Type what you're shipping in plain English — get candidate Standard Transportation Commodity Codes with the full 2-to-5 digit hierarchy behind them, guided walkthroughs for the confusing categories, and railroad-published 7-digit examples with sources.
Classification is part of what we do. Tell us the commodity, its condition, and where it's going — we'll work the code with your serving railroad and fold it into the rest of the move.
Talk to us about classification →Once you know the commodity family, run the lane through our rail rate estimator for an indicative carload estimate in seconds.
Get an indicative rate →The Standard Transportation Commodity Code is a 7-digit number that tells the railroad exactly what's in the car. It's hierarchical: the first 2 digits are the broad industry group (01 = farm products, 33 = primary metals, 48 = hazardous waste), digits 3–5 narrow to the commodity family, and digits 6–7 pin down the exact article. Example: 01 farm products → 0113 grain → 01132 corn → a 7-digit corn code on the waybill.
STCC is maintained by Railinc on behalf of the Association of American Railroads. The full 7-digit directory is a licensed publication — which is why this tool shows the public 2–5 digit hierarchy plus curated 7-digit examples that railroads have published themselves, rather than a complete dump. The code that actually governs your shipment is the one your serving railroad confirms in its tariff or price authority.
Codes in the 48-series (hazardous waste) and 49-series (hazardous materials) aren't picked by commodity name — they're keyed to your 49 CFR shipping description. The proper shipping name, hazard class, and packing group on your hazmat paperwork determine the code, and the two must match. If your material is regulated, start from the 49 CFR description, not from a keyword search. That's also why the STB's public list translates 48/49-series traffic back to product codes: one product can carry a different code the moment it becomes a waste.
Rates, rules, and even whether a railroad will handle the shipment all hang off the STCC. The same physical material can rate very differently — prime steel coil vs. steel scrap, virgin glycol vs. spent antifreeze — so classifying correctly is money, not paperwork. For the full story, read our explainers: STCC codes explained and STCC vs. NMFC vs. HTS codes.
