Quoted on 300 kilos, charged on 520
A shipper asks for an airfreight price for 300 kilos of lighting components to Dubai. The sales coordinator quotes on 300 kilos. When the cartons arrive at the handling agent and are measured, the volume is large for the weight, and the chargeable weight is far higher. The airline charges on it. The customer was quoted on the lower weight, and now either accepts a revised invoice with a grumble or you absorb the difference.
It happens often enough that some coordinators add a buffer to every air quote, which makes you look expensive on the dense shipments.
Why the numbers change
Airfreight is priced on the greater of actual and volumetric weight. Shippers know the weight; many do not know or give the dimensions, and those that do sometimes give the product size, not the packed carton or pallet size.
- Quote requests give gross weight but no dimensions.
- Dimensions given are for the product, not the packed carton.
- Palletising after the quote changes the volume.
- The volumetric factor can differ by airline or agreement, and is not always applied consistently.
- The measured weight at acceptance is not compared with the quote until the invoice is disputed.
What the gap costs
Either your margin absorbs the difference, or the customer gets a revised invoice they did not expect, and trust suffers. Blanket buffers make you uncompetitive on cargo that is dense. Disputes over chargeable weight take time on both sides. And nobody learns which shippers consistently under-declare, so the same problem repeats.
The airfreight quoting we build
- The air quote form, or the email parser for air requests, asks for pieces, packed dimensions per piece, weight and whether the cargo will be palletised.
- Chargeable weight is calculated using the volumetric factor you set for each airline or rate, and the quote is built on whichever is greater.
- Where dimensions are missing, the coordinator is warned and can quote on a clearly stated assumption, which is printed on the quote.
- At acceptance, the handling agent's measured weights and dimensions are read, from their data where they provide it or entered by your team, and compared with the quote.
- Differences above a threshold are flagged before the customer invoice is raised, with the quote assumption and measured figures side by side, so the revision is explained.
- Shippers whose declarations regularly differ from measurement are highlighted for future quotes.
| Point | Today | With the quoting |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | Often not asked | Required, or assumption stated |
| Chargeable weight | Worked out by hand, if at all | Calculated with your factor |
| Measured vs quoted | Found on the invoice | Compared at acceptance |
| Revising the price | Awkward conversation | Explained with figures |
What changes
Quotes start from chargeable weight, so fewer surprises reach the customer. Where the quote had to be based on an assumption, the assumption is on the quote, which makes a revision fair and easy to explain. Coordinators can drop blanket buffers on dense cargo. And sales know which shippers need extra questions.
The comparison at acceptance also protects you in the other direction. Where the airline or handling agent has charged on a higher weight than the measured figures support, you have the numbers to question it, rather than passing the cost on or absorbing it without knowing whether it was right.
Checklist
- Air quotes are often revised after measurement.
- Quote requests rarely include packed dimensions.
- Coordinators add buffers to every air quote.
- Customers dispute chargeable weight on invoices.
- The volumetric factor is applied inconsistently.