Enter your cargo
Add a row for each different carton or pallet size. Gross weight is optional but lets us tell you which figure will actually be billed.
Per-item breakdown
| Item | Dimensions | Pcs | Volume | Volumetric wt | Gross wt |
|---|
The volumetric weight formula
Take the outside dimensions of the piece in centimetres, multiply them together, and divide by the carrier's divisor:
Volumetric weight (kg) = (Length × Width × Height in cm) ÷ Divisor
The divisor expresses how many cubic centimetres the carrier is prepared to treat as one kilogram. At 6000, six litres of space equals one kilogram of billing weight. A smaller divisor is stricter and produces a larger chargeable figure for exactly the same box.
Worked example
A single carton measuring 100 × 50 × 40 cm, actual weight 22 kg.
- Volume: 100 × 50 × 40 = 200,000 cm³ = 0.2 CBM
- At divisor 6000: 200,000 ÷ 6,000 = 33.33 kg
- At divisor 5000: 200,000 ÷ 5,000 = 40 kg
- At divisor 4000: 200,000 ÷ 4,000 = 50 kg
The actual weight is 22 kg in every case, so this carton bills on volume regardless of divisor — but the difference between a 6000 and a 4000 carrier is 17 kg of billing weight on a single box.
Working in inches and pounds
If your carrier quotes in imperial, the equivalent divisors are 366 for the 6000 metric divisor and 305 for the 5000 divisor, with dimensions in inches and the result in pounds. This calculator converts imperial inputs to metric for you, so you can enter inches and pounds directly and still select a metric divisor.
Divisors in common use
| Divisor | Typically applied by | 1 CBM equals | Break-even density |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6000 | IATA general air cargo, consolidators, most airline tariffs | 166.7 kg | 167 kg/m³ |
| 5000 | Integrators and express couriers, some airline express products | 200 kg | 200 kg/m³ |
| 4000 | Selected dense-cargo lanes and some charter arrangements | 250 kg | 250 kg/m³ |
| 3000 | Occasionally used for road groupage in Europe | 333.3 kg | 333 kg/m³ |
| 1000 (sea W/M) | Sea LCL consolidations, expressed as revenue tons | 1,000 kg | 1,000 kg/m³ |
The divisor is a commercial term, not a regulation. It should appear on your quotation or rate sheet. If two quotes look similar but use different divisors, they are not comparable — run both through this calculator before choosing.
Reducing volumetric weight
Because the calculation uses outside dimensions only, packaging decisions translate directly into money. A carton that is 10% smaller in every dimension is 27% cheaper to fly.
- Right-size the carton. Air inside a box is billed at exactly the same rate as product.
- Watch pallet overhang and height. Carriers measure the pallet's overall footprint including any overhang, and height including the pallet base itself.
- Nest and disassemble. Removing legs, folding frames and stacking bowls inside one another are all volume savings.
- Reconsider the mode. Very low density cargo is disproportionately expensive by air. At under about 100 kg per cubic metre, sea LCL is usually worth pricing even when the lead time is tight.
- Check the rounding. Dimensions are normally rounded up to the next whole centimetre per piece, so a 40.2 cm carton measures as 41 cm. On high piece counts this matters.