Export cost and chargeable weight calculator: compare air, sea and courier quotes by Incoterm

Enter carton size, weight and quantity to get air and courier chargeable weight and sea W/M right away. Add the freight quotes you received to see the amount for each term from EXW to DDP and what the exporter and buyer each pay. Free with no sign-up, and results are estimates.

What is chargeable weight?

Chargeable weight is the weight a carrier bills you for. Light but bulky cargo takes up space out of proportion to its weight, so carriers convert volume to a weight and charge on whichever is larger.

Air uses length × width × height (cm) ÷ 6,000 (the IATA standard) and DHL Express uses ÷ 5,000. Sea LCL uses W/M instead: the larger of CBM and tonnes (1,000 kg = 1 tonne).

Worked example

Twenty 60 × 40 × 30 cm cartons at 10 kg each: 1.44 CBM and 200 kg in total.

Chargeable amounts are 240 kg by air (1,440,000 ÷ 6,000), 288 kg by courier (1,440,000 ÷ 5,000) and 1.44 W/M by sea. Volume is larger in all three.

The amounts below only show the method and are not real rates: EXW selling price 5,000, origin costs 300, insurance 20, destination costs 250, duty 5%, import VAT 10%, on a CIF basis.

Sea: a rate of 80 gives freight of 115.20. FOB is 5,300, CFR 5,415.20, CIF 5,435.20 and DAP 5,685.20. Adding duty of 271.76 and VAT of 570.70 gives DDP of 6,527.66.

Air: a rate of 4 gives freight of 960. FCA is 5,300, CPT 6,260, CIP 6,280 and DAP 6,530. Adding duty of 314 and VAT of 659.40 gives DDP of 7,503.40. For this input sea is 975.74 lower, but transit time is not counted.

Who pays what under the main Incoterms 2020 rules?

This table covers the main terms out of the 11 rules and leaves out DPU and FAS. The exporter pays for more stages as you go down. Insurance under DAP and DDP is not the exporter's duty, but the exporter carries the risk up to the destination, so it is shown on the exporter's side. Items such as terminal charges may not be in the freight rate, so check your contract and quote.

According to DSV, under FCA the exporter handles export clearance and the buyer bears the costs after the named place. So if you hand over at the factory, inland transport and terminal charges can fall to the buyer. Import clearance is the buyer's up to DAP and the exporter's only under DDP.

For air and courier, chargeable weight is the larger of actual weight and volumetric weight (length × width × height in cm ÷ divisor). For sea LCL, W/M is the larger of CBM and tonnes (1,000 kg = 1 tonne). If rate × chargeable amount is below the minimum charge, the minimum is used. Then the EXW selling price plus origin costs gives FCA or FOB, adding freight gives CPT or CFR, adding insurance gives CIP or CIF, adding destination costs gives DAP, and adding import clearance, duty and import VAT gives DDP. Rates and tax rates are only used if you enter them. It runs in your browser, and inputs stay in the URL so you can send the result as a link.

• How do you calculate chargeable weight? It is the larger of actual weight and volumetric weight. For air, volumetric weight is length × width × height (cm) ÷ 6,000. Twenty 60 × 40 × 30 cm cartons at 10 kg each weigh 200 kg and come to 240 kg by volume, so they are charged as 240 kg.
• Why do air and courier use different divisors? Maersk describes 6,000 as the IATA standard and notes that some airlines use 5,000. DHL Express publishes 5,000, and FedEx publishes 139 in inches (about 5,020). So the same carton has a higher chargeable weight by courier. Check the figure on your quote. You can switch the divisor in each mode's box.
• What is W/M in sea LCL? It is the larger of CBM and tonnes. 1.44 CBM at 200 kg is 0.2 tonnes, so it is charged as 1.44 W/M. If your quote has a minimum charge, enter it in that field.
• Why do I have to enter freight and duty rates myself? Freight varies by route, season and company, so there is no default we can stand behind. A total built on made-up rates would be a wrong quote. Enter your forwarder's quote and the rate from the import country's tariff schedule. HS code finder gives the product code and the before-you-sell checklist links to duty sources.
• Which amount is duty charged on? It depends on the country. The US, Canada and Australia charge duty on the FOB value, without international freight and insurance, and Japan and China charge on the CIF value. For other countries, check with the import country's customs or a broker first. Import VAT is approximated on customs value plus duty. The EU also adds incidental costs such as transport to the first destination, and Australia adds international freight and insurance, so the real tax can be higher.
• Can I send these amounts as my quote? The EXW selling price you enter should already include your margin, so each amount is what the buyer pays you on that term. Freight and the other costs are added as you enter them, with no markup. Don't add margin to the result later, because duty and VAT are charged on the price the buyer pays. That is the US rule and China's transaction-price basis linked below, and for other countries check with customs. Confirm with your forwarder and customs broker before quoting. What your contract says about who pays comes first.
• How do I choose between FOB and FCA? According to trade.gov, FOB, CFR and CIF are for sea and inland waterway only, while FCA, CPT and CIP work for any mode. So read air and courier as FCA, CPT and CIP in this table. DSV suggests considering FCA for containerised goods. But under FCA the exporter pays only up to the named place. The FCA amount here includes all origin costs, so it runs high if you hand over at the factory.
• Does it price a full container (FCL)? No. This calculator only covers freight charged by weight or volume. FCL is priced per container, so work out the number of containers with the container load calculator first.

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