General freight trucking vs. specialized freight: what changes
The freight you choose decides more than your trailer. It sets who can drive, how the load is tied down, how much liability coverage you must carry, and what margin is left at the end of the month.
Written by Gabriel Gonzalez
Freight type in numbers
General freight trucking is hauling a wide variety of everyday commodities, usually palletized, in an enclosed van trailer or container, by truckload or less than truckload. Freight becomes specialized when its size, weight, shape, temperature, or hazard needs special equipment such as a flatbed, tanker, or reefer, and that brings extra rules.
Most new carriers choose a trailer before they choose a freight. Then the trailer quietly decides their rules, their insurance floor, and their margin.
I have spent more than 22 years at Simplex, nearly 16 of them as COO, and I now lead revenue strategy. The way I see it, the type of freight you haul is a business decision first: it sets what you must spend before the first load pays you anything.
The full briefing, read aloud
8 chapters. Select one to jump to it.
Generated with AI text-to-speech from this article's key insights, in order, rather than reading it word for word. Chapter times come from a transcript of the audio. The article itself was written and reviewed by Gabriel Gonzalez.
Key takeaways
General freight has an official meaning
The Census Bureau defines it as a wide variety of commodities, generally palletized, moved in a container or van trailer.
Specialized freight needs special equipment
Size, weight, shape, or other characteristics call for flatbeds, tankers, or refrigerated trailers, and each adds its own rules.
Freight type sets your insurance floor
$750,000 for for-hire nonhazardous property, rising to $1 million or $5 million for oil and hazardous materials.
Some freight changes the driver's license
Tank vehicles and placarded hazmat need CDL endorsements, and hazmat adds a TSA security threat assessment.
A higher rate is not a higher margin
In 2025, flatbed carriers averaged a 0.5% operating loss and truckload and reefer margins stayed below 1%.
In this articleContents
What is general freight trucking?
General freight trucking is hauling a wide variety of commodities, generally palletized, in a container or van trailer. That is the U.S. Census Bureau's definition for industry group 4841 in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
The definition is about how the freight moves, not what it is. Palletized retail goods, packaged dry groceries, and boxed parts are all general freight when they ride in standard van equipment with no special handling.
| Code | Industry | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 484110 | Local | Trucking within a metropolitan area, which may cross state lines; trips are generally same-day return |
| 484121 | Long-distance truckload (TL) | A full single load from origin to destination, not combined with other shipments |
| 484122 | Long-distance less than truckload (LTL) | Multiple shipments combined on one truck for multiple deliveries within a terminal network |
How does FMCSA classify your cargo?
FMCSA uses its own list. Item 24 of Form MCS-150 asks you to check every cargo classification you haul, and General Freight is option A of 30, next to classes such as Household Goods; Metal: Sheets, Coils, Rolls; Refrigerated Food; Liquids/Gases; and Livestock.
Check every class that applies and keep the list accurate in your MCS-150 biennial update. The form's instructions also say that checking Motor Vehicles or Drive Away/Towaway requires marking Class 9 hazardous materials in item 25.
What are the main types of freight in trucking?
The main types of freight are general freight, refrigerated food, flatbed freight, bulk liquids and gases, hazardous materials, household goods, oversize loads, and livestock and farm products. Each one adds something to the general freight baseline.
NAICS group 4842, specialized freight trucking, covers freight that because of size, weight, shape, or other inherent characteristics needs specialized equipment such as flatbeds, tankers, or refrigerated trailers. So a reefer load counts as specialized, even though the trailer looks like a van.
| Freight type | Typical equipment | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| General freight | Dry van or container | The baseline: $750,000 minimum liability for for-hire carriers of nonhazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more |
| Refrigerated food | Reefer trailer | FDA sanitary transportation duties when your agreement makes you responsible: pre-cooling, temperature proof, written procedures |
| Flatbed freight | Flatbed or step deck | Minimum tiedown counts plus commodity-specific securement rules for metal coils, lumber, machinery, and more |
| Bulk liquids and gases | Tank trailer | A tank vehicle (N) endorsement for the driver |
| Hazardous materials | Placarded van or tank | A hazmat (H) endorsement with a TSA security threat assessment, and $1 million or $5 million minimum liability |
| Household goods | Moving van | Part 375 consumer protection rules and federal cargo liability minimums |
| Oversize or overweight | Lowboy, step deck, or extendable trailer | A permit from each state on the route |
| Livestock and farm products | Livestock trailer or hopper | An hours-of-service exception within 150 air-miles during each state's planting and harvesting periods |
Intermodal containers and vehicles sit in between: the load is boxed or on its own wheels, but each has its own securement section in Part 393. Oversize moves follow state permit rules, which our oversize load permit guide covers.
What changes when freight is specialized?
Specialized freight changes three things: who can drive, how the load is secured, and how much liability coverage you must carry. Here is what each common specialty adds.
Tankers: when the tank endorsement applies
A driver needs the tank vehicle (N) endorsement for a vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases in tanks with an individual rated capacity of more than 119 gallons and an aggregate rated capacity of 1,000 gallons or more. An empty storage tank not designed for transportation, temporarily attached to a flatbed, does not count.
Hazmat: endorsement, background check, higher limits
Hazardous materials that must be placarded require the H endorsement. A state may issue or renew it only after the TSA finds the driver poses no security risk, or to a valid TWIC holder, and the endorsement must be renewed at least every 5 years.
Minimum liability rises from $750,000 to $1 million for oil and most hazardous materials, and to $5 million for the highest-risk loads, such as hazardous substances in bulk tanks or bulk Division 1.1 to 1.3 explosives.
Flatbed: securement is the job
Every load must be secured so it cannot leak, spill, blow, fall, or shift enough to affect handling. On a flatbed, the driver does that by hand, and the rule counts the straps.
- One tiedown for an article 5 feet or shorter and 1,100 pounds or lighter, when nothing blocks it at the front
- Two tiedowns for a heavier short article, or any article up to 10 feet long
- One more tiedown for every additional 10 feet of length, or fraction of it
Sections 393.116 through 393.136 add rules for logs, dressed lumber, metal coils, paper rolls, concrete pipe, intermodal containers, cars and light trucks, heavy equipment, crushed vehicles, roll-off containers, and large boulders.
Reefer: temperature is a record, not a setting
Under the FDA's sanitary transportation rule, the shipper gives the carrier the operating temperature in writing. When your written agreement makes you responsible for sanitary conditions, you must pre-cool the trailer as specified, show on request that you held the temperature, keep written cleaning and temperature procedures, and train your people and record it.
Businesses with less than $500,000 in average annual revenue, adjusted for inflation, are not covered by the rule.
Household goods: a consumer rulebook
Moving household goods for individual shippers across state lines puts you under 49 CFR Part 375, and your cargo liability security must be at least $5,000 per vehicle and $10,000 per occurrence. It is the only freight for which federal rules require cargo coverage; for everything else, your cargo policy's terms decide what is covered.
Which type of freight pays best?
No type of freight pays best on its own. What counts is the margin left after the equipment, insurance, and training the freight requires, and in 2025 that margin was thin almost everywhere.
The American Transportation Research Institute's 2026 cost report, covering 2025, found operating margins below 1.0% for truckload and refrigerated carriers, 4.0% on average for tank carriers, and an average operating loss of 0.5% for flatbed carriers. Only LTL carriers and fleets with more than 1,000 trucks had healthy margins.
The industry-average cost to run a truck was $2.336 per mile, the highest in the report's history. A specialized load can pay more per mile and still earn less once you price in what that freight requires.
How to choose the freight your company hauls
Choose the freight before you buy equipment, because the freight decides the trailer, the driver qualifications, the insurance, and the paperwork.
Step 1: Start with freight you can win
List the shippers, brokers, and lanes near your home base and the equipment they load. General freight in a dry van has the widest pool of loads; specialized freight narrows the pool of customers.
Step 2: Price the coverage for that commodity
The commodity changes both your federal minimum and what an insurer will quote. Get liability and cargo quotes for the exact freight before you commit; our guide to commercial truck insurance cost explains what moves the price.
Step 3: Match drivers to the freight
Confirm every driver holds the endorsements the equipment needs, such as tank, hazmat, or doubles and triples, before the first dispatch.
Step 4: Register what you haul
Check every cargo classification that applies on your MCS-150, plus any hazardous materials classes, and update it when you add a new type of freight.
Step 5: Build the freight-specific procedures
Securement training for flatbed drivers, written temperature and cleaning procedures for reefer food loads, and permits for oversize moves, all in place before the first load.
Step 6: Plan loads around your costs
Book loads that fit your equipment and cost per mile, and line up the reload before you deliver. Our freight planning team does that work for small carriers and owner-operators.
How Simplex helps you build around your freight
Whatever you haul, the loads, the registration, and the coverage have to match it. We work on all three.
Loads that fit your equipment
Our freight planning team assigns a dedicated dispatcher who looks for loads that match your trailer type and lanes, negotiates the rate, and checks the broker before you haul.
Registration that lists what you haul
Our trucking startup services file your USDOT number, MC authority, BOC-3, and UCR, and stay with you through your first safety audit.
Cargo coverage for your commodities
We quote motor truck cargo insurance alongside your liability, so the limits match the freight you actually carry.
Frequently asked questions
What is considered general freight?+
Is refrigerated freight general freight?+
What is the difference between truckload and LTL freight?+
Do you need a special endorsement to haul general freight?+
How much insurance does a general freight carrier need?+
Where this information comes from
The definitions below come from the Census Bureau's industry classification, the requirements from federal regulation and FMCSA's registration form, and the margins from industry research, checked on October 16, 2026.
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1
U.S. Census Bureau — NAICS 4841, General Freight Trucking
The definition of general freight trucking, local and long-distance, truckload and LTL.
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2
U.S. Census Bureau — NAICS 4842, Specialized Freight Trucking
Freight that needs flatbeds, tankers, or refrigerated trailers, plus household goods moving.
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3
FMCSA — Form MCS-150 and instructions
The 30 cargo classifications in item 24 and the Class 9 note for vehicle hauling.
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4
eCFR — 49 CFR 387.9
Minimum public liability by commodity: $750,000, $1 million, and $5 million.
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5
eCFR — 49 CFR Part 383
The tank vehicle and hazmat definitions (383.5), endorsements (383.93), and TSA check (383.141).
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6
eCFR — 49 CFR Part 393, Subpart I
Cargo securement, minimum tiedowns, and commodity-specific rules.
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7
eCFR — 21 CFR 1.908
FDA sanitary transportation duties for shippers and carriers of temperature-controlled food.
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8
ATRI — 2026 Operational Costs of Trucking release
2025 cost per mile and operating margins by sector: truckload, refrigerated, tank, flatbed, LTL.
Written by
Gabriel Gonzalez
Chief Revenue Officer, Simplex Group
Chief Revenue Officer at Simplex Group, with more than 22 years at the company, including nearly 16 years as Chief Operating Officer. His background combines revenue strategy with deep operational experience, giving him a strong perspective on how compliance, risk, permits, cash flow, and operational readiness affect a carrier's ability to grow profitably.
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Pick the freight your numbers can carry
General freight gives you the widest pool of loads. Specialized freight can pay more per load, but only after the endorsements, securement, procedures, and coverage it requires are paid for.
If you are deciding what to haul, or adding a new type of freight, talk to our team about the loads, registration, and coverage it takes.