Ocean freight is quoted two ways. Less-than-container-load (LCL) charges you for the space or weight your cargo occupies in a shared container. Full-container-load (FCL) charges one rate for the whole box whether you fill it or not. Somewhere between 10 and 15 cubic metres the two lines usually cross, but the crossing point on your lane only appears once every charge, not just the headline rate, is on the table. The second half of this guide covers the other density-based pricing system you will meet if the goods then move by truck in the United States: NMFC freight class.
The W/M rule
LCL is priced per “weight or measure” (W/M), sometimes written as a revenue ton. The consolidator takes your volume in cubic metres and your weight in metric tonnes, and charges whichever number is larger, on the basis that 1 m³ equals 1,000 kg. Light, bulky cargo pays on volume; dense cargo pays on weight.
Example: a shipment of 12 m³ weighing 4,000 kg is 12 m³ against 4.0 tonnes, so the chargeable figure is 12 W/M. At $65 per W/M the ocean freight is 12 × 65 = $780. Now take 6 m³ of ceramic tiles weighing 9,000 kg: 6 m³ against 9.0 tonnes, so the chargeable figure is 9 W/M and the freight is $585, even though the tiles take half the space. Quotes also carry a minimum, often the equivalent of one or two W/M; a 0.8 m³ sample shipment is billed at the $120 minimum, not at $52.
What an LCL quote leaves out
The per-W/M ocean rate is rarely the bill you pay. At origin, the consolidator charges container freight station (CFS) receiving and loading. At destination, your cargo is unpacked at another CFS, and destination handling is typically billed per cubic metre, commonly $30–60 per m³ on Asia–US and Asia–Europe lanes. Add a documentation or bill-of-lading fee ($40–80), a delivery order fee ($50–100), customs clearance, and storage if the goods sit at the CFS beyond the free days.
Re-run the 12 m³ example with the extras: $780 ocean freight, plus destination CFS at 12 × $45 = $540, a $60 document fee, and a $75 delivery order. The realistic LCL total is $1,455, almost double the headline rate. FCL quotes usually bundle terminal handling and documentation into an all-in figure, and there is no CFS step because the container is delivered to your door sealed. Ask both sides for an all-in, door or port-to-port quote with every line item named before comparing.
Finding the break-even volume
The naive break-even is the FCL rate divided by the LCL rate. With a 20 ft container at $1,500 all-in and LCL at $65 per W/M, that is 1,500 ÷ 65 = 23.1 m³, which would make LCL look right for almost anything that fits. With realistic add-ons the picture changes. If LCL effectively costs $65 + $45 = $110 per m³ plus $135 of fixed fees, the break-even is (1,500 − 135) ÷ 110 = 12.4 m³, roughly half the naive figure.
A 20 ft dry container has a nominal 33 m³ but a usable 26–28 m³ once pallets and packing are accounted for, so a 12–15 m³ LCL shipment is already paying a full container’s price for half a container. If your shipment sits anywhere above about 10 m³, or above 8 m³ on lanes with high destination CFS fees, price the FCL option every time. Below 5 m³ LCL almost always wins, and the decision is about consolidator reliability rather than cost.
Transit time and damage risk
LCL takes longer at both ends. The consolidator waits until the container is full, CFS cut-offs fall several days before the vessel cut-off, and deconsolidation at destination adds three to seven days after the ship arrives. A door-to-door LCL move can easily run two weeks longer than FCL on the same vessel string.
Your cargo is also handled far more often: forklifted into the CFS, loaded into the container, unloaded, sorted, and reloaded onto a truck, all alongside other shippers’ freight of unknown quality. Crushed cartons, water damage from a neighbouring shipment, and mis-sorted pallets are the typical LCL claims. If customs selects any one shipper’s goods in the container for examination, every shipper in the box waits. FCL is sealed at your supplier’s dock and opened at yours, which is why fragile, high-value, or time-sensitive goods often move FCL even below the cost break-even.
US LTL: what freight class is
When goods travel by less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier in the United States, the rate depends on freight class, a scale from 50 to 500 maintained by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) in the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC). Class weighs four factors: density, stowability, handling, and liability, but for most general commodities density dominates, and the NMFC has been moving more items onto pure density-based classification since 2025. Low class means dense, easy freight and a low rate per hundredweight; high class means light, bulky, or fragile freight and a high rate.
The classic density scale in pounds per cubic foot runs: 50 lb/ft³ and above is class 50; 35–50 is class 55; 30–35 is class 60; 22.5–30 is class 65; 15–22.5 is class 70; 13.5–15 is class 77.5; 12–13.5 is class 85; 10.5–12 is class 92.5; 9–10.5 is class 100; 8–9 is class 110; 7–8 is class 125; 6–7 is class 150; 5–6 is class 175; 4–5 is class 200; 3–4 is class 250; 2–3 is class 300; 1–2 is class 400; and below 1 lb/ft³ is class 500. Always confirm the specific NMFC item for your commodity, because some items carry a fixed class regardless of density.
Worked density example
Density is total weight divided by total cubic feet, and cubic feet is length × width × height in inches divided by 1,728. A standard 48 × 40 inch pallet stacked 48 inches high is 48 × 40 × 48 = 92,160 in³, or 53.33 ft³. At 600 lb including the pallet, density is 600 ÷ 53.33 = 11.25 lb/ft³, which falls in the 10.5–12 band: class 92.5.
Now compress the same 600 lb onto a 40-inch-high stack: 48 × 40 × 40 = 76,800 in³, or 44.44 ft³, and density becomes 13.5 lb/ft³, exactly the bottom of the 13.5–15 band: class 77.5. Nothing about the goods changed, but the shipment moved two classes and the linehaul rate typically falls 15–25%. Always measure to the furthest point, including pallet, overhang, and stretch-wrap bulges, because the carrier will.
Reclassification fees and packaging to improve density
LTL carriers run pallets across dimensioners and scales at the terminal. If the measured density puts your freight in a higher class than the bill of lading declares, the carrier re-rates the shipment at the correct class and adds an inspection or reclassification fee, commonly $25–75 per shipment, plus a reweigh fee. A shipment quoted at class 70 that measures out at class 100 can cost 30–40% more than the quote, after the goods have already moved.
To keep class down: use a standard 48 × 40 pallet with no overhang, fill void space so the stack is a solid block, keep height as low as the product allows, avoid tall single stacks of light cartons, and ship one dense pallet rather than two half-empty ones. For very light goods, ask whether the NMFC item allows a lower class when the product is compressed, nested, or knocked down. Then put the real dimensions and weight on the bill of lading; an accurate class 100 quote is cheaper than a class 70 quote that gets reclassified.
Sources
The figures and rules in this guide are checked against:
- National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) — National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA)
- Less-than-container load (LCL) services — DSV
- Less than Container Load (LCL) — Flexport Glossary
- Density Calculator — Dayton Freight Lines