Beneficial Cargo Owner (BCO)
Logistics Term
What's Billable Weight?
Billable weight is typically a strategy in pricing standards among carriers for calculating shipping rates per package. It looks at the dimensional weight, which encompasses the length, width, and height, and checks the shipment's actual weight. Between these two variables, the most significant weight is used as the actual shipping rate in the billable weight. Billable weights were introduced in 2015 after realizing that the shipping costs didn't account for the internal lightweight packages that occupied the cargo space. Additionally, shippers were hesitant to optimize their packaging for small items as there were no charges for their package dimensions. It led to the introduction of the dimension weight. Billable weights are a must for shipments starting at 16 ounces and more.
Importance of Billable Weight
Surprisingly, however, billable weight also aids in reducing shipping costs and improves your packaging options. One way to do so is by evaluating your packaging options and being more intentional. Using ships in their container packaging makes it possible to cut costs. It means shipping a commodity in the exact container or manner of packaging that it left the store of purchase. Finally, employ poly mailers instead of boxes during shipping since they occupy less space and are lightweight.
