How do you calculate LSL shipments metric

Answer:
LCL - Less Container Load
LCL shipping is a good way to ship large orders and items that are large or heavy.

LCL shipping is based primarily on volume with a minimum shipment volume of one cubic meter.

To view this information in Imperial measurements (inches and feet) please use this link.

Please note the shape of the crate does not have to be 1 meter by 1 meter it can be any size it is only the volume that is calculated. The two shapes below are different but if their volumes are the same then it will cost the same amount to ship either box.

We calculate LCL shipments by taking the item or items that you would like to purchase and calculate their given volumes. To do this we first take the length, width, and depth of each piece and add from 2-10 centimeters to each dimension. We add the 2-10 cm to the size of the pieces to allow for packing and framing. Once we get the total volume of the piece or pieces you are ordering we divide the total volume by 1,000,000.

We get the 1,000,000 figure from length 100 cm multiplied by width 100 cm multiplied by Depth 100 cm . note* there are 100 cm in one meter, thus there are 1,000,000 cm in a cubic meter.

Example 1.
Item #widget 12
Quantity 1
Size 75 x 50 x 90 cm

Let us assume that this item is fragile so it will need very good packing and framing. To insure that we are able to pack this very well we will add 10 cm on to each side of the object. The new shipping size of Item #widget 12 is 85 x 60 x 90 cm.

85 x 60 = 5,100
5,100 x 90 = 459,000
459,000 / 1,000,000 = 0.46 or 46%

From this example we know that widget 12 will occupy 46% or about half of a cubic meter. Since there is a minimum shipping volume of one cubic meter for LCL there is an extra 54% of a cubic meter that can be used.

Example 2.

Item #widget 9
Quantity 2
Size 10 x 40 x 60

Item #widget 10
Quantity 40
Size 50 x 30 x 20

Item #widget 12
Quantity 1
Size 75 x 50 x 90 cm

Let us assume that this item are all fragile so it will need very good packing and framing. To insure that we are able to pack this very well we will add 10 cm on to each side of the object.
We now have the following shipping sizes

Item #widget 9 Quantity 2 Size 20 x 50 x 70	Item #widget 10 Quantity 40 Size 60 x 40 x 30	Item #widget 12 Quantity 1 Size 85 x 60 x 100 cm
20 x 50 = 1,000 1,000 x 70 = 70,000 70,000 x 2 = 140,000 (2 is the quantity)	60 x 40 = 2,400 2,400 x 30 = 72,000 72,000 x 40 = 2,880,000	85 x 60 = 5,100 5,100 x 100 = 510,000 510,000 x 1 = 510,000
Now we add the volumes together to get a total shipping volume: 140,000 + 2,880,000 + 510,000 = 3,530,000 ( this is the total cm) 3,530,000 divided by 1,000,000 (the number of cm cubed in a cubic meter) = 3.53 cubic meters.

If you do not understand these examples don't worry when ordering all you need to do is give us the items that you would like and the quantities we will do all this for you.

At the beginning of this answer we mention that volume is the primary factor in calculating LCL shipments there are a few other things that affect the way LCL shipping costs are calculated.
1. all order need to be insured, insurance for LCL shipments is calculated at a rate of 3% of the cost of the goods.
2. Document and Export Fees are added to the shipping cost per order not per cubic meter
3. The maximum weight of a cubic meters goods can not exceed 350 Kilograms, if this is the case with your order we need will need to calculate shipping rates by weight not volume.

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