How do you read a shipping quote line by line?

Quote header: line, mode and service level

The top of a quote names a line rather than a destination, and that name is doing real work. Two lines to the same country can differ in mode, in how the parcel is handled at the origin, and in what happens at the border. Read the header as the label that applies to every number underneath it.

Service level usually sits in the same area and generally refers to a queue rather than a date. A faster level buys you a different build schedule, not a different aircraft.

Chargeable weight line and the divisor behind it

One line decides more of the total than every other line combined: the chargeable weight. It is the greater of the scale weight and the volumetric weight, and volumetric weight is the three packed sides multiplied together and divided by a number the line chooses for itself.

The divisor set we publish is 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000, and each value belongs to a particular mode rather than to a particular country. A quote that shows the chargeable figure without the divisor is giving you the result without the working, which makes it impossible for you to check, and impossible for you to influence by packing differently.

Linehaul charges split by kilo band

Linehaul is normally written as a rate applied to a band of kilos, which means the same parcel can sit at a boundary and be charged at the higher band. This is where a small packing change earns its keep, and equally where an unexpected centimetre costs you.

If a quote shows the band, ask which side of the boundary the parcel landed on. If it shows only a total, you cannot tell whether you are one hundred grams away from a step, and neither can anybody you ask to check it for you.

Fuel, remote-area and handling surcharges

Surcharges are the lines people skim, and they are also the lines that differ most between two quotes that look comparable at the headline. Fuel moves with the line, remote-area applies to addresses outside the main network, and handling is usually charged per parcel or per shipment.

Read them as a second comparison rather than as fine print. Two quotes with an identical headline can end up in different places once three surcharge lines have been added, which is the whole reason to look at them before choosing.

Insurance and signature lines

Insurance is assessed against a declared value and typically covers loss and damage rather than everything that can go wrong. The signature line is a service choice with a real effect at the door, because an unsigned delivery changes what can be demonstrated afterwards.

Neither line is compulsory and both are usually cheaper than the dispute they prevent. Decide before the parcel is built, since neither can be added once it has left.

Duty and tax lines are not postage

A quote can carry an estimate of duty or tax collected at the destination, and that estimate should never be read as part of the postage. Duty is assessed on the landed value, which includes the postage you have just been quoted, and the rate depends on both the destination and what is actually in the box.

Treat any border figure on a quote as a planning number rather than a final one, and keep the estimate next to the invoice that eventually arrives so the two can be compared on the same order.

Totals that move after you pay

A quote becomes a charge once the parcel is weighed and built, and those two events are where totals move. Consolidating two parcels changes the shipment count and re-applies the handling line. Adding an item from another store adds an entire parcel to the build.

Ask for the basis of each line rather than a fresh quote, and keep the original. Holding both lets you see which input changed, which is the difference between a dispute you can argue and a complaint you can only register.

1. Chargeable weight, and the divisor the line used to reach it.
2. Shipment count, which repeats the handling line every time.
3. Packing requests, which change packed volume and therefore the divisor maths.
4. Destination rules, which sit outside anybody’s control on the quote.

Where the numbers in this entry come from

Own divisor review, filed as KB-2026-02: four divisors (5000, 6000, 7000, 8000) recorded against the mode each belongs to, taken from quotes readers shared rather than from a single carrier document.

◇KB-2026-02· 2026-09-30 See the batch ledger · Challenge a figure

Entries filed next to this one

• What does the service fee cover, and what does it not?

  The service fee pays for the buying work: placing the order, checking the link and variant, receiving the parcel, logging it into storage and answering routine questions. Anything that changes a parcel, such as consolidation, repacking, photographs or a return, is separate work with its own charge or condition.

• How do you read a per-kilo quote without being surprised later?

  Read four things: the divisor behind the weight, whether the rate is applied before or after half-kilo rounding, the minimum charge, and the fixed handling lines that sit outside the rate. Multiply after rounding, not before. A quote that omits the divisor and the step cannot be compared with another line.

• What is a CNFans spreadsheet, exactly?

  It is a table of links, not a shop and not a file you download. Each row points at one listing on a domestic marketplace, with the few details that row needed to be useful. The buying itself happens on the agent platform, which is a separate object from the table you are reading.

Gauges this entry points at

• Parcel weight bench

  Which of volume and mass is actually paying for the flight.