Every vehicle, aircraft and container runs out of either weight capacity or space. Carriers price on whichever your freight uses more of. That figure is the chargeable weight.
Actual weight vs volumetric weight
Actual weight is what the scale says. Volumetric weight converts the space your freight takes up into a weight using a conversion factor that depends on the mode of transport.
- Air freight: length × width × height in cm ÷ 6,000 (about 167 kg per m³)
- Parcels and express: cm³ ÷ 5,000 (200 kg per m³)
- Road freight: about 333 kg per m³
- Ocean LCL: 1 m³ counts as 1,000 kg — charged per "revenue tonne"
Your chargeable weight is the greater of the two. A 120 × 80 × 150 cm pallet weighing 200 kg is 1.44 m³, which is about 480 kg volumetric on road — so you pay for 480 kg.
Measure the way carriers do
- Measure the outermost points, including the pallet and any overhang.
- Round each dimension up to the nearest centimetre.
- Weigh the finished, wrapped unit — not the goods before packing.
- Tell us if pallets cannot be stacked; it changes how much space you use.