Freight Desk

Freight Cost per Pallet Calculator

Turn one freight charge into the cost of each pallet, unit, or case — the number you need to allocate a bill, quote a landed cost, or check a chargeback. Add the shipment weight or cube and it also gives the cost per pound, per hundredweight, and per cubic foot. Pounds or kilograms.

The whole charge you want to divide up — linehaul, or linehaul plus surcharges, whichever you're allocating.

Number of pieces on the bill. This gives the even cost each.

Adds cost per lb and per CWT.

Adds cost per ft³ and per CBM.

Split an uneven shipment by weight

When the pieces aren’t the same size, an even split overcharges the light ones. List each piece and its weight and the total charge above is allocated in proportion — the number to use for landed cost and chargebacks.

How to figure freight cost per pallet

The core of it is one division: take the total freight charge and divide by the number of pallets. A shipment that bills at $888 on 6 pallets is $888 ÷ 6 = $148 per pallet. Swap in units, cases, cartons, or pieces — the math is the same, you’re just naming the piece you divide by. That even cost each is what you need to spread a bill onto a purchase order, price a line on an invoice, or sanity-check a quote.

Per pallet, per pound, per hundredweight — which to use

Cost per pallet is the handling-and-space view; cost per pound and per hundredweight are the weight view carriers actually price on. Add the shipment weight and this tool gives all three, so you can compare a lane against a tariff rate per CWT or against your own history. Add the cube and you also get cost per cubic foot and per CBM — the volumetric view that matters when freight is light and bulky.

BasisWhat it answersFormula
Per pallet / unitCost to allocate to each piecetotal ÷ quantity
Per poundCost against scale/billable weighttotal ÷ weight
Per hundredweightCompare to a CWT tariff ratetotal ÷ (weight ÷ 100)
Per cubic foot / CBMCost of the space it takestotal ÷ volume

Splitting one freight bill across an uneven shipment

Dividing evenly only works when the pieces are the same. When a shipment mixes a heavy pallet with a light one, an even split quietly overcharges the light freight and undercharges the heavy. The fair method is to allocate by weight: each piece carries the share of the bill that matches its share of the weight — piece cost = total × (piece weight ÷ total weight).

A $600 bill across a 1,200 lb pallet and a 400 lb pallet (1,600 lb total) puts $450 on the heavy pallet (1,200 ÷ 1,600 = 75%) and $150 on the light one. An even split would have charged each $300 — off by $150. Open Split an uneven shipment above to run it on your own pieces.

Weight-based allocation is the same logic freight class and density use: the load is priced as a whole, and each piece owes its proportional share — not an equal one.

Where this stops being enough

This divides a charge you already have — it is not a rating engine. It doesn’t look up a tariff, apply discounts or fuel surcharge, or decide the billable weight for you. Rate the shipment first (the CWT cost, dimensional weight, and freight class tools handle that), then bring the final charge here to split it cleanly across the freight.