Logistics & packaging
glossary.

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3PL (Third-Party Logistics)E-commerce & fulfillment#

A provider you outsource warehousing, picking, packing and shipping to. A 3PL usually holds your stock and ships on its own carrier contracts, which is where a negotiated DIM divisor becomes worth arguing about — see negotiating a DIM divisor.

4PL (Fourth-Party Logistics)E-commerce & fulfillment#

An integrator that manages the whole supply chain on your behalf, including the 3PLs and carriers underneath it. Where a 3PL executes, a 4PL designs and coordinates.

A

Accessorial chargesCarrier pricing & surcharges#

Supplementary fees a carrier adds for anything beyond a standard pickup and delivery — liftgate, residential delivery, re-consignment, inside delivery, limited access. They are where a quoted rate and a final invoice usually diverge.

Actual weightVolume & measurement#

The physical weight of a package on a scale, in pounds or kilograms. Also called gross weight. It is half of what a carrier bills on — the other half is dimensional weight, and you pay the greater.

Additional handling surchargeCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A per-package fee for parcels that cannot run through normal automation. FedEx and UPS apply it when the longest side is over 48 in, the second-longest over 30 in, length + girth over 105 in, volume over 10,368 in³, or weight over 50 lb — and it forces a minimum billable weight of 40 lb. Often one inch off the longest side avoids it: see avoiding oversize fees.

Advance shipping notice (ASN)Trade, customs & documents#

An electronic notice sent ahead of a delivery listing what is coming, in which cartons, on which pallets. Retailers often make it a compliance requirement.

Air waybill (AWB)Trade, customs & documents#

The non-negotiable document an air carrier issues as a receipt for cargo and as the contract of carriage. Unlike a bill of lading it does not confer title to the goods.

Allowable payloadFreight, ocean & air#

The maximum weight of cargo a vehicle, vessel or container may carry — the difference between its maximum gross weight and its tare weight.

Amazon FBA box limitsE-commerce & fulfillment#

The limits on boxes you send into an Amazon fulfillment centre — generally no side over 25 inches and no more than 50 lb, unless the box holds a single oversize unit. These are inbound receiving limits and are a separate thing from the size tiers that set your fulfillment fee.

ASINE-commerce & fulfillment#

Amazon Standard Identification Number — the 10-character code Amazon assigns to each product in its catalogue.

Automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS)Pallets & warehousing#

Computer-controlled machinery that places and retrieves loads from racking without an operator. Dense storage of this kind makes accurate carton dimensions matter more, not less.

Average daily volume (ADV)E-commerce & fulfillment#

The mean number of shipments a carrier or warehouse handles per day. Carriers use it to band accounts for rate negotiation.

Axle load limitFreight, ocean & air#

The maximum weight a single vehicle axle may carry under highway regulation. It constrains how a trailer is loaded, not just how much it holds.

B

BackorderE-commerce & fulfillment#

An order accepted for an item that is out of stock, to be shipped when stock arrives.

Bareboat charterFreight, ocean & air#

Leasing a vessel without crew, provisions or management — the charterer operates the ship as if it owned it.

Batch fulfillmentE-commerce & fulfillment#

Picking several orders in one pass through the warehouse rather than one at a time, to cut travel distance per order.

Bill of lading (BOL)Trade, customs & documents#

The contract between shipper and carrier, the receipt for the goods, and — for a negotiable BOL — the document of title. It details what is being carried, by whom, and to where.

Billable weightCarrier pricing & surcharges#

The weight a carrier actually charges on: the greater of actual weight and dimensional weight, rounded up to the next whole pound or kilogram — and overridden by a surcharge minimum where one applies. Work it out on the dimensional weight calculator.

Blind shippingE-commerce & fulfillment#

Shipping goods direct from a supplier to the end customer while keeping the supplier's identity off the paperwork, so the customer sees only the retailer's details. A double-blind arrangement hides both parties from each other.

C

CabotageFreight, ocean & air#

Carrying goods or passengers between two points inside one country using a foreign-registered vehicle or vessel. Most countries restrict it.

Carriage paid to (CPT)Trade, customs & documents#

An Incoterm: the seller pays carriage to the named destination, but risk passes to the buyer as soon as the goods are handed to the first carrier.

Carrier presetsCarrier pricing & surcharges#

Stored DIM divisors and size rules for each carrier, so you do not re-enter them per shipment. On this site the presets cover FedEx, UPS (Daily and Retail), USPS, DHL, Parcelforce and air freight, and are generated from the carriers' own published guides — see rule changes.

CartonizationE-commerce & fulfillment#

Software that chooses which box (or boxes) an order should ship in, balancing fit, void fill and dimensional weight. The manual equivalent is find the right box.

CBM (cubic meter)Volume & measurement#

The standard metric unit of freight volume, and the basis of most ocean LCL and warehousing pricing. 1 CBM = 1 m × 1 m × 1 m = 1,000,000 cm³ = 35.315 ft³. Calculate it on the CBM calculator.

CBM calculatorVolume & measurement#

A tool that turns package dimensions in centimeters or inches into cubic meters for container and freight planning. Ours is here.

Certificate of origin (COO)Trade, customs & documents#

A document certifying where goods were manufactured, used to determine duty rates and eligibility under trade agreements.

Chargeable weightCarrier pricing & surcharges#

The figure an airline or courier rates from — the greater of gross weight and volumetric weight. Identical in meaning to billable weight; which word is used depends on the mode.

Chassis surchargeFreight, ocean & air#

A daily rental charge for the wheeled chassis used to move an ocean container by road.

Clean bill of ladingTrade, customs & documents#

A bill of lading issued without any notation of damage or shortage — the carrier is recording that the cargo arrived into its custody in apparent good order.

Commercial invoiceTrade, customs & documents#

The principal customs document: buyer, seller, description, HS codes, quantities, values and terms of sale. Customs values duty from it.

ConsigneeTrade, customs & documents#

The party the goods are being delivered to.

ConsignorTrade, customs & documents#

The party sending the goods. Also called the shipper.

Consolidation (groupage)Freight, ocean & air#

Combining several small shipments into one container or trailer to get a better rate than each would achieve alone. The counting problem it creates is what batch mode is for.

Container capacity (TEU / FEU)Freight, ocean & air#

TEU is a twenty-foot equivalent unit and FEU a forty-foot one — the units container throughput is counted in. As internal volume, a 20-ft container is roughly 33 CBM, a 40-ft about 68, and a 40-ft high cube about 76. See container fit.

Container loading softwareFreight, ocean & air#

3D packing software that works out where each carton goes inside a container to maximise fill. Container fit is the single-SKU version of the same idea.

Corrugated fiberboardPackaging & materials#

The material shipping boxes are made from: a fluted sheet glued between flat linerboards. The flute size (E, B, C, BC) sets the thickness and the strength — and the difference between a box's inside and outside dimensions.

Cost and freight (CFR)Trade, customs & documents#

An Incoterm: the seller pays ocean freight to the destination port, but risk passes to the buyer once the goods are loaded.

Cost, insurance and freight (CIF)Trade, customs & documents#

CFR plus marine insurance paid by the seller. Risk still passes at loading.

Cross-dockingPallets & warehousing#

Moving goods straight from an inbound vehicle to an outbound one with little or no storage in between. It cuts handling and holding cost, and depends on accurate advance data about what is on each pallet.

Cubic foot (ft³)Volume & measurement#

The volume of a cube one foot on each side: 1,728 cubic inches, 28.32 litres, 7.48 US gallons, or 0.0283 m³. The working unit of US moving, storage and freight, and the threshold at which USPS begins applying dimensional weight.

Cubic inch (in³)Volume & measurement#

The volume of a one-inch cube — 16.387 cm³. Carriers work dimensional weight in cubic inches, dividing by the DIM factor to get pounds.

Cubic yard (yd³)Volume & measurement#

27 cubic feet, and the unit bulk landscaping and concrete are sold in. A cubic yard of concrete takes about 45 eighty-pound bags; a cubic yard of mulch covers 108 ft² at 3 inches deep. See the concrete and mulch calculators.

D

Dangerous goods (DG)Trade, customs & documents#

Hazardous materials subject to special packaging, labelling, documentation and handling rules. Classification is by UN number and class, and getting it wrong is one of the few packaging errors that carries legal as well as commercial consequences.

Deadweight tonnage (DWT)Freight, ocean & air#

The total weight a ship can carry — cargo, fuel, stores, crew and ballast combined.

Declared value for carriageCarrier pricing & surcharges#

The value you state to the carrier, which sets the ceiling on its liability if the shipment is lost or damaged. It is not insurance, and the default liability without it is very low.

Dedicated fleetFreight, ocean & air#

Vehicles and drivers assigned exclusively to one shipper.

Delivered at place (DAP / DDU)Trade, customs & documents#

An Incoterm where the seller pays transport to the named place but the buyer clears the goods and pays import duties. DDU is the older term for the same arrangement.

Delivered duty paid (DDP)Trade, customs & documents#

An Incoterm where the seller bears everything — freight, clearance and import duty — to the buyer's door.

DemurrageFreight, ocean & air#

A penalty charged when a container sits inside a port or terminal beyond its free time.

Density (freight)Freight, ocean & air#

Weight divided by volume, usually in pounds per cubic foot. It is the single number that decides LTL freight class, and the reason dimensional weight exists: carriers run out of space long before they run out of weight.

Detention feeFreight, ocean & air#

A charge for keeping carrier equipment — a container or chassis — outside the terminal beyond the agreed free period. Demurrage is inside the gate, detention is outside it.

DIM factor (divisor)Carrier pricing & surcharges#

The number you divide a package's cubic volume by to get its dimensional weight. A lower divisor produces a higher billed weight. FedEx and UPS Daily Rates use 139 in³/lb; UPS Retail uses 166; international services generally use 5,000 cm³/kg and air freight forwarders 6,000. Negotiable on a contract.

Dimensional weight (DIM weight)Volume & measurement#

A package's volume expressed as a weight, so that carriers can charge for space rather than mass. DIM weight = (L × W × H) ÷ divisor, with each dimension normally rounded up to the next whole inch first. You are billed the greater of this and the actual weight. Calculate it, or read dimensional weight explained.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C)E-commerce & fulfillment#

Selling straight to the end customer rather than through retail. It shifts the packaging problem from bulk cartons to single-unit parcels, where dimensional weight bites hardest.

Distribution center (DC)Pallets & warehousing#

A warehouse built for throughput rather than storage — receiving, breaking down, re-packing and dispatching.

Door-to-doorFreight, ocean & air#

A service covering collection at origin through to delivery at destination, including the legs most quotes leave out.

Double-wall corrugatedPackaging & materials#

Board with two fluted layers between three liners, for heavy or stacked loads. Typically 6–7 mm thick, which is enough to matter when you convert between inside and outside dimensions.

DrayageFreight, ocean & air#

The short road move between a port or rail terminal and a nearby warehouse. Short in distance, disproportionate in cost.

Drop shippingE-commerce & fulfillment#

Selling without holding stock: the order is passed to a supplier who ships it directly to the customer.

DunnagePackaging & materials#

Anything used to fill voids and stop contents moving — air pillows, paper, foam, corner blocks. It takes up space you have already paid to ship, which is an argument for a better-fitting box rather than more filling.

E

Edge crush test (ECT)Packaging & materials#

A measure of a board's resistance to crushing on edge, in pounds per inch — 32 ECT and 44 ECT are common single-wall grades. It is the number that predicts stacking strength, which is why overhang is so costly: an unsupported corner cannot use its ECT.

Elasticity of demandE-commerce & fulfillment#

How much demand moves when price moves. In shipping it is the reason a surcharge that looks small per parcel can change order volumes.

Electronic data interchange (EDI)Trade, customs & documents#

A standardised computer-to-computer exchange of trading documents — purchase orders, ASNs, invoices. Retail compliance programmes usually mandate it.

Ex works (EXW)Trade, customs & documents#

The Incoterm in which the seller does least: goods are made available at their premises and the buyer bears everything from there, including export clearance.

F

FEFCO codePackaging & materials#

The European standard numbering for corrugated box styles — 0201 is the regular slotted carton, 0200 the half-slotted open-top, 0203 the full overlap. The template generator produces all three as printable dielines.

FlutePackaging & materials#

The wave in the middle of corrugated board, and the letter that describes its size: E about 1.5 mm, B about 3 mm, C about 4 mm, BC double wall about 6–7 mm. Bigger flutes cushion better, smaller flutes print better and waste less space — and the flute is the difference between a box's inside and outside dimensions.

Free on board (FOB)Trade, customs & documents#

An Incoterm for sea freight: the seller's responsibility ends when the goods are loaded on the vessel, and risk passes to the buyer from that point.

Freight claimTrade, customs & documents#

A formal demand for compensation from a carrier for goods lost or damaged in transit. Time limits are short and documented packaging condition matters.

Freight class (NMFC)Freight, ocean & air#

The LTL classification from 50 to 500 that sets the rate, driven mainly by density and then by stowability, handling and liability. A lower class is cheaper, and packing denser is usually the way to reach one.

G

GallonVolume & measurement#

A liquid volume unit that is not one number: a US gallon is 3.785 litres and a UK imperial gallon is 4.546 — about 20% larger. Pool, tank and aquarium figures found online are almost always US gallons. Convert on the gallons calculator.

Gallons to cubic feetVolume & measurement#

One cubic foot holds 7.4805 US liquid gallons or 6.2288 UK imperial gallons; conversely one US gallon is 0.1337 ft³. Convert on the ft³ to gallons calculator.

Gate out timeFreight, ocean & air#

The timestamp when a truck leaves a terminal or warehouse gate — the clock that free-time and detention charges run from.

Gross weightVolume & measurement#

The total weight of the goods plus their packaging: gross = net + tare. It is what goes on the scale and what a carrier compares against dimensional weight.

Ground shippingCarrier pricing & surcharges#

Parcel transport moved entirely by road through regional sorting hubs. Cheaper and slower than air, and the service most affected by dimensional weight because density is what fills a trailer.

H

Hand stack (floor loading)Freight, ocean & air#

Loading or unloading cartons individually rather than on pallets. It fits more into a container — no pallet height wasted — at the cost of labour and time.

Harmonized System code (HS code)Trade, customs & documents#

The international 6-to-10 digit classification that determines duty rates and controls on a traded product.

High-cube container (HC)Freight, ocean & air#

A container 9 ft 6 in tall rather than the standard 8 ft 6 in — about one foot of extra height, worth roughly 8 CBM on a 40-ft box.

Hub-and-spokeFreight, ocean & air#

A network that routes freight through central sorting hubs rather than point to point. It is why parcel transit times depend on zone rather than road distance.

I

Imperial unitsVolume & measurement#

The inch, foot, yard and gallon system still standard in US logistics. The traps are that the US and UK gallons differ by about 20%, and that volume conversions cube the linear factor — 12 inches to a foot means 1,728 cubic inches to a cubic foot.

Inbound logisticsE-commerce & fulfillment#

Everything involved in getting stock in: sourcing, receiving, put-away.

IncotermsTrade, customs & documents#

The International Chamber of Commerce's standard three-letter terms defining, for each stage of a shipment, who pays and where risk passes. EXW, FOB, CIF, DAP and DDP are the ones most often seen.

Inner cartonPackaging & materials#

An intermediate box holding several retail units inside a larger master carton. Retailers often specify its count, which then constrains the master carton's dimensions.

Intermodal freightFreight, ocean & air#

Moving goods in the same container across ship, rail and road without unpacking. The container's fixed internal dimensions are what make it work.

Inventory turnover ratioE-commerce & fulfillment#

How many times stock is sold and replaced in a year. High turnover reduces storage cost, which is the other half of the equation when a smaller box means more units per pallet.

ISO container standardsFreight, ocean & air#

The international standards fixing container dimensions, corner castings and strength, which is why a container from any manufacturer stacks and locks with any other.

J

Just-in-time (JIT)E-commerce & fulfillment#

Scheduling materials to arrive as they are needed rather than holding buffer stock. It lowers holding cost and raises exposure to transit delay.

K

Key performance indicator (KPI)E-commerce & fulfillment#

A tracked measure of operational performance — on-time delivery, order accuracy, cost per order, damage rate.

KittingE-commerce & fulfillment#

Combining separate SKUs into one packaged unit before it is sold or shipped. It changes the shipping dimensions, and often the size tier, of everything in the kit.

Kraft paperPackaging & materials#

Strong unbleached paper made by the kraft process, used as the liner on corrugated board and, crumpled, as void fill. Its strength comes from long wood fibres left intact by the pulping chemistry.

L

LCL and FCLFreight, ocean & air#

LCL is less-than-container load — your goods share a container with other shippers' and you pay by CBM. FCL is a full container at a flat rate. The crossover is usually somewhere around 15 CBM, which is worth calculating rather than guessing on the CBM calculator.

Length plus girthCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A carrier's measure of overall size: the longest side plus twice the sum of the other two, L + 2(W + H). FedEx and UPS cap parcels at 165 in and add surcharges well below that — Additional Handling above 105 in and Large Package or Oversize above 130 in. See girth explained.

Liter (L)Volume & measurement#

1,000 cubic centimeters, or one thousandth of a cubic metre. Because a millilitre and a cubic centimetre are the same thing by definition, converting cm³ to litres is just a move of the decimal point — see cm³ to litres.

LTL and FTLFreight, ocean & air#

LTL is less-than-truckload: your pallets share a trailer and you pay by weight, class and distance. FTL is a full truckload at a flat rate for the vehicle. LTL is priced on density, so a light bulky pallet costs disproportionately more.

M

ManifestTrade, customs & documents#

The master list of every consignment aboard a vehicle, vessel or flight. Batch mode exports CSV shaped for one.

Master cartonPackaging & materials#

The outer shipping box holding multiple inner cartons or retail units. Its dimensions are what a carrier measures and what determines how many fit on a pallet, so it is the box worth optimising.

Material requirements planning (MRP)E-commerce & fulfillment#

Software that works backwards from a production schedule to when materials must arrive.

Maximum gross weightFreight, ocean & air#

The rated limit for a container, pallet or vehicle including its own weight and everything in it. Exceeding it is a compliance issue, not just a commercial one.

Minimum order quantity (MOQ)E-commerce & fulfillment#

The smallest quantity a supplier will produce or sell in one order.

N

Net weightVolume & measurement#

The weight of the goods alone, excluding all packaging. Net + tare = gross.

O

On-time in-full (OTIF)E-commerce & fulfillment#

A retail compliance measure: did the shipment arrive in the delivery window and complete? Missing either half fails it, and large retailers levy chargebacks for the failure.

Open-top containerFreight, ocean & air#

A container with a removable tarpaulin roof instead of a fixed one, so cargo too tall or awkward to go through the doors can be craned in from above.

Outbound logisticsE-commerce & fulfillment#

Picking, packing, shipping and delivering finished goods to the customer.

Over-the-road (OTR)Freight, ocean & air#

Long-haul trucking between regions, as distinct from local delivery or drayage.

Oversize chargeCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A surcharge for packages beyond a carrier's standard size envelope. At FedEx and UPS it starts at 96 in on the longest side, 130 in length + girth or 17,280 in³, and forces a minimum billable weight of 90 lb however light the package is. Beyond 108 in or 165 in length + girth it becomes an unauthorized package instead. Check a box on the DIM calculator.

P

Packaging optimization softwareE-commerce & fulfillment#

Tools that work out the smallest box that still protects the product, since every unused cubic inch is billed. Find the right box and the template generator are the two halves of this.

Packing slipE-commerce & fulfillment#

The itemised list enclosed in the box so the recipient can check what arrived against what was ordered.

Pallet capacityPallets & warehousing#

What a pallet can carry, which is two separate limits: a footprint — 48 × 40 in for a GMA pallet, 1,200 × 800 mm for an EPAL — and a safe working load, which EPAL publishes as 1,500 kg for its Euro pallet. Your real limit is usually whichever of height and weight you reach first; the pallet calculator reports which.

Pallet overhangPallets & warehousing#

Boxes projecting past the edge of the pallet deck. The corners of a carton carry most of its compression strength, so an unsupported corner loses a large part of it and the stack below suffers — which is why most carriers and warehouses discourage overhang outright.

Pallet pattern (Ti/Hi)Pallets & warehousing#

Ti is the number of cartons in one layer and Hi the number of layers; Ti × Hi is the cases per pallet. Mixing orientations within a layer usually beats a single direction, because it fills the strip a uniform pattern wastes. The pallet calculator works out both and draws the winning layer.

Parcel carrierCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A company moving individual packages rather than pallets or containers — FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, Parcelforce. Their pricing is where dimensional weight originates.

Peak season surchargeCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A temporary per-package increase carriers apply through the Q4 holiday period, sometimes on top of existing surcharges. Amazon runs an equivalent on FBA fees between 15 October 2026 and 14 January 2027.

Pick and packE-commerce & fulfillment#

Selecting the ordered items from storage and packing them for shipment — the core warehouse operation, and where box choice actually happens.

PolybaggingPackaging & materials#

Sealing soft goods in a plastic bag before packing. It protects against dirt and moisture and lets apparel ship in a mailer rather than a box, which usually cuts dimensional weight substantially.

Proof of delivery (POD)Carrier pricing & surcharges#

The carrier's record that delivery happened — signature, photo or scan. It is the first document requested in a lost-goods claim.

R

Rate basis numberCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A tariff figure standing for the distance between an origin and destination, used to look up an LTL rate.

Re-consignment feeCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A charge for changing the delivery address after a shipment is already moving.

Real-time trackingE-commerce & fulfillment#

GPS and cellular reporting of a vehicle's or shipment's position, as opposed to scan-event tracking that only updates at checkpoints.

Rectangular prismVolume & measurement#

The geometric name for a box: a solid with six rectangular faces. Volume is length × width × height, surface area is 2(lw + lh + wh), and the longest item that fits inside is the space diagonal. See the formula page.

Reefer containerFreight, ocean & air#

A refrigerated container with its own powered cooling unit. The machinery takes internal length, so a reefer's usable volume is meaningfully less than a dry box of the same nominal size.

Reverse logisticsE-commerce & fulfillment#

Everything that flows backwards: returns, repairs, recycling, packaging recovery. Returns cost more per parcel than outbound because they are unconsolidated and unpredictable.

RFID taggingE-commerce & fulfillment#

Radio-frequency tags that can be read without line of sight, allowing a whole pallet to be inventoried at once.

Roll-on/roll-off (RoRo)Freight, ocean & air#

A vessel with ramps so wheeled cargo drives on and off rather than being lifted. Priced by lane metre rather than by CBM.

S

Safety stockE-commerce & fulfillment#

Buffer inventory held to absorb demand spikes and supply delay.

Sea waybillTrade, customs & documents#

A non-negotiable ocean transport document used where the cargo can be released without presenting an original bill of lading.

Shipping zoneCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A distance band between origin and destination — zones 2 to 8 in the US — that, with weight, sets the parcel rate. Zone skipping is the practice of trucking freight closer to its destination before injecting it into the parcel network.

Single-wall corrugatedPackaging & materials#

One fluted layer between two liners — the standard shipping box construction. Typically 1.5–5 mm thick depending on flute.

Size tier (Amazon FBA)E-commerce & fulfillment#

The band Amazon sorts a product into from its packaged dimensions and shipping weight, which sets the fulfillment fee. Small standard through Large standard, then Small and Large Bulky, then the extra-large bands. One dimension crossing a limit moves the whole product. Check yours on the FBA size tier calculator.

SKU (stock keeping unit)E-commerce & fulfillment#

The identifier for one distinct sellable variant. Catalogue mode rates a whole SKU list for dimensional and billable weight in one pass.

Space diagonalVolume & measurement#

The longest straight line that fits inside a box, corner to opposite corner: d = √(l² + w² + h²). It is the limit on anything rigid — a pole, a rod, a framed picture. The calculator reports it with every result, and the box diagonal formula derives it.

Stacking limitPallets & warehousing#

How much weight, or how many pallets, may safely sit on top of a bottom load. Board strength (ECT), humidity and time under load all reduce it.

Standard box dimensionsPackaging & materials#

The stock carton sizes box makers produce in volume — 12 × 12 × 12, 18 × 14 × 12, 24 × 16 × 18 and so on. Buying a stock size is far cheaper than a custom one; the box size library lists 155 of them with the volume and billed weight of each.

Stowage factorFreight, ocean & air#

The volume one tonne of a given cargo occupies in a hold, in m³/tonne or ft³/ton. It is the bulk shipping equivalent of a DIM divisor: it tells you whether a cargo will fill the space or the weight limit first.

Stretch wrapPackaging & materials#

Plastic film wound around a palletised load to hold it together in transit. It secures the load but adds no compression strength — that comes from the cartons.

Surface area (box)Volume & measurement#

The total area of a box's six faces: SA = 2(lw + lh + wh). It tells you how much board, wrapping or coating you need — a different question from volume, and one that scales differently. See surface area vs volume.

Surface-to-volume ratioVolume & measurement#

Surface area divided by volume. It falls as a box gets larger, which is why big boxes use proportionally less board per unit shipped, and why a cube is the most material-efficient rectangular shape.

T

Tare weightVolume & measurement#

The weight of the empty packaging, container or vehicle on its own. Gross weight minus tare gives the net weight of the goods, and it is the figure that decides how much cargo a container may legally carry.

U

Unit loadPallets & warehousing#

A quantity of goods assembled so it can be moved as one — typically cartons stacked on a pallet and wrapped. The whole point of standard pallet footprints is that unit loads interchange between vehicles, racking and handling equipment.

USPS cubic pricingCarrier pricing & surcharges#

A commercial USPS price based on a parcel's volume in tiers of 0.1 ft³ rather than its weight, with each dimension rounded down to the quarter inch. Priority Mail Cubic caps at 0.50 ft³ and Ground Advantage Cubic at 1.00 ft³, both at 20 lb and no side over 22 in. Find your tier on the cubic calculator.

USPS Flat RateCarrier pricing & surcharges#

USPS boxes and envelopes priced per container regardless of weight up to 70 lb, with no dimensional weight at all. For anything dense that fits, it is often the cheapest option available — find the right box flags when your item fits one.

V

Void fillPackaging & materials#

Material used to occupy empty space in a box so contents cannot move — air pillows, crumpled paper, foam. It is also space you are paying to ship, so a better-fitting box beats more filling. See dunnage.

Volumetric weightVolume & measurement#

The international term for dimensional weight — a package's volume expressed as a weight so it can be priced. Outside the US it is normally cubic centimeters ÷ 5,000, giving kilograms.

W

Warehouse management system (WMS)Pallets & warehousing#

The software controlling receiving, put-away, picking, packing and stock accuracy inside a warehouse. Carton dimensions held in a WMS are what cartonization and pallet planning run from — if they are wrong, everything downstream is.

Wave pickingPallets & warehousing#

Releasing picks in scheduled groups aligned to carrier collection times, rather than continuously.

WaybillTrade, customs & documents#

A transport document that is a receipt and a contract of carriage but not a document of title, so the goods can be released to the named consignee without an original being presented. Air waybills and sea waybills are the two common forms.

Y

Yard managementPallets & warehousing#

Controlling trailers and containers in the yard outside a facility — which door, which sequence, how long. It is where detention charges are won or lost.

Z

Zone skippingCarrier pricing & surcharges#

Trucking parcels in bulk closer to their destination before injecting them into the parcel network, so they cross fewer zones. It trades transit time and consolidation effort for a lower per-parcel rate.