Chargeable weight is not a property of the goods. It is the greater of two numbers — what the shipment weighs, and what the aircraft would have to carry if the goods were as dense as the hold’s working assumption — and the difference between them is where most quoting errors live.
| Weight | Definition | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Gross weight | The goods and their packaging, on the scale | Actual weighing |
| Volumetric weight | Cube × the dimensional factor | Carton dimensions ÷ divisor |
| Chargeable weight | The higher of the two, rounded up | What the awb is billed at |
The IATA convention is that 1 cubic metre of cargo is treated as 166.67 kg — the divisor 6000, stated in cm³/kg. Expressed as a ratio, 1 tonne per 6 cubic metres, which is the "1:6" you will hear on the phone. Many express and integrated products bill at 5000, i.e. 200 kg per cubic metre, and specific lanes or contract rates use others.
Ten cartons at 120 × 80 × 90 cm, 65 kg each.
Round up after the comparison, not before. Rounding each of the two candidates separately can flip which one wins. The increment is set by the tariff — 0.5 kg is the common IATA and carrier convention, some lanes bill in whole kilograms, and the weight break tables step at 45 kg, 500 kg, 1000 kg and above, where a kilogram of rounding is priced at the lower break.
Billing weight and loadable weight are different constraints pulling on the same shipment. An AKE may hold 4.5 m³ but is limited to roughly 1,505 kg of cargo after tare and net; a PMC at the Q6 contour holds about 17 m³ and may carry 6,690 kg. A light, bulky commodity fills the cube of an LD3 long before its weight limit — the payload column of the ULD chart is what tells you which constraint you will hit first.