How are cubic metres calculated?

Length, width and height are multiplied; with the sizes in centimetres the result is divided by 1,000,000. A piece of 120 × 80 × 150 cm is 1.44 m³, and four of them 5.76 m³.

What are volumetric and chargeable weight?

In the calculator the volumetric weight is the volume times the carrier's factor in kg per m³, and the chargeable weight is the higher of it and the actual weight.

Where are cubic metres used?

Gebrüder Weiss writes that the cubic metre measures the volume of a load (length × width × height) and is used for volume mainly in air and sea freight, while loading metres matter most on the road.

How many cubic metres is my shipment? CBM and chargeable weight calculator

What it calculates

From the number of pieces and the size of one piece, the calculator finds the total volume of a shipment in cubic metres. With the carrier’s volume factor (kg per m³) entered, it also gives the volumetric weight and, against the actual weight, the chargeable weight. The carrier sets the factor; the calculator has none preset.

Formula

Total volume (m³) = pieces × length × width × height (cm) ÷ 1,000,000
Volumetric weight (kg) = total volume × the carrier’s factor (kg/m³)
Chargeable weight = the higher of the volumetric weight and the total actual weight

Example

Four pieces of 120 × 80 × 150 cm make 4 × 120 × 80 × 150 ÷ 1,000,000 = 5.76 m³. The actual weight it opens with is 800 kg; until a factor is entered, the volumetric and chargeable weights are not worked out.

Turkish parcel carriers express volume as desi, the same sum in cubic centimetres: Sürat Kargo divides length × width × height in centimetres by 3000 for domestic parcels, so 1 m³ is 333.3 desi and 5.76 m³ is 1,920 desi.

Assumptions and limits

All pieces have the same size; pieces of different sizes are worked out separately and added.
Sizes are outside dimensions in centimetres; nothing is rounded.
The volumetric weight is worked out only with a factor entered; the carrier sets the factor and any rounding.
Volume does not show the floor a load takes in a vehicle; the loading metre calculator does that, and the pallet calculator counts pallets.

Source notes

The definition of the cubic metre and the modes it is used in come from Gebrüder Weiss’s loading-metre page, the desi rule from Sürat Kargo’s price calculation page.