Shipping Calculator

Volumetric weight, also known as dimensional weight, refers to the weight of the shipment including the actual weight in accordance with its length, breadth and height. It accounts for the density of the package. Earlier, the weight of the shipment was calculated based on the gross weight. This attribution does not take into account the packaging involved in the shipment. Therefore, the concept of volumetric weight was introduced so that shipping could be profitable for both the shipper and the freight carrier. Today, carriers across the world including FedEx, DHL, UPS, etc., Follow the practice of changing the shipper based on the dimensional and gross weight- whichever is higher. How is volumetric weight calculated? The formula of volumetric weight is as follows: (Length x Breadth x Height) / 5000 (The divisor of 5000 is not constant and varies from carrier to carrier).

Let’s study an example to understand this concept. Imagine you are shipping a 1kg glass decorative item from india to Singapore. To make sure your package is safe from all ends, you package it in more than one layer of packaging. First, you wrap it in bubble wrap, put it in a box and include small thermocol fillers to ensure its safety. Next, to provide an extra dimension of protection, you put this entire box in another corrugated box. The proportion of your complete package turns out to be 30 cm x 20 cm. According to your calculations, the gross weight of your product is 1kg, and you must be charged according to that. But, for you carrier, the package is taking up the space of a 2.4kg product (according to the dimensional weight) in his transport. Thus, this poses as a loss for the carrier and also leads to delay in the delivery operations due to the poor assignments of packages during transport. Therefore, the volumetric weight allows you to package your products in an economical manner. This method can help you pack products with adequate safety and requirements.