What is the volumetric weight and how to calculate it?
Before placing an order for delivery, transport companies will find out detailed information about the cargo.
And customers often indicate in the "weight" category the actual weight of their shipment, but ignore the volumetric parameters of the container.
And then they are surprised that the delivery of light but the bulky parcel is more expensive than the transportation of heavy compact cargo.
Transportation of 100 kg of padding polyester and 100 kg of metal products will cost differently!
Product weight and dimensions are two separate concepts. Volumetric weight plays a key role in calculating shipping costs.
Therefore, before shipment, you need to calculate this value so that the client knows the exact cost of the cargo transportation service.
When transporting by sea, the volume of cargo is taken into account, and if the parcel is delivered by plane, it is its actual weight that is important.
How to calculate the cost of transportation and volumetric weight
The most commonly used volumetric weight calculator is 1: 5000. This means that in order to obtain the volumetric weight of a given parcel, you should multiply three dimensions in centimeters by yourself and divide by 5000.
For example, there is a parcel with a size of 30-40-50 cm.
We perform calculations: Volumetric weight = 30 x 40 x 50 / 5000 = 12 kg And even if the parcel weighs 5 kg, the volumetric weight of 12 kg will be taken into account in the cost of transportation, since it exceeds the actual one.
And if the parcel weighs more, for example, 20 kg, then the actual mass will be taken as the calculated weight, since it exceeds the volumetric weight.
That is, the priority is always the weight, which is greater.
It turns out that the cost of delivery of heavy, but small goods depends on the actual weight, and light and bulky - on the volume.
In most cases, the carrier company deals with standard goods that are not very heavy and not very cumbersome, so it is impossible to unambiguously determine the cost of their transportation in advance.
Therefore, it is very important that when placing an order for delivery, customers indicate the correct parameters of the cargo.
This will allow you to avoid possible surcharges that may appear after checking the dimensions and weight of the parcel by the courier.
The surcharge can sometimes be more than 100% of the original shipping cost.
Sometimes, instead of calculating the weight by volume 1: 5000, a conversion factor of 1: 4000 is used. In the parcels of the cargo airline, the basic converter is 1: 6000, and for the carriage of goods by sea, 1 m3 = 1000 kg.
To calculate the cost of delivery, it is enough to use the online calculator, which is available on the official website of the courier company.
All calculations are carried out automatically, but here it is important to know the exact parameters of your shipment - dimensions and actual weight.