Are you planning on shipping an FCL shipment? Then you know that weight will not normally become a factor to consider when working out your costings. As long as the cargo is within the legal weight limits, then the shipment cost will depend on the shipping method and the journey the cargo weight is making.
Nonetheless, the weight could become a crucial consideration in your cost calculations with smaller shipments. This article has a detailed explanation of how to calculate chargeable weight in your shipments. If you’re ready, let’s begin!
What Is Volumetric and Dimensional Weight?
In air freight, standard carrier pricing is based on cargo weight instead of volume. So, light loads consume more space than their share of the weight load and would be impractical for airlines to ship.
The air industry has imposed a minimum weight based on cargo density to solve that issue. The volumetric weight (also called dimensional weight or volume weight) of the cargo is a mass computed based on the dimension of the cargo: length, width, and height.
Denser loads take up less space at a similar weight than light loads or light goods.
What Is the Actual Weight?
Actual weight is the shipment’s gross weight and is calculated using scales or a weighing platform. For air freight, that indicates the total weight of the cargo, including the packing materials and the pallet.
It’s normally accepted that the actual weight of the cargo is calculated using the metric system. The ground handling agent confirms the cargo’s actual weight once the shipment is presented to the airline.
What Is the Chargeable Weight?
Air freight chargeable weight is different from gross weight and dimensional weight. Instead, the amount of weight charged on the invoice can be either the volumetric weight or the gross weight of the shipment.
What Is the Difference Between Actual & Volumetric & Chargeable Weight?
Actual weight is the weight in kilograms of the cargo. Volumetric or dimensional weight is the amount of space the cargo occupies. Chargeable weight is the abstract quantity utilized to calculate the freight rate.
How To Calculate the Irregular Package Shipment Chargeable Weight?
There are cases where an air shipment is to be shipped irregularly shaped. Now, how can you calculate that?
Keep in mind that it’s calculated in the same manner, but you must understand the ideal shipment measurement of the shipment.
How to Calculate the Chargeable Weight for Air freight?
Chargeable weight is often utilized in air freight shipments, domestic motor carriers, and brokers to calculate the air shipment or domestic trucking charges.
Below are some instances of calculating chargeable weight for air freight shipments.
Air freight shipment example where gross weight is greater than volumetric weight.
XYZ Company is planning to ship some parcels from China to South Korea. The freight is composed of five boxes, each weighing 30 kilograms each and each weighing 50 x 40 x 40 centimeters.
The volumetric weight in kilograms using centimeters = (50 X 40 X 40 centimeters) X 5 boxes/6000 = 67 KG.
The total gross weight =30kg per box * 5 boxes = 150KG.
The result is that 150 kilograms are greater than 67 kilograms. Therefore, the chargeable weight would be 150 kilograms, which, in this case, is the actual weight.
Air freight shipment example where gross weight is less than volumetric weight
There are instances when the volumetric weight becomes of a greater value than the gross weight. The volumetric weight is picked as the chargeable weight. The formula here is Volumetric weight = Length(cm)*Width(cm)*height(cm)/6000.
For instance, XYZ Company is considering sending some packages from Shanghai to New York. The shipment is composed of three boxes, each package weighing 10 kilograms, each freight measuring 50 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm. The actual gross weight would be = 3 boxes x 10 kilograms each = 30 kilograms.
The volumetric weight in kilograms using centimeters is (50cm x 40cm x 40cm) x 3 boxes/6000 = 40 kilograms.
The result would be 40 kilograms is greater than 30 kilograms. Therefore, the chargeable weight would be 40 kilograms, which is also the volume weight.
How To Calculate the Chargeable Weight for Sea Freight?
The following formula calculates the chargeable volume of any LCL shipment.
Weight-based volume = Actual weight / 1000
Gross volume = (L x W x H) ÷ 1000
LCL shipment example where gross weight is greater than volumetric weight
Length = 102 cm
Width = 98 cm
Height = 106 cm
Gross weight = 750 kilograms
First, calculate the volume of your steel shipment.
= 102 cm x 98 cm x 106 cm
= 1,059,576 cubic centimeters
Then convert your results into metric measurements in meters. The result will be: 1,059,576 cubic centimeters = 1.06cbm.
Now, calculate the weight-based volume. You can use this formula: Weight-based volume = Actual weight (kg) / 1000.
The weight-based volume would be 0.75cbm (Actual weight (kg) / 1000).
You can now compare the weight-based volume. Gross volume versus weight-based volume = 1.06cbm vs 0.7cbm. Hence, the chargeable volume is the greater value, which is 1.06CBM.
LCL shipment example where gross weight is less than volumetric weight
There are also cases when the weight-based volume of the cargo is less than the total volume. In these scenarios, the gross volume value becomes the chargeable volume for the LCL shipment.
Length = 102 cm
Width = 98 cm
Height = 106 cm
Gross weight = 5,443 kilograms
Number of boxes = 2
Calculate the volume of your cotton shipment. That would be 129,310.65 cubic inch ((102 cm x 98 cm x 106 cm) x 2).
Now convert the result into metric measurements in meters. 2,119,152 cubic centimeters = 2.12 cbm.
Calculate the weight-based volume. Use this formula: Weight-based volume = Actual weight (kg) / 1000. The result would be 5.44CBM. After that, proceed with the weight-based volume calculation.
The total would be 5.44CBM. Compare the weight-based volume: 2.12 cbm vs 5.44cbm. overall, the chargeable volume is the greater value: 5.44cbm.
How To Calculate the Chargeable Weight for Express Freight?
Express couriers like DHL, UPS, and FedEx use different methods. Here are them:
The 1-standard package measurement method.
The package is in standard carton size. The volume is calculated based on the carton’s length, width, and height. For example, The actual weight would be 1.2KG. you have: L = 15cm, W = 30cm, H = 20cm.
Your volume weight is 1.8KG (15 x 30 x 20) / 5000.
The weight of 1.8KG calculates the piece. Your final chargeable weight would be 2KG.
The 2-surface package measurement technique
If the goods clasp the package, the plane of the box deforms and expands. Calculate based on the package’s longest side. For instance, the length is 18cm, the width is 33cm, and the height is 22cm after sealing. Your volume weight would be 2.7KG. (18 × 33 × 22) / 5000.
The actual weight would be 2KG, and the package calculates the shipping costs by volume of 2.7KG. Your final billing weight would be 3KG.
How Do You Convert CBM To Kilogram For Air Freight?
For air freight shipments, one cubic meter is equivalent to 167 kilograms. For Ocean freight, Some vessel companies calculate 1 CBM equal to 1000KG. Some Vessel companies calculate 1CBM to equal 500KG. so it depends on which shipping line you choose.
FAQs
Below are answers to your questions on freight chargeable weight:
Why do we divide by 6000 for volumetric weight in Air freight?
If the shipments are only charged by weight, international shipping companies lose out on light, fluffy stuff like cotton shipments because it fills the transport space without too much revenue.
How does DHL calculate dimensional weight?
You can calculate the dimensional weight by multiplying the length by the width by the height of every package (cubic size).
You can then divide the cubic size by 5,000 (centimeters). That is the dimensional weight of your package.
How do you calculate volume weight for road transport?
You can either calculate the package’s volumetric weight in centimeters or meters by multiplying L X W X H. Divide that number by 6000. A few carriers may request you to divide that by 5000.
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