Calculating Volume of large parcel.

joe.right

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Jul 23, 2017
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Hi,

I am shipping building supplies from LA to New Zealand. The cost is by volume (m3), however, both the shipping company ended up with different calculations. Given the costs - 100s verse 1000s, I needed to double check.

I am sending 10 rolls of floor underlay. Each roll is 48''x12''x12''x20lbs (or 1.2192 meters x 0.3048m x 0.3048m). For mental reference … it is similar to bubble wrap.

I calculated a parcel volume of 1.2192m high x 3.048m long x 3.048m wide, which is 11.3m3. I simply multiplied length and width of a single roll by 10 to account for stacking them next to each other, assuming rolls would all be sent together.

However, I found out they will actually send the rolls separately. The shipping company then calculated the volume of each roll 1.2192 meters x 0.3048m x 0.3048m to be .113 m3. Then multiplied by 10 to get 1.13m3.

I stumped by this is. What is the right approach?
 
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12" is NOT 3.048m - Check that value.

10 * 1.2192 * 0.3048 * 0.3048 = 1.1326 -- Round to 1.13

If you fail to retain intermediate values to sufficient decimal places, you can get different results.

1.2192 * 0.03048 = 0.37161216 so truncate to 0.371
0.371 * 0.3048 = 0.1130808 so truncate to 0.113
0.113 * 10 = 1.13

I do NOT recommend the second procedure.
 
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I am sending 10 rolls of floor underlay. Each roll is 48''x12''x12''x20lbs (or 1.2192 meters x 0.3048m x 0.3048m). For mental reference … it is similar to bubble wrap.

I calculated a parcel volume of 1.2192m high x 3.048m long x 3.048m wide, which is 11.3m3. I simply multiplied length and width of a single roll by 10 to account for stacking them next to each other, assuming rolls would all be sent together.
This is assuming that there is absolutely no wasted space, which is an "ideal" mathematical computation that is not reflected in the real world.

However, I found out they will actually send the rolls separately. The shipping company then calculated the volume of each roll 1.2192 meters x 0.3048m x 0.3048m to be .113 m3. Then multiplied by 10 to get 1.13m3.

I stumped by this is. What is the right approach?
"The right approach" is probably the approach outlined in the packing and shipping regulations of the company you're using. What do they say? ;)
 
What is the right approach?
Ignoring the typos in your post, both approaches give 1.13 cubic meters (rounded) for the volume of 10 packages.

I'm not sure what you're trying to ask. Can you rephrase your question?
 
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