Air freight · IATA 1 : 6000

Chargeable & Volumetric Weight Calculator

Chargeable weight calculator: enter box dimensions and weight, pick air, express courier or sea LCL, and get the volumetric weight carriers bill you on.

The weigh-off — heavier pan is charged

Weigh your own box

Chargeable weight calculator

One piece in — get the volumetric weight, the chargeable weight your carrier bills on, and which one wins.

Shipping mode
Units

The real weight on the scale.

Default 6000 for air freight. Override if your carrier uses a different one.

Actual weight
25 kg
Volumetric weight(100×80×60 ÷ 6,000)
80 kg
Chargeable weight
80 kg

Billed on volumetric

You pay for 55 kg of empty space — the box is lighter than its volume.

Estimate. Your carrier's exact divisor, rounding (often up to the next 0.5 kg) and any minimum chargeable weight apply. Divisors vary by carrier, service and lane and can change — confirm with your carrier.

Next step

Now book it for less than the bill

Once you know the chargeable weight, the rate is the next fight. Multi-carrier platforms pull live air-freight and express quotes side by side so you are not guessing which lane is cheapest for this weight band.

Compare rates on EasyshipOr get label rates on Shippo

These are shipping-platform links. We are not yet in either affiliate programme, so today they are plain homepage links that earn us nothing — we will only ever add tracking once we are accepted. Quotes and eligibility are the platforms' own; we receive no fee on this page. See our affiliate disclosure.

Air cargo is billed on the greater of two weights: the actual (gross) weight on the scale, and the volumetric weight = (length × width × height) ÷ 6000, the IATA air-cargo divisor (1 m³ ≈ 167 kg). The bigger one is your chargeable weight — pack denser to lower it.

Worked example — a 100 × 80 × 60 cm carton weighing 25 kg
Actual (gross) weight25 kg
Volumetric weight (480,000 cm³ ÷ 6000)80 kg
Chargeable weight (billed on volumetric)80 kg

The volume wins, so you pay for 55 kg of empty space — the carton is lighter than the air it displaces. Divisors verified against IATA TACT, FedEx and DHL.

Why air uses 6000 (and express uses 5000)

A smaller divisor makes the same box weigh more, so express courier (5000 cm³/kg) bills a heavier volumetric weight than air freight (6000). UPS US-domestic retail and DHL in some lanes vary it again — the calculator lets you override the divisor per quote.

How to reduce your chargeable weight

Right-size the carton, cut void fill, and flat-pack or nest the contents. Every extra centimetre of empty box is charged at the divisor — densifying the load is the only lever that lowers a volumetric bill without changing what is inside.

Divisors verified:

How this calculator works

Everything runs locally in your browser — no dimensions are sent to a server. The divisors come from the carriers' own published pages (IATA, FedEx, UPS, DHL) and are listed in the sources below. Carriers vary their divisor by service and lane, so you can override it.

What is volumetric (dimensional) weight?

Carriers do not just charge for how heavy a shipment is — they also charge for the space it takes up. A box of pillows weighs almost nothing but fills a lot of a plane, so carriers convert its volume into a weight, called volumetric weight (also “dimensional” or “DIM” weight). You are billed on whichever is greater: the actual weight on the scale, or the volumetric weight. That billed figure is the chargeable weight.

For air freight the formula uses the IATA divisor — the same everywhere, only the divisor changes by mode:

volumetric weight = (length × width × height) ÷ 6000

The divisors, by shipping mode

A smaller divisor produces a larger volumetric weight, so the same box costs more to ship by express courier (5000) than by air freight (6000). Sea LCL works differently — it has no divisor at all.

Volumetric divisors by shipping mode and unit system
ModeMetric (cm³/kg)Imperial (in³/lb)What it means
Air freight (IATA)60001661 m³ ≈ 167 kg
Express courier (FedEx / UPS / DHL)50001391 m³ = 200 kg
Sea LCL (W/M revenue ton)no divisor — tonne vs m³ directly1 m³ compared with 1,000 kg

These are the common standards. UPS US-domestic retail uses 166 in³/lb (6000), and DHL applies 4000 in the UAE — which is why the calculator lets you override the divisor for air and express.

Metric vs imperial

Keep your units consistent with the divisor. Centimetres with 5000 or 6000 give a result in kilograms; inches with 139 or 166 give a result in pounds. Mixing them (e.g. inches with 5000) produces a meaningless number. The calculator switches the divisor automatically when you toggle cm / kg and in / lb.

Sea LCL: the W/M revenue ton

Less-than-container-load (LCL) ocean freight does not use a volumetric divisor. Instead it is billed per revenue ton (RT), also written W/M for “weight or measurement”: the carrier takes the greater of your weight in metric tonnes (kilograms ÷ 1000) and your volume in cubic metres (CBM). A dense 8-tonne, 3 m³ pallet is billed as 8 RT; a light 2.5-tonne, 4 m³ pallet is billed as 4 RT.

Why bulky-but-light shipments cost more

When a box's volumetric weight is higher than its actual weight, you are effectively paying to ship air. The 100 × 80 × 60 cm carton above weighs only 25 kg but has a volumetric weight of 80 kg by air (480,000 cm³ ÷ 6000), so you pay for 80 kg and 55 kg of that is empty space. The fix is to ship denser: smaller boxes, less void fill, the right pack size.

Packaging tips to cut volumetric weight

  • Right-size the box — every extra centimetre of void counts against you at the divisor.
  • Replace bulky void fill with thinner protection where the product allows.
  • Flat-pack or nest items so the outer carton is as small as the contents permit.
  • Round measurements the way your carrier does (usually up to the next whole cm or inch) before you compare quotes.
  • For multiple boxes, compare consolidating into fewer, denser cartons against shipping them loose.

Frequently asked questions

Is volumetric weight the same as dimensional weight?

Yes. “Volumetric weight”, “dimensional weight” and “DIM weight” all mean the same thing — a weight derived from a shipment's volume so carriers can charge for the space it uses.

Which weight am I actually charged on?

For air freight and express courier you are charged on the chargeable weight: the greater of the actual (gross) weight and the volumetric weight. For sea LCL it is the greater of the weight in tonnes and the volume in m³.

Why does air freight use 6000 but FedEx, UPS and DHL use 5000?

They are simply different industry conventions. The IATA air-cargo standard is 6000 cm³/kg (166 in³/lb), while express couriers settled on 5000 cm³/kg (139 in³/lb) for most international services. The smaller 5000 divisor means express bills a higher volumetric weight for the same box.

Can I trust the exact figure?

Treat it as an estimate. Carriers round (often up to the next 0.5 kg), apply a minimum chargeable weight, and can use a different divisor by service, account type or lane. Always confirm the divisor with your carrier — the calculator lets you override it.

Sources

Divisors verified on against the carriers' own published pages: