Freight Unit Converter
Convert the numbers a bill of lading actually runs on — weight, dimensions, cube, and density — between Imperial and metric. Pounds to kilograms, inches to centimeters, feet to meters, cubic feet to CBM, and freight density in lb/ft³ (PCF) to kg/m³. It converts live, both directions.
From
To
The conversions freight actually needs
A shipment gets described twice: once in the units the shipper wrote it down in, and once in the units the carrier — or the customs form, or the overseas partner — wants it in. Getting a class, a chargeable weight, or an ocean quote right often comes down to converting cleanly between the two. This converter sticks to the four quantities that ride on a freight bill: weight, length, volume, and density.
The one that trips people up is cube. North American LTL is quoted in cubic feet, but ocean and air freight the world over price by CBM — cubic meters. One cubic foot is only 0.0283 m³, so a load that reads as a big number in cubic feet becomes a small-looking CBM figure, and mixing the two is an easy way to under- or over-state a shipment by a factor of 35.
Density is the number that decides your class — and it’s the one most often written in the wrong units. PCF rates the bill; kg/m³ is what the rest of the world means by the same idea.
Common freight conversions
| Convert | Multiply by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pounds → kilograms | 0.453592 | 1,000 lb = 453.6 kg |
| Kilograms → pounds | 2.20462 | 500 kg = 1,102 lb |
| Inches → centimeters | 2.54 | 48 in = 121.9 cm |
| Feet → meters | 0.3048 | 53 ft = 16.15 m |
| Cubic feet → CBM (m³) | 0.0283168 | 100 ft³ = 2.832 m³ |
| CBM (m³) → cubic feet | 35.3147 | 2 m³ = 70.63 ft³ |
| lb/ft³ (PCF) → kg/m³ | 16.0185 | 10 PCF = 160.2 kg/m³ |
Where this stops being enough
A converter changes units; it doesn’t change the rule you’re feeding them into. Freight class is still figured from density in PCF, dimensional weight still uses the carrier’s divisor, and a customs entry has its own rounding conventions. Convert to the unit the rule wants, then run the rule — the density, dimensional-weight, and class tools alongside this one do exactly that.