How express service company calculate the shipping costs?

Most of our customers don't know how express service company calculate the shipping cost. This is very important. Because nobody would like to be charged more. Therefore, it is time to make it clear now.
UPS, Fedex, DHL and TNT are the biggest global express service company in the world. They use the same method to calculate the shipping costs.

The quotation of Express service company based on the WEIGHT. The unit they calculate the cost is 0.5KG. If the weight of a package is less than 0.5KG, they will calculate it as 0.5KG. For example, if a package is 1.55KG, they will calculate as 2KG rather than 1.5KG.

However, when they receive the package, they not only consider the weight, but also the volume. If the weight is bigger than the volume, they calculate the costs by the real weight. Otherwise, they calculate by the volume weight. What is volume weight? Volme weight is noun using only on freight industry. The formula of volume weight is length*width*height/5000, the unit for length is CM, the unit of volume weight is KG.

Take an example, if the weight of a parcel is 4.2KG, Length is 28CM, Width is 22CM, Height is 22CM. So volume weight is 28*22*22/5000=2.72KG. Therefore, express service company will calculate your parcel as 4.5KG.

Take another example, if the weight of a parcel is 4.2KG, Length is 38CM, Width is 32CM, Height is 32CM. So volume weight is 38*32*32/5000=7.79KG. Therefore, express service company will calculate your parcel as 8KG.

Different shipping agent have different discount. So it is difficult to tell you what cost is reasonable. However, since you know how they calculate now, you can do something save your money, such as reduce the size of the package. If the weight or the volume weight is 4.52KG, you'd better try to make it lighter or smaller.