Acuitive Solutions

Calculating volume for an Air
Freight shipment

How the DIM factor impacts
the calculation of Chargeable
Weight

Why is calculating Air Freight
charges complicated?

The Impact of the DIM Factor When Calculating Volumetric Weight

Consider a shipment of 50 identical cartons whose dimensions are 20in x 20in x 20in and each carton weighs 10 lbs. Based on each of the “standard” DIM factors the Chargeable Weight for this shipment would be:

DIM Factor	Actual Weight	Volumetric Weight	Chargeable Weight
194	500 lbs.	2,062 lbs.	2,062 lbs.
166	500 lbs.	2,410 lbs.	2,410 lbs.
138	500 lbs.	2,899 lbs.	2,899 lbs

If we now apply a rate of $1.00/Lb to the shipment we will see that the expected charges of the shipment will vary dramatically when we base the calculation of Chargeable Weight on different DIM factors (See A above).

When you are shipping light/bulky products: The lower the DIM factor the greater the Chargeable Weight, hence a $1.00/Lb rate with a lower DIM factor will be effectively more expensive than a $1.00/Lb. rate with a higher DIM factor. To be competitive, a rate with a lower DIM factor must be less than a rate with a higher DIM factor. The chart below illustrates this point using our example shipment - the lower the DIM factor the higher the effective cost.

DIM Factor	Applied Rate	Chargeable Weight	Expected Costs	Effective Rate
194	$1.00	2,062 lbs.	$2,062	$1.00 / lb. ($2,062 / 2,062 lbs. = $1.00)
166	$1.00	2,410 lbs.	$2,410	$1.17 / lb. ($2,410 / 2,062 lbs. = $1.17)
138	$1.00	2,899 lbs.	$2,899	$1.41 / lb. ($2,899 / 2,062 lbs. = $1.41)

To properly weigh the competitiveness of one quote versus another you must know the rates, DIM factors, and the weight & cube attributes of the products you want to ship.