From small businesses and mail counters to large operations and warehouses, parcel and package shipment is a daily occurrence. Many of these facilities routinely use large shipping carriers, such as FedEx®, UPS® and DHL®. In order to more accurately reflect billable weight, these large carriers are now determining shipment pricing based on either dimensional weight or actual weight—whichever is greater. Dimensional weight, often referred to as dim weight, reflects the package’s density—the amount of space the package utilizes in relation to its weight. To determine dim weight, a package’s length, width and height are multiplied, resulting in its cubic size, and then divided by 166 for domestic or 139 for international shipments.

To better maximize carrier capacity and efficiency, dim weight policies prompt shippers to more efficiently package their items with less wasted space and to maintain a higher regard for the importance of package density. Companies who ship packages without properly calculating dim weight will pay increased shipping costs from miscalculated dimensions or due to freight compliance issues.

iDimension™ is Rice Lake’s comprehensive dimensional solution. This 3D imaging system is ideal for packages ranging from tabletop flats and polybags to boxes, tubes and LTL multi-piece pallets. Using a high-resolution camera and workplace-safe sensing technology, iDimension converts packages and irregular shapes into accurate, cubed dimensions. Unlike other dimensioning systems on the market, iDimension systems are designed for busy warehouses and shipping departments by requiring virtually no timeconsuming special parcel handling or alignment.

To learn more about Rice Lake’s iDimension Series of dimensional solutions, please visit www.ricelake.com/iDimension.