This guide is the rules and a worked carton. Use the calculator URL when you want to type centimetres. This page is the Volumetric Weight Guide brief from Ras Al Khor — neighbouring URLs are different jobs.
| Mode | Formula | Worked carton 80×60×50 cm |
|---|---|---|
| Air volumetric kg | (L×W×H cm) ÷ 5000 | 80×60×50 ÷ 5000 = 48 kg per piece |
| CBM | (L×W×H m) | 0.8×0.6×0.5 = 0.24 CBM per piece |
| Road density kg | CBM × 333 | 0.24 × 333 ≈ 80 kg per piece |
| Chargeable | Higher of actual kg vs volumetric | If the piece weighs 20 kg, air bills 48 kg; road may bill 0.24 CBM |
Some airlines use ÷6000. If your booking is air, we tell you the airline divisor before you pay.
Why the scale and the tape both matter
A 20 kg sofa-back in a factory carton can measure 0.4 CBM. Air would bill far above 20 kg. Road would bill CBM. Under-declaring centimetres to win a WhatsApp quote fails at Ras Al Khor — we re-measure, then the rate changes before the truck leaves, not at Al Batha.
CBM in one minute
Convert cm to metres (÷100). Multiply length × width × height × piece count. Four cartons of 80×60×50 cm are 0.96 CBM. Furniture after blanket wrap is larger than the showroom photo. We quote packing-on if intake wrap grows the cube.
What the calculator does not do
It does not spit an AED rate. City, door type, packing and SABER sit outside the formula. Use it to arrive at CBM or chargeable kg, then open the cost page or WhatsApp the suburb.
Pallets and irregular pieces
Measure the pallet footprint including overhang, not the carton on top. A sofa on its end is a different cube than the showroom photo. Irregular pieces: use the smallest box that would hold them, or ask us to measure at intake.
From CBM to an AED band
Take the CBM to the cost page for the city cluster — Dammam, Riyadh or Jeddah are different bands — then add packing and last-mile type. Four CBM to a Riyadh warehouse is not four CBM to a Jeddah apartment.
Worked cartons on this desk
One 80×60×50 cm carton is 0.24 CBM and 48 kg volumetric air (÷5000). Four of them are 0.96 CBM. If each weighs 20 kg, air bills 48 kg each; road may bill 0.96 CBM toward Riyadh at AED 200–350 per CBM (about AED 192–336) plus origin labour. Furniture after blanket wrap is larger than the showroom photo — we quote packing-on when intake wrap grows the cube.
What the calculator refuses to pretend
It will not print an AED/kg that treats steel and sofas as the same. It will not apply a Jeddah band to a Dammam cube. It will not skip re-measure at Ras Al Khor. Use it to arrive at CBM or chargeable kg, then WhatsApp +971 55 214 5290 with the suburb. A phone picture without centimetres is still only a band.
Pallet maths people get wrong
Measure the pallet, not the top carton. 120×100×140 cm is 1.68 CBM even if the cartons on it are smaller. Overhang counts. Stretch wrap that turns two unstable columns into one footprint is still that footprint. Irregular furniture: we measure the smallest box that would hold it at intake if you cannot tape it yourself.
Why this guide is not the calculator
This URL is the charging rules in prose. Type centimetres on /volumetric-weight-calculator/. AED bands live on the cost pages. Re-measure still happens at Ras Al Khor even if your spreadsheet matched our formula.
How a booking works
- 01 · Measure each pieceLongest side, including pallet and wrap.
- 02 · Run the formulaAir ÷5000; road CBM or CBM×333.
- 03 · Add actual kgChargeable is the higher figure.
- 04 · Name the cityRiyadh CBM is not Jeddah CBM.
- Air divisor5000 (we confirm if the airline uses 6000)
- RoadCBM, or max(actual kg, CBM×333)
- IntakeWe re-measure at Ras Al Khor
- QuoteWhatsApp +971 55 214 5290 with CBM + suburb
CBM and volumetric questions
What is volumetric weight?
A size-based kilogram so bulky cargo pays for the space it occupies. Air: L×W×H cm ÷ 5000.
How do I calculate CBM?
Metres: L×W×H×quantity. 100 cm is 1 m. A 100×100×100 cm cube is 1 CBM.
Does road always use 333 kg per CBM?
That is this desk’s density check when the lane is not a pure CBM rate. We say which on the quote.
Will you honour a calculator AED figure?
There is no AED in the calculator. Bands live on the cost pages; the scale confirms.