Freight is a term that is used to describe cargo that is being shipped. Air freight refers specifically to cargo that is shipped by air. This may be done either by regular passenger planes or by specialized cargo airplanes. Air freight is divided into the following categories: express deliveries, household goods, freight shipments and parcel shipments.

Each category is priced using the National Motor Freight Classification system. Each class corresponds to certain goods that can be shipped. In the household goods category, only furniture and household appliances can be considered. Express deliveries include items such as business papers, mails, and envelopes. Parcels usually refer to boxed items, and freight shipment covers all of the other bigger items that cannot be handled by the other categories.

Air freight is subdivided into two additional categories: The Less-than-Truckload freight and the Truckload freight. The first category accommodates items that weigh less than 15,000 pounds and are 28 inches in height while the second category covers items that weigh 43,000 pounds or less and do not exceed the length of 53 inches. Shipments that are bigger than this are usually carried by super cargo airplanes.

The Boeing 747-400 is usually used as an air freight carrier because it has a large enough space to accommodate items for forwarding. Since this plane was not purely designed to serve as an air freight carrier, it may have some limitations.

Air freight carriers such as North American Van Lines and Bekins specialize in the delivery of household goods. As far as express deliveries go, FedEx Express, DHL and UPS top this field. In the parcel division, the two leading air freight carriers are UPS and FedEx Ground. For the very large freight weights you will see such trusted names as Roadway, JB Hunt, Schneider and others.

In this industry, there are also middlemen called freight brokers who make arrangements between the shippers and the air freight companies.Since the brokers have direct contact with the air service providers, they are often the best sources for discounts. Some of the major brokers are Hub Group, CHRobinson, Twin Modal and Rockwell.