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Dimensional weight is a billing
technique that calculates a shipment’s size characteristics based on
weight and volume instead of only the actual
weight. Weight alone cannot sufficiently describe how much space inside
of the transportation vehicle is required to transport a particular
shipment.
For example, if you’re shipping
2,000 lbs. of “packing peanuts” they may weigh the same as ton of steel,
but the “packing peanuts” will occupy considerably more of the space
inside the vehicle and the freight carrier would charge for more than
2,000 lbs in this case because this shipment would take up so much more
space.
Dimensional weight is used when
the size of a shipment does not require the full use of the vehicle and
the shipper does not want to pay for exclusive use of the vehicle. There
are separate formulas that are used by air, trucking and ocean carriers
to determine dimensional weight.
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