Calculating Dimensions From Cubic Data

Overview

To accurately price a movement with carriers, MachShip requires:

  • Length x Height x Width
  • Weight
  • Quantity Of Packages
  • ItemType (Pallet, Carton, Satchel etc)

We need these specific dimensions rather than just a cubic number because:

  1. Various carriers have surcharges impacted by these values, such as overlength surcharges, tailgate fees, per item fees
  2. The size of items can affect which vehicles are able to take the goods, influencing available services

This article will discuss ways of using cubic data to derive these values as an alternative.

Generating Dimensions from Limited Data

{primary} ⚠️ Important: To ensure accurate pricing, provide the full set of dimensions whenever possible. The methods below should be considered "workarounds" and used only when there is no other choice.

If your system can't generate full box dimensions, you can use these basic rules and formulas to approximate dimensions while still ensuring relatively accurate rates.

Method 1: With Longest Side and Largest Weight

This scenario assumes you have five pieces of data:

  1. Total Cubic in M3
  2. Total Weight
  3. Total Quantity of Items
  4. Longest item (longest dimension on any item)
  5. Largest item weight (heaviest item of all)

Example Calculation

Assuming:

  • 0.6m3 total
  • 45kg total weight
  • 3 items/packages
  • 2 meters longest dimension of any item
  • 25kg largest item

Steps:

  1. Divide cubic by items to find cubic per item:

    0.6m3 / 3 = 0.2m3 per item

  2. Convert cubic to dimensions:

    cubic is length x width x height - length is known, so divide the cubic by that
0.2m3 / 2m (length) = 0.1m2
This means 0.1m2 is the width x height - to find equal sides, you square root.
(square root) √0.1m2 = 0.316m
Convert to cm: 200cm x 31.6cm x 31.6cm

  3. Set weights:

    1 x 25kg (heaviest item)
45kg - 25kg = 20kg remains
20kg / 2 = 10kg for remaining items

  4. Final items:

    200 x 31.6 x 31.6 = 25kg x 1
200 x 31.6 x 31.6 = 10kg x 2

Method 2: Without Longest Side and Largest Weight

If you don't have the longest side or largest weight, the calculation is simpler.

Example Calculation

Assuming:

  • 0.6m3 total
  • 45kg total weight
  • 3 items/packages

Steps:

  1. Divide cubic by items:

    0.6m3 / 3 = 0.2m3 per item

  2. Convert cubic to dimensions:

    cubic is length x width x height - cube root to find equal values
(cube root) ∛0.2m3 = 0.585m
Convert to cm: 58.5cm x 58.5cm x 58.5cm

  3. Divide weight by items:

    45kg / 3 = 15kg per item

  4. Final items:

    58.5 x 58.5 x 58.5 = 15kg x 3

Note: To get the cubic closer to exactly matching, you may need to set 2 decimal places on the final cm value when rounding.