Chargeable weight calculator for air freight

1What chargeable weight is

An aircraft runs out of space before it runs out of lift, so air freight cannot be priced on the scale alone. Every shipment has two weights. The actual weight is what the scale says. The volumetric weight is what the space the cartons take would weigh at a standard density. The chargeable weight is whichever of the two is greater, and it is the figure the rate per kg is multiplied by. Light, bulky cargo is charged on its volume; dense cargo is charged on the scale.

2How volumetric weight is calculated

Length × width × height in centimetres, divided by 6000, for each carton, then added up over the shipment. Measure the outside of the packed carton, at its widest points. The totals are then compared: the shipment's volumetric weight against its actual weight, and the greater is the chargeable weight.

The first two rows are the same box. Filled with cushion covers it is billed as 20 kg although it weighs 4; filled with tiles it is billed as the 25 kg it weighs. That is why a quote needs both the dimensions and the weights, and why a supplier's weight alone is not enough to price air freight.

3How many kg is 1 CBM?

In air freight, 1 CBM is 1,000,000 cm³, and 1,000,000 ÷ 6000 is about 166.7 kg of volumetric weight. A shipment of 2.8 CBM therefore has a volumetric weight of about 466.7 kg, and it is charged on that unless the scale reads more. Sea LCL works the other way round: it is priced on volume, and weight is turned into CBM at 500 kg per CBM, so 2.8 CBM is billed as 2.8 CBM unless it weighs more than 2.8 × 500 = 1,400 kg.

Some express couriers divide by 5000 instead of 6000, which makes the same cartons heavier on paper: 1 CBM counts as 200 kg and 2.8 CBM as 560 kg. Our air freight uses 6000. When you compare air quotes, check the divisor as well as the rate per kg.

4How to bring the chargeable weight down

• Cut the empty space. A carton trimmed from 60 × 40 × 50 cm to 50 × 40 × 40 cm drops from 20 kg to about 13.3 kg volumetric. Ask the supplier to pack to the size of the goods, not to the cartons they have in stock.
• Compress what compresses. Clothing, bedding and soft goods can be vacuum-packed or pressed before they are boxed.
• Ship flat. Anything that nests, stacks or folds should travel that way.
• Know when to stop. Once a shipment is charged on the scale, repacking saves nothing; and goods that arrive crushed cost more than the kilograms saved.

If the volumetric weight is several times the actual weight whatever you do, the goods are a sea shipment. Sea LCL is priced on volume, at S$82 per CBM, with weight counting only for heavy cargo (500 kg per CBM), and takes 10–14 days hub to door against 3–5 for air. The calculator shows the total volume as well, and the CBM calculator gives the sea figure for the same cartons.

5Our air rate and the minimum

Air freight from China to Singapore is from S$6.50 per kg of chargeable weight for general cargo, with a minimum of 10 kg; a shipment under the minimum is billed as 10 kg. The rate is hub to door: receiving and checking at our air freight warehouse in Shenzhen, the freight, the Singapore import permit and customs clearance, delivery to your address and cargo cover at declared invoice value. GST at 9% is on top, except on an air shipment valued below S$400, which is not charged GST. The air freight guide has the warehouse address and more worked examples.

6Indicative, not confirmed

The figure the calculator shows is indicative, from our published rate. Your confirmed quote is the final figure: send the carton sizes and weights for an instant quote, and the confirmed quote follows in writing within a few hours. The guide to shipping from China to Singapore compares air with sea for the whole route.