Why accurate freight measurements are important?

It’s no secret that the total cost of your shipment is directly affected by its dimensions and freight measurements. You can't use inaccurate numbers in your bill of lading and get away with it. Every carrier makes shipment inspections before handling, and any discrepancies between the stated and the actual shipment information will come to the surface. Shippers often make costly mistakes because of a lack of knowledge on how to measure a freight shipment. By following these simple instructions, you can avoid unpleasant charges and shipment delays.

How to measure freight properly?

The key to successfully shipping your freight is stating precise dimensions and weight. For many shippers, this can be a challenging process with many intricacies. Since your shipment may come in many sizes and packing types such as pallets, boxes, crates, and irregularly shaped items, there’s a special approach for each item. In addition, there's actual and dimensional weight, and if you’re shipping LTL, the item density affects freight class. While it’s not that complicated in practice, knowing some information is a must.

How to measure shipment’s length?

Measure the longest side of your load and round it up to the nearest inch. It’s better to double-check your measurement before stating them in the bill of lading.

How to measure shipment’s width?

Measure the shorter side of your load, rounding that up to the nearest inch as well.

How to measure shipment’s height?

Measure how tall your load is from the floor to its highest point. Make sure to round it up to the nearest inch.

How to calculate shipment’s girth?

Multiply the width and height of your load by 2, then add those numbers to get the girth of your load. Two shipment heights (2H) plus two shipment widths (2W) equals the load girth.

How to calculate the shipment’s cubic size?

Multiply your load’s length by its height and width to get the load’s cubic size. L x H x W is your shipment’s cubic size.