{"id":71,"date":"2019-07-26T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T06:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.3dbinpacking.com\/?p=71"},"modified":"2019-10-03T12:53:38","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T10:53:38","slug":"how-much-does-a-ton-of-styrofoam-weigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.3dbinpacking.com\/en\/how-much-does-a-ton-of-styrofoam-weigh\/","title":{"rendered":"How much does a ton of styrofoam weigh? We cut the courier services costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The valuation of a parcel in a courier company is like visiting a clothing store: the more you deviate from the standards, the more trouble you have finding decent clothes at a reasonable price. Extremely thin and tall people, as well as short and bulky ones, and additionally picky customers must have a fatter wallet. It is similar in a courier company: if you use additional services (e.g. special handling of a package or labelling with the “attention\/glass” sign), and more importantly, if the package does not fit into the standard dimensions and weight, you will pay more. Both parameters are important, because contrary to what intuition suggests, for the courier a ton of styrofoam “weighs” much more than a ton of coal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of shipping of a ton of coal and a ton of styrofoam with courier parcels is – for economic and logistical reasons – a complete absurdity. However, treated as a kind of “experiment”, it can be very informative. Before we carry it out, let’s see what packages are the cheapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sortable, that is optimal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The key concept in optimising shipping costs is the “sortable package”. Each courier company has its own standards resulting from the capabilities and parameters of its lines for automatic parcel sorting. They influence the maximum dimensions and weight of the packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common feature of all sortable packages is their shape: it must be a rectangular box. Its dimensions are determined by specifying the maximum dimension of the longest side, the maximum value of the sum of three dimensions (length + width + height) or a detailed specification of the largest sortable package dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the dimensions and weight of sortable packages among various couriers are similar, it is worth reading the courier’s guidelines thoroughly – a standard size insignificantly exceeded or the actual weight of the parcel not complying with the one declared may result in the service price being doubled or even tripled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All packages exceeding the standard dimensions or weight, or labelled as “careful\/glass” or “top\/bottom”, become non-sortable items for machines. They are directed to be sorted manually, which results in higher shipping costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One ton is not always one ton<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Time for the “experiment” mentioned at the beginning. We’ll assume the following baseline data for its purpose:<\/p>\n\n\n\n