Work out cubic metres (CBM) for a shipment from the carton size and number of cartons, in centimetres or inches. You also get cubic feet, the total weight and roughly how much of a 20ft, 40ft or 40ft high cube container it would fill. Free, no sign-up.
Laneworks reads your customer's quote-request email, works out these numbers, prices every line from your own rate sheet and writes the reply, with a PDF quotation in your company's name. Forward one real request and it comes back in about two minutes.
Multiply length × width × height of one carton in metres to get its cubic metres, then multiply by the number of cartons. In centimetres, multiply the three sides and divide by 1,000,000. Example: a 60 × 40 × 50 cm carton is 0.12 cbm, so 40 of them are 4.8 cbm.
Multiply length × width × height in inches to get cubic inches, then divide by 61,024. Or multiply cubic feet by 0.0283. One cubic metre is about 35.3 cubic feet.
A 20ft container holds about 33 cbm inside, but about 25–28 cbm is a realistic load once you allow for carton sizes and gaps. A 40ft holds about 67 cbm (55–58 realistic) and a 40ft high cube about 76 cbm (65–68 realistic). Use the container capacity calculator to count cartons by size.
As a rough rule, from about 13–15 cbm a 20ft is often cheaper than LCL, but it depends on your rates, local charges and the destination. Compare both quotes; a forwarder can price both from the same request.