The next question you’ll ask about your shipping container is how will they be stacked during palletization, distribution, and storage? Based on the answer to these questions, you’ll determine if the inner dimensions or the outer dimensions are more important to your business. Sometimes it might be worth it to get a slightly larger box to make stacking your units simpler. From there, you need to decide how you plan to load the product into the box (whether it’s packed from the top or bottom). This information helps you decide what the correct width, length, and depth measurements should be for your inside dimensions. If you prefer to use the outside dimensions of a box, you’ll need to double check that the product fits within the box. Those small differences can cause trouble if you’re not careful. You should remember that freight carriers will calculate the volume of your packages based on the longest dimension in each of the three axes (X, Y, and Z).

If the package is a right-angled rectangular box, then this measurement should be equal to the true volume of the package. However, if the package has any other profile type, then the calculation of the volume will be more than the true capacity of the package.