Watch: Why Can a Lightweight Box Cost More to Ship by Air?
Watch this short video to understand how actual weight, volumetric weight and chargeable weight can affect the price of an air-freight shipment.
Quick Overview
Air freight is generally priced using chargeable weight. This is the higher of the shipment’s actual scale weight and its calculated volumetric weight.
A large but lightweight package may therefore be billed at a higher weight because it occupies more aircraft space than its actual weight suggests.
Video Transcript
“Why can a lightweight box cost more to ship by air?
Air freight is generally priced using chargeable weight—the higher of:
Actual weight: the shipment’s scale weight.
Volumetric weight: the space the shipment occupies.
In this example:
Actual weight: 40 kilograms.
Volumetric weight: 65 kilograms.
Chargeable weight: 65 kilograms.
Large, lightweight packages may therefore cost more than expected. Measure the complete packed shipment—not only the product—and calculate its chargeable weight before requesting a quote.”
Calculate Chargeable Weight
Use the iContainers chargeable and volumetric weight calculator to compare your shipment’s actual and volumetric weight.
Enter the dimensions and actual weight of the complete packed shipment—not only the unpacked product—to obtain a more useful estimate.
