Collaboration, Freight & Inventory Strategies -312 Forum 4 Assignment

Collaboration, Freight & Inventory Strategies -312 Forum 4 - Assignment Example The classes are determined in accordance to the individual characteristics of the freight. However, the four characteristics that are considered to decide the product class are density and value, stow-ability, handling, and liability (Tompkins, 2004). Rates and ratings are two different terms used in the freight classification which is used to assign a class to every product. Ratings are given to the products according to their class. The products that fulfill all the four characteristics have high ratings while the products that don’t have low ratings (Wood, 1995). The high class products have high ratings in the shipment and their shipping costs are determined by the ratings. Rates of the products are also in accordance to the classifications. These are the cost rates which are set by the carrier and are negotiable. They are the cost of the freight shipping determined by the class of the products (Coyle,