How to Calculate Volumetric Weight
How to Reduce Dimensional or Volumetric Weight

How to Calculate Volumetric Weight.

When you are shipping a package, the courier charges you on the volumetric weight of your package rather than the actual weight. Why does this happen and how can you calculate your package’s volumetric weight? Read on to find out.

What is Volumetric Weight and How To Calculate It?

Volumetric weight is a way to calculate the weight of a package based on its size. While different couriers use their own metrics to calculate this weight, here is a general formula to calculate volumetric weight.

To calculate the volumetric weight of your package, you need to know four things:

  • The length of your package
  • The width of your package
  • The height of your package
  • A divisor (typically this will be 4000/5000)
  •  

Once you have these measurements, you can use the following formula:

Volumetric Weight (kg) = (Length x Width x Height) / 5000

For example, let’s say you are shipping a package that is 30 cm long, 20 cm wide, and 10 cm high. The volumetric weight of this package would be:

Volumetric Weight (kg) = (30 x 20 x 10) / 5000

Volumetric Weight (kg) = 0.6 kg

Volumetric Weight vs. Actual Weight

The main difference between volumetric weight and actual weight is that volumetric weight takes into account the size of the package, while actual weight only considers the actual weight of the contents.

Why is Volumetric Weight Important?

Volumetric weight is important because shipping companies use it to calculate the price of shipping your package. Every package takes up space in a delivery vehicle (truck, van or plane) and the bigger the package, naturally, the more space it takes up. This vehicles will naturally have size and weight limits, so by using volumetric weight, shipping companies are able to better calculate the cost of shipping a package.

If these courier companies were to use traditional weight to calculate their delivery fees, they’d end up making losses on larger but light packages. In order to combat this issue,  they came up with the concept of volumetric weight. This ensures that delivery companies are as efficient as possible in their use of space and resources, while also making sure that they are adequately compensated for their services.

How Can I Reduce The Volumetric Weight of My Package?

Bringing down the volumetric weight of your package would bring the welcome benefit of making your delivery costs cheaper. But what can you do? Well, the biggest mistake we see is using a box that’s too big for the contents inside.

However, there is a caveat here that is important to remember. Don’t overstuff your package in an attempt to reduce the volumetric weight. This will increase the chances of your package getting damaged or the box breaking open on transit.

Summary

Hopefully now you have a better understanding about what volumetric weight is and now know exactly how to calculate it. With this knowledge, you can better estimate how much a delivery will cost you as well as how to bring down those costs by being more efficient with your package sizes.

Cargonaija is one of the leading shipping giants, our services include:

Air Freight 

Sea Shipping 

Vehicle Shipping

Flight Tickets 

Procurement 

We’re only ever a call or click away.

 

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
WhatsApp

Leave a Reply