How do I Measure My Parcel

How do I Measure My Parcel for Delivery?

Do you find that sometimes things aren’t as easy as they sound?  I had the perfect gift for my Aunty Rose, she’s been on a health kick recently and a new pushbike is just the thing for her.  The helpful man in the shop built it with care and I’d taken it home wrapped it in a generous amount of bubble wrap to protect it’s shiny red paintwork, I made sure it was protected it with cardboard and there I was ready to send it on its way, knowing it is easily within the 30Kg the maximum weight allowance of my courier.  Only to find that the actual charge to send the gift will be much, much more! 

 

Here’s the explanation, there are two ways of measuring a parcel.  By weight, which is the immediate thing that springs to mind, well to my mind at least, but there is also a volumetric weight to bear in mind.  

What is Volumetric Weight?

This is where I went wrong, volumetric weight is the space that your package takes up, rather than its actual weight. 

How to Calculate Volumetric Weight

You need to follow this calculation:

Length x Width x height (cm) /5000

Occasionally carriers may vary the calculation dependent on the service they are offering.  

I’ve been using this calculator to check my parcels since, you might find it comes in handy too.