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Shipping Unit Converters

Freight paperwork mixes US and metric units, and a wrong factor can push a shipment past a weight limit or a price break. These converters use the exact factors, and each page has a calculator, a reference table and the freight cases where the unit comes up.

Volume

Volume factors are exact, because the foot (0.3048 m), the inch (2.54 cm), the yard (0.9144 m) and the liter (one cubic decimeter) are all defined in metric. Round only the final answer.

cubic meters → cubic feetm³ → ft³1 m³ = 35.3147 ft³, exact by the definition of the foot.cubic feet → cubic metersft³ → m³1 ft³ = 0.0283168 m³; a 20ft container holds about 1,169 ft³.cubic meters → cubic inchesm³ → in³1 m³ = 61,023.74 in³; divide in³ by 1,728 for ft³.cubic meters → litersm³ → L1 m³ = 1,000 L exactly, since 1 L is 1,000 cm³.cubic yards → cubic metersyd³ → m³1 yd³ = 0.764555 m³; a 9-yard concrete load is 6.88 m³.cubic meters → cubic yardsm³ → yd³1 m³ = 1.30795 yd³, or add about 31%.

Volume & weight

Cubic meters and kilograms measure different things, so these converters use a billing ratio, not physics. Ocean LCL treats 1 m³ as 1,000 kg; air freight uses about 167 kg per m³ (a 6,000 cm³/kg divisor). Your goods' real weight does not change.

cubic meters → kilogramsm³ → kgSea LCL bills 1 m³ as 1,000 kg; air counts it as about 167 kg.kilograms → cubic meterskg → m³For sea billing 1,000 kg = 1 m³; for air every 167 kg counts as about 1 m³.

Weight

The pound is defined as exactly 0.45359237 kg. Use the full factor on customs entries, air waybills and anything near a weight limit.

pounds → kilogramslb → kg× 0.45359237, exact; dividing by 2.2 runs about 0.2% high.kilograms → poundskg → lb× 2.20462; a 20,000 kg load is 44,092.45 lb.

Length

The inch is defined as exactly 2.54 cm. Carriers measure the longest point of each side, including overhang and packaging, so measure that way before you convert.

inches → centimetersin → cm× 2.54, exact; a 48 × 40 in pallet is 121.92 × 101.6 cm.centimeters → inchescm → inA Euro pallet, 120 × 80 cm, is 47.24 × 31.50 in.