Understanding Cubic Charges

Cubic conversion of freight is standard industry practice, but it is a concept that manages to cause confusion about what it is and how to use the formula.

So what is cubic freight?
We measure the capacity of our containers and trucks in two ways, cubic volume and deadweight – how much space the goods take up and how much they weigh.  To illustrate this, the amount of space a tonne of feathers take up is considerably larger than what is used by a tonne of lead.

When we transport a tonne of a light commodity it takes up cubic volume, but we are unable to use the deadweight capacity of the vehicle.  We base our prices on capacity.  This means that the most economical way to charge for light commodities is by the cubic volume.  We then use the industry standard to work out a deadweight equivalent to the cubic volume of the freight.  The standard is based on 333 kilograms per cubic metre.

For example: a box of feathers that weighs 45 kilograms has the following measurements:

Length – 150cm; Width – 45cm;  Height – 85 cm

The formula to work out the deadweight would be:
1.5m x 0.45m x 0.85m x 333 = 191 kilograms

This means that the weight we would charge the feathers at is 191 kilograms.  

If you chose to transport your good with us, it is important to remember that all measurements on the consignment note must be in centimetres.