809 lbs? ?? ??? Never, ever had a package so heavy from Africa, including buffalo heads, hides, giraffe skins, skulls, hippo, etc.! Demand an Ocean Freight price. I've never had any issues shipping that way. Also, the old-schoolers like to use wooden crates when the norm now is to use very heavy duty cardboard (cutting further on shipping costs.) Sounds like they're smuggling something else in your "crate!" smh What's in the box?
@C.W. Richter the OP stated the
volumetric weight was 367 Kg. That does not necessarily mean the actual weight is 809 lbs. More likely it is a large crate that takes up a lot of volume. Most taxidermist shops in Africa are masters of efficiently packing crates, but perhaps there was no getting around the fact that a cape buffalo and sable shoulder mounts take up some space. However, as I stated earlier, I shipped one Zebra flat skin and shoulder mounts for Eland, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Bushbuck x2 and Warthog x2 and that totaled 138 Kg volumetric weight. 138 Kg = 304 lbs., but the crate actually weighed less than 200 lbs. I would think there isn't a huge difference in the size of an Eland and Waterbuck vs a buffalo and sable. I could be wrong though.
The 367 Kg really appears to be overly large. Perhaps someone had their thumb on the proverbial volumetric weight scale.
What Is Volumetric Weight and How Is It Calculated?
Have you ever tried to close a suitcase, but you couldn’t zip it all the way because it was too full? The same stands true for carriers transporting your products: their space is limited, it’ll eventually reach capacity, and somebody’s stuff will have to be left out so the truck/plane/train/shipping container can be zipped shut.
Every carrier, no matter the
shipping method, has developed packing strategies to maximize their capacity and ultimately their revenue. To that end, carriers also created a technique to measure volumetric weight to make the most out of lightweight items that occupy more space.
In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about volumetric weight, how it’s calculated, and best of all, how you can
avoid it (or at least reduce it).
What is volumetric weight?
Not all weight is created equal. What you consider “light and soft” could conceivably take up a
lot of space and hinder carriers from shipping with other products. Picture it this way: It costs more to ship a plane full of feather pillows than one filled with smartphones. The pillows take up more space, they cost less, and you need more shipments to make a significant profit.
That being said, volumetric weight—also known as
dimensional weight—is a pricing technique used by shipping companies to ensure that they don’t lose money on large, lightweight shipments (like your pillows). Volumetric weight is calculated with a formula using the volume weight of a package based on the actual dimensions of the box.
While
physical weight is the weight of the shipment according to the scale,
volumetric weight is calculated based on the package’s length, width, and height. As a result, that oversized boxful of pillows might be considered
heavier than a tiny little box of smartphones.
How is volumetric weight calculated?
To calculate volumetric weight, measure the length, width, and height of the box. Then multiply the results to obtain the cubic size of your package.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you have a box measuring 40 inches x 16 inches x 16 inches. Multiplying the three dimensions — 40 • 16 • 16 — gets you 10,240 cubic inches.
Depending on the carrier, you’ll divide the total cubic inches by the dimensional weight divisor. For FedEx and UPS, the retail dimensional weight divisor is 139, while both DHL and USPS use 166 as the DIM factor for packages less than 1,728 cubic inches (or 1 cubic foot).
So, if you ship that box domestically via UPS, its dimensional weight equals 74 lbs (or 10,240 divided by 139).
Note: In kilograms, the formula is L*W*H/6000 for domestic shipments and L*W*H/5000 for international shipments.
