaging is heated until the core of the wood reaches 56 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes.
• The producer enrolls with an inspection agency accredited by the American Lumber Standard Committee, and the treated wood carries that agency’s quality mark.
• The rules cover solid wood crates, pallets, boxes and blocking. Wood that has been manufactured into plywood or similar panels is generally treated differently, so check the exact rule for your destination.

The importing country can add its own requirements, so ask your freight forwarder or the destination country’s plant protection office before you build. Domestic LTL shipments do not need ISPM 15 treatment.

Engines, transmissions and other crated items

• Engines. A crated engine usually passes the 150 lb limit that parcel services set, so LTL is the usual choice. See how to ship an engine.
• Transmissions. Packed weight adds a base and about 15% for a crate. See how to ship a transmission.
• Auto parts. Class follows the density of the shipment as handed over, crate included. See our auto parts shipping guide.
• Shipping a crate to Hawaii. The ocean leg is priced by cubic feet, so a bulky crate costs more than a dense one. See our Hawaii LTL guide.
• Art, instruments and trade-show gear. These items often need a custom crate, a higher declared value and a delivery that includes a liftgate or inside delivery. Ask for those services when you quote.

How to lower the cost of shipping a crate

• Keep it compact. A denser crate gets a lower class, and a crate under 8 feet avoids length charges. Our 8-foot crate cost 61% to 78% more than a compact crate that weighed more.
• Do not over-build. Every inch of padding adds cube, and every pound of crate adds weight. The crate in our test added 6% to 7% to the quote at the same class.
• Compare carriers. The cheapest quote on the same crate was 20% to 50% below the typical one in our test. Flat-rate carriers can stay level when class changes, as we saw in the freight class price study.
• Choose the delivery type carefully. A business address with a dock avoids the $0 to $312 extra we saw for residential delivery with a liftgate.
• Enter the right class and weight. A wrong class or weight can lead to a reclass fee after pickup. Use our freight class calculator.
• Read the wider price data. Our study of what LTL freight costs shows how distance, weight and carrier choice move a quote.

How we ran the quotes

• Source. Live LTL quotes from the Transportli quoting platform, collected on October 12, 2026 for pickup on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. 18 quote runs and 338 carrier prices from 22 carriers.
• Lanes. Staten Island, NY (10307) to Chicago, IL (60605) and Newark, NJ (07114) to Houston, TX (77029). Both pickup and delivery were business locations with a dock or forklift, with no accessorials, except for the one residential and liftgate run.
• Shipments. Five crates (46 x 36 x 36 in at 288 lb; 50 x 42 x 42 in at 700 lb; 50 x 42 x 46 in at 1,380 lb; 96 x 48 x 48 in at 1,000 lb; 120 x 48 x 48 in at 1,200 lb) and three pallets (48 x 40 x 36 in at 295 lb; 48 x 40 x 42 in at 645 lb; 48 x 40 x 46 in at 1,245 lb), one handling unit each. Crate dimensions are the item plus 6 inches in each direction, and crate weight is the item plus 15% (at least 40 lb). Pallets add 6 inches of height and 45 lb.
• Class. The NMFC density class for each size: 110, 77.5, 65, 125 and 125 for the crates, and 125, 77.5 and 65 for the pallets. Your item may have an NMFC description that sets a different class.
• One price per carrier. We kept each carrier’s lowest standard quote and ignored guaranteed and expedited options. One carrier (AAA Cooper) returned prices tens of times higher than the rest on every run and was excluded.
• What we did not measure. The cost of building a crate, packing materials, insurance, other lanes and dates, hazardous or temperature-controlled freight, and reclassification or reweigh fees. Quotes change daily.

You can download the quote data as a CSV. Your own quote will differ with your freight, lanes and ship date, so treat this as a guide to how crates price and get a live quote for your exact crate.

Frequently asked questions