Dimensional weight

Last updated

Dimensional weight, also known as volumetric weight, is a pricing technique for commercial freight transport (including courier and postal services), which uses an estimated weight that is calculated from the length, width and height of a package.

Contents

The shipping fee is based upon the dimensional weight or the actual weight, whichever is greater.

Significance

Shipping costs have historically been calculated on the basis of gross weight in kilograms or pounds. By charging only by weight, lightweight, low density packages become unprofitable for freight carriers due to the amount of space they take up in the truck/aircraft/ship in proportion to their actual weight.

The concept of dimensional weight has been adopted by the transportation industry worldwide as a uniform means of establishing a minimum charge for the cubic space a package occupies. In fact, UPS [1] and FedEx [2] both announced that starting 2015, shipping charges on all shipments (air and ground) will be determined by greater of the actual weight and dimensional weight of a package. Prior to this announcement, dimensional weight charges were only applicable to packages of a specific size range.

Weight calculation

Dimensional weight is a calculation of a theoretical weight of a package. This theoretical weight is the weight of the package at a minimum density chosen by the freight carrier. If the package is below this minimum density, then the actual weight is irrelevant as the freight carrier will charge for the volume of the package as if it were of the chosen density (what the package would weigh at the minimum density).

Furthermore, the volume used to calculate the dimensional weight may not be absolutely representative of the true volume of the package. The freight carrier will measure the longest dimension in each of the three axis (X, Y, Z) and use these measurements to determine the package volume. If the package is a right-angled rectangular box (cuboid), then this will be equal to the true volume of the package. However, if the package is of any other shape, then the calculation of volume will be more than the true volume of the package.

Dimensional weight is also known as DIM weight, volumetric weight, or cubed weight. Freight carriers utilize the greater of the actual weight or dimensional weight to calculate shipping charges. Dimensional weight is calculated as (length × width × height) / (dimensional factor). Measurements can be made all in inches or all in centimeters, but the appropriate shipping factor must also be used.

Shipping factors for imperial measurements represent cubic inches per pound (in3/lb) while metric factors represent cubic centimeters per kilogram (cm3/kg). These are the inverse of the package density. Dimensional weight is applied when the actual product density is less than the minimum density represented by the chosen factor. Dimensional weight is representative of the weight of the package at the minimum density accepted by the freight carrier. [3] Shipping factors are not only different for imperial and metric measurements, but also for shipment mode and in some cases between different customers. Shipping factors will be available from the freight carrier. Some common factors are listed below.

Imperial shipping factor examples:

Metric shipping factor examples:

When calculating the dimensional weight with metric measurements, the length, width, and height are measured in centimeters (cm) and the result is stated in a nominal kilogram (kg) dimensional weight band (usually rounded up).

Shipping companies

Canada Post [4]
Expedited or Regular : 6,000 cm3/kg (166 cu in/lb) or 1⁄6 kg/dm3 (10 lb/cu ft)
Priority, Xpresspost, U.S. and International : 5,000 cm3/kg (138 cu in/lb) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft)
DHL Express
Global: 5,000 cm3/kg (138 cu in/lb) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft) [5]
United Arab Emirates: 4,000 cm3/kg (111 cu in/lb) or 1⁄4 kg/dm3 (16 lb/cu ft) [6]
FedEx [7] [8]
International: 139 cubic inches per pound (5,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft)
U.S. and Puerto Rico: 139 cubic inches per pound (5,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft)
United Parcel Service [9] [10]
International: 139 cubic inches per pound (5,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft)
U.S. Domestic: 139 cubic inches per pound (5,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft) (Daily rates only, for packages that exceed one cubic foot / 1,728 cubic inches.)
U.S. Domestic: 166 cubic inches per pound (6,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄6 kg/dm3 (10 lb/cu ft) (Retail rates only, for all packages. Daily rates only, for packages equal to or less than one cubic foot / 1,728 cubic inches.)
Canada Domestic: 139 cubic inches per pound (5,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄5 kg/dm3 (12 lb/cu ft) (All except UPS Standard within Canada.)
Canada Domestic: 166 cubic inches per pound (6,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄6 kg/dm3 (10 lb/cu ft) (UPS Standard within Canada.)
United States Postal Service [11] [12]
International: 166 cubic inches per pound (6,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄6 kg/dm3 (10 lb/cu ft) (Global Express Guaranteed only)
Domestic: 194 cubic inches per pound (7,000 cm3/kg) or 1⁄7 kg/dm3 (8.9 lb/cu ft) (Priority Mail only, parcels delivered to Zones 5-9 that exceed one cubic foot / 1,728 cubic inches.)

Examples

Using dimensional weight calculations, a freight carrier will charge for lightweight (low density) packages as if they had a greater weight (the weight of the package at the minimum accepted density).

For example, a box of clothing shipped internationally which weighs 10 pounds and measures 18 × 18 × 18 inches would be charged as if it weighed 36 pounds: (18 x 18 x 18)/166 = 35.1 pounds which is then rounded up to 36 pounds for shipping cost purposes. The 35.1 pounds is the 'theoretical" weight of the package if it had a density of 166 in3/lb or 10.4 lb/ft3: (18 × 18 × 18) = 3.375 ft3 × 10.4 lb/ft3 = 35.1 lb.

Note that for the USPS there are two different calculations for DIM weight: (L × W × H)/194 for domestic shipments and (L × W × H)/166 for international shipments.

Several programs are available to calculate dimensional weight: Dim Weight Calculator

Practical application

Dimensional weight favors shippers of dense objects and penalizes those who ship lightweight boxes. A box of unpopped corn kernels will likely be charged by gross weight; a box of popcorn will probably be charged by its dimensional weight. This is because the large box of popcorn takes up a lot of space but does not fill up a vehicle's capacity in terms of weight, making it an inefficient use of space. [13]

Shippers avoid dimensional weight charges by using smaller boxes, by compressing their goods, and by reducing the use of packing materials.

Commercial use

Dimensional weight is commonly used for invoicing by air freight forwarders, truck carriers, as well as all commercial airlines worldwide. In 2007, DHL, FedEx, United Parcel Service and USPS adopted the dimensional weight system for ground services.

In May 2007, the United States Postal Service (USPS) adopted dimensional weight, calling it "Shape Based Postage Pricing". This rate system is designed to charge more for lightweight items, and also to recover costs involving manual sorting and handling, since many postal machines are built to handle flats. This system would charge much more for mailing a parcel than a flat envelope. It encourages mailing books and DVDs in flat paperboard or plastic envelopes, rather than padded mailers.

Such companies use automated systems called dimensioners for calculating both dimensional and actual weight and invoice their customers accordingly. More and more transport and logistics companies including warehouses and retailers are investing in dimensioning equipment for calculating the dimensional weight of their packages in order to keep in line with their carriers and avoid back charges. [14]

Cube weight is used in less than truckload shipping (LTL) to fill trailers with small heavy objects in them with light weight large objects to increase load factor. Generally cube and weight are reference data from the shipment table.

See also

Related Research Articles

Density is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ton</span> Unit of mass or volume with different values

Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volume</span> Quantity of three-dimensional space

Volume is a measure of three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units or by various imperial or US customary units. The definition of length (cubed) is interrelated with volume. The volume of a container is generally understood to be the capacity of the container; i.e., the amount of fluid that the container could hold, rather than the amount of space the container itself displaces.

The pound of force or pound-force is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Parcel Service</span> American package delivery company

United Parcel Service is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. In addition, UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.

The long ton, also known as the imperial ton or displacement ton, is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois system of weights or Imperial system of measurements. It was standardised in the 13th century. It is used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth of Nations countries alongside the mass-based tonne defined in 1799, as well as in the United States for bulk commodities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-foot equivalent unit</span> Unit of cargo capacity

The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains, and trucks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cargo</span> Goods or produce transported

Cargo consists of goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. Cargo was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transport by rail, van, truck, or intermodal container. The term cargo is also used in case of goods in the cold-chain, because the perishable inventory is always in transit towards a final end-use, even when it is held in cold storage or other similar climate-controlled facilities. The term freight is commonly used to describe the movements of flows of goods being transported by any mode of transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrel (unit)</span> Series of units for volume measurement

A barrel is one of several units of volume applied in various contexts; there are dry barrels, fluid barrels, oil barrels, and so forth. For historical reasons the volumes of some barrel units are roughly double the volumes of others; volumes in common use range approximately from 100 to 200 litres. In many connections the term drum is used almost interchangeably with barrel.

Amtrak Express is Amtrak's freight and shipping service. It handles small package express service, heavy freight shipments and city-to-city freight shipping by private and commercial customers. Boxes up to 36" x 36" x 36", suitcases, and boxed bicycles are acceptable, but numerous classes of fragile, valuable and hazardous items are not permitted. Large pallet shipments of up to 500 pounds (227 kg) are accepted at certain major stations. Quoted transit times range from 2 to 7 days depending on distance and service frequency.

Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less than approximately 150 pounds (68 kg). Full truckload carriers move entire semi-trailers. Semi-trailers are typically between 26 and 53 feet and require a substantial amount of freight to make such transportation economical. The term LTL can refer to the freight itself, or to the carrier that transports the such freight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grumman XTSF</span> Torpedo scout aircraft proposed for the US Navy in 1944

The Grumman XTSF was a proposed twin-engine torpedo scout aircraft, designed by Grumman for the United States Navy towards the end of World War II. Based on the design of the Grumman F7F Tigercat fighter, but enlarged and with the addition of a bomb bay, the XTSF was deemed too large for carrier operations, and the project was cancelled before any aircraft were built. Instead, the Navy chose to order the single-engine XTB3F, which became the successful AF Guardian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of the imperial and US customary measurement systems</span>

Both the British imperial measurement system and United States customary systems of measurement derive from earlier English unit systems used prior to 1824, that were the result of a combination of the local Anglo-Saxon units inherited from Germanic tribes and Roman units.

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act ("COGSA") is a United States statute governing the rights and responsibilities between shippers of cargo and ship-owners regarding ocean shipments to and from the United States. It is the U.S. enactment of the International Convention Regarding Bills of Lading, commonly known as the "Hague Rules". It was found in Title 46 Appendix of the United States Code, starting at Section 1301, but has been moved to a note in 46 United States Code 30701.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pumpkin bomb</span> Conventional high-explosive bomb

Pumpkin bombs were conventional aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II. It was a close replication of the Fat Man plutonium bomb with the same ballistic and handling characteristics, but it used non-nuclear conventional high explosives. It was mainly used for testing and training purposes, which included combat missions flown with pumpkin bombs by the 509th Composite Group. The name "pumpkin bomb" was the term used in official documents from the large, fat ellipsoidal shape of the munition casing instead of the more usual cylindrical shape of other bombs, intended to enclose the Fat Man's spherical "physics package".

Dimensioning is the process of measuring either the area or the volume that an object occupies. It is the method of calculating capacity for the storage, handling, transporting and invoicing of goods. Vehicles and storage units have both volume and weight capacity limits and can easily become full in terms of volume before they reach their capacity in weight. By dimensioning for capacity needs, companies and warehouses can make optimal use of space in order to minimize costs in order to maximize profits.

Grammage and basis weight, in the pulp and paper industry, are the area density of a paper product, that is, its mass per unit of area. Two ways of expressing grammage are commonly used:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Units of textile measurement</span> Systems for measuring textiles

Textile fibers, threads, yarns and fabrics are measured in a multiplicity of units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sectional density</span> Gun ballistic calculation

Sectional density is the ratio of an object's mass to its cross sectional area with respect to a given axis. It conveys how well an object's mass is distributed to overcome resistance along that axis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gram per cubic centimetre</span>

The gram per cubic centimetre is a unit of density in the CGS system, commonly used in chemistry, defined as mass in grams divided by volume in cubic centimetres. The official SI symbols are g/cm3, g·cm−3, or g cm−3. It is equivalent to the units gram per millilitre (g/mL) and kilogram per litre (kg/L). The density of water is about 1 g/cm3, since the gram was originally defined as the mass of one cubic centimetre of water at its maximum density at 4 °C.

References

  1. ↑ Lauren Jow. "New FedEx & UPS Dimensional Weight Changes". Shipwire. Archived from the original on 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  2. ↑ "FedEx Announces Pricing Changes". May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Dimensional weight". Shipping & Freight. January 28, 2012. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  4. ↑ "ABCs of Mailing - 3.4 Shipping charges and weight". Canada Post. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  5. ↑ "Volumetric Weight". DHL Global. Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  6. ↑ "Volumetric Weight". DHL United Arab Emirates. Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  7. ↑ "How to Pack" (PDF). FedEx. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  8. ↑ "Other Factors That Can Affect Your Shipping Rate - FedEx". www.fedex.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  9. ↑ "How to Determine Billable Weight". United Parcel Service. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  10. ↑ "UPS Rates: 2017 Rate Change". rates.ups.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  11. ↑ "USPS Notice 123". pe.usps.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  12. ↑ "Domestic Mail Manual". USPS Postal Explorer. United States Postal Service. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. ↑ "Moving Air" (PDF). Mettler Toledo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-06-24. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  14. ↑ "Ten Year Global Partnership with DHL Parent Company". Mettler Toledo . Archived from the original on 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2021-02-28.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.