Air Freight Understanding the Volumetric Weight Vs Actual Weight                                                                      

The air freight industry has a very specific way of calculating air freight charges. Airlines will charge on the greater of either the gross weight or the volume, this is done by calculating the volumetric weight. 

As there are restrictions on the amount of space and weight available on the airplane, if Airlines charged by weight alone they might fill the available space with very large cargo that does not weigh much and this would not yield much revenue as if they filled it with very small but heavy cargo. To solve this problem they have devised a method to determine the kilogram equivalent of the cargo volume.

The formula to convert volume to kilograms is:
Total volume in cubic centimetres (cm3) divided by 6000 = the amount of kilograms equivalent (the volumetric weight)’
To calculate the weight to volume equivalent we need to do some simple calculations. Please follow the example below.      

The consignment details are: 
Number of pieces: 3 pallets
Dimensions: 110 x 110 x 125 per pallet
Weight: 200 kg per pallet

Step 1. 
Calculate the volume of each piece
110 x 110 x 125 = 1512500 cm3

Step 2.
Calculate the total volume of the consignment. Multiply the volume of each piece by
The total number of pieces
1512500 x 3 (the number of pallets) = 4537500 cm3

Step 3.
Divide the total volume by 6000. The answer is the total ‘weight equivalent’ or ‘volumetric weight’ of the consignment.  4537500 divided by 6000 = 756.25 kgs
The consignment is then charged on the greater of either the ‘gross weight’ or the ‘volumetric weight’. This is referred as the ‘chargeable weight’.